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Punjab BJP lauds Haryana’s move to give jobs to ’84 anti-Sikh riot victims’ kin
Haryana CM Nayab Saini had announced a job for members of each of the 121 anti-Sikh riot affected families in the state.
A day after the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in Haryana announced that it would provide jobs to one member each of the 121 families who had lost a loved one during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the state, the party’s Punjab unit on Tuesday welcomed the move as laudable and said it showed that the BJP was the only party that fought for justice for the Sikh community.
In a statement, state unit vice-president Jasmine Sandhawala, alleged that the violence unleashed in the anti-Sikh riots is a testament that the Congress instead of showing maturity and sagacity stooped to punish an entire community for the actions of a handful.
“We welcome the sagacious decision of the Haryana chief minister for ensuring justice and support for the affected families,” she said, adding, “ A tragedy of such magnitude is a significant stigma on the history of our nation. Forty-one years have lapsed but the Congress has never genuinely apologised or taken any action against the perpetrators of heinous crimes against innocent Sikhs outside Punjab”.
On Monday, after the resolution to commemorate the 350th anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s martyrdom was passed unanimously in the Haryana assembly, Saini spoke of the extent of destruction during the ’84 riots. According to official figures, 121 Sikhs in Haryana had lost their lives in the mob violence that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Sandhawalia said while Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi carried a bag with ‘Solidarity with Palestine’ written on it during her parliamentary debut on December 16, 2024, she forgot that there were thousands of Sikhs butchered in India after her grandmother’s assassination.
“Priyanka even went and met Nalini Sriharan in 2008 in Vellore jail who was convicted for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Unfortunately, she has never ever said a word or a prayer for thousands burnt alive for their faith while they had no involvement in the assassination of Indira Gandhi,” said the BJP leader.
