Delhi BJP Slams Congress Over 1984 Riots Rally, Traders Worried

Delhi's BJP unit has strongly criticised the Congress over a planned November 1 rally, saying it is insensitive to the Sikh community, which is still mourning the victims of the 1984 riots.

Speaking on Friday, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra said the Congress had hurt the sentiments of Sikhs by scheduling a rally in the midst of their grief over the killing of thousands of Sikhs in 1984.

Malhotra said the BJP had decided, at the request of victim families, community members and Delhi institutions, to hold a symbolic protest march on November 1 in Hari Nagar, a West Delhi locality with a large Sikh population. Thousands of Sikh citizens and BJP workers are expected to join the march, which Union Minister Sardar Hardeep Singh Puri will lead.

He described the period from October 31 to November 3 as especially painful in the history of India and in the memory of the Sikh community. According to him, Congress workers carried out a massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs between the evening of October 31, 1984, and November 3, 1984, looting and setting fire to their homes and shops.

The BJP leader accused the Congress of using the November 1 rally to politically revive Rahul Gandhi, whom he called a defeated and discredited leader. He said Sikhs across the country expect the party to apologise for the killings carried out by its workers.

Malhotra noted that for the past decade, several Sikh leaders and office-bearers of Sikh institutions had been meeting BJP leaders in recent days to seek support in bringing the community's sentiments into the public domain.

He also raised concerns about the impact on traders. He said Delhi's business community was worried that the large Diwali-week rally would bring thousands of vehicles from outside the city, causing traffic jams and hurting commerce. Traders had made repeated appeals to Congress leaders to postpone the rally until after Diwali, but the party had declined to reconsider.

The BJP also pointed to new pollution control rules that will take effect in Delhi on November 1, barring entry of vehicles below BS-VI standards from outside the city. Malhotra cautioned that if police stopped older vehicles coming for the rally, Congress leaders might create a ruckus and claim the government was trying to thwart their protest.

Malhotra said it was unfortunate that the Congress had chosen November 1 to bring back its failed leader, adding that this had hurt Sikh sentiments. He said the party was also indifferent to the potential business losses of traders and the rising pollution affecting residents.