Amarinder Singh targets Badal over 1984 riots

Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Amarinder Singh on Saturday lashed out at the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for hiding behind the second rung leaders of his party saying, he (Badal) should better come out publicly if he has any guts left in him.

“The noose around your neck is tightening day by day, no matter what diversionary tactics you try to use, it is not going to loosen”, he told Mr Badal.

Capt. Singh reiterated and defended the clean chit to the late Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. “Yes, I have given clean chit to Rajiv and Rahul as none of them had any role in the riots”, he asserted and challenged the Akalis to prove him wrong with facts and not fiction.

The former chief minister pointed out, when Ms Indira Gandhi was assassinated, Rajiv was in West Bengal. After he returned and took oath as the Prime Minister, the first thing he did was to move around Delhi and restore peace and order, he said, pointing out, even none of the victims have ever levelled such allegations against Rajiv or Rahul, who was only 14 at that time, which the Akalis, particularly the Badals, are levelling.

He said, he had already named five persons who, he was told during his visit to the riot victim camps, were involved in the riots.