New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party today attacked rival Congress for its decision to appoint Kamal Nath as the general secretary and in-charge of Punjab, accusing the grand old party of not being sensitive to the sentiments of 1984 riot victims and only caring about people with money and muscle power.
“Appointing him (Kamal Nath) as the in-charge of Punjab, the Congress has clearly sent a message that it doesn’t care about the victim of 1984. It doesn’t care about Punjab, it doesn’t care about the law abiding citizens of the country. It only cares about the people who have money power and muscle power,” AAP leader and senior lawmaker HS Phoolka told ANI.
Phoolka said Kamal Nath was the one leader who was leading the mob at Gurudwara Rakabganj Sahib on November 1, 1984, and the mob set the Gurduwara on fire.
“Then it burnt two Sikhs over there. Kamal Nath is the one leader whose name came in the newspapers first of all. On November 2, the newspapers reported that Kamal Nath was leading the mob at Rakabganj Sahib. On November 3, the newspapers again reported the same. The Congress has been shielding him, has been rewarding him, for obvious reasons that he did under his master’s voice,” he added.
The Congress Party on Sunday made important changes in its leadership in three states, including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, where the polls are due to be held next year.
The Congress appointed senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad as the state in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and Kamal Nath as state in-charge of Punjab and Haryana respectively.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also slammed the Congress party for appointing Kamal Nath and asked Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh if he has absolved Nath for his alleged involvement in 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Kejriwal also questioned Centre's move to reopen 75 cases of anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and some other states saying BJP has set up SIT (Special Investigation Team) only to prevent AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) from forming an effective SIT.
Hours after Nath and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad were appointed general secretaries in-charge of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor, tweeted "Capt Amrinder shud state his stand on Kamal Nath. Does Capt absolve Kamal Nath? (sic)"
Later, he also tweeted "Reopen cases now? What did they do in one n a half years? BJP set up SIT only 2 prevent AAP from formin effective SIT."
AAP is set to contest assembly polls in Punjab, the first time it is contesting a state election after its landslide victory in Delhi in 2015.
Apart from Punjab, 69-year-old Nath will look after Haryana. He is the senior most MP in the current Lok Sabha having won from his pocket borough of Chhindwara nine times.
Meanwhile, a Home Ministry official said Centre-appointed SIT will re-investigate around 75 cases of 1984 riots in Delhi and some other states, a decision that comes months ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab.
A total of 3,325 people were killed in the riots. Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.
Delhi Police had closed 241 cases citing lack of evidence.
The Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of the 241 cases closed by police but BJP wanted re-investigation of all the other 237 cases.
At the time of formation of the SIT about one-and-a-half- years ago, the government had said it would submit its report within six months.
However, it is not known why the SITs work got delayed and now it has decided to re-investigate only the 75 anti-Sikh riot cases.
(With agencies)
