AAP Says Congress ‘Rewarding’ Kamal Nath for Role in 1984 Riots

AAP lashed out against Congress’ decision to appoint Kamal Nath as the in-charge of party affairs in Punjab.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked the Congress for appointing Kamal Nath as party general secretary and Punjab in-charge. (Photo: IANS)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Monday, attacked the Congress party for appointing Kamal Nath as the party general secretary and in-charge of Punjab. He asked Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh if he has absolved Nath for his alleged involvement in 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

AAP leader and eminent lawyer HS Phoolka also commented on the appointment and said:

The Congress is rewarding Kamal Nath for obeying (then Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi’s orders during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.

Phoolka tweeted about the issue and called it ‘humiliation of Punjabis’.

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:

Later, he also tweeted:

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.

Kamal Nath responded to these accusations by the Aam Aadmi Party and said:

For 32 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party held no accusations against me, for 32 years Akali Dal held no accusations against me; Aam Aadmi party had not even been born then but now they accuse me of this... Nanavati Commission has stated explicitly that I had no involvement in the 1984 riots.

Meanwhile, a Home Ministry official said a 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. The 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 the police but the BJP wants all 237 cases re-investigated.

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 SIT’s work got delayed and now it has decided to re-investigate only the 75 anti-Sikh riot cases.

(With agency inputs.)

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Congress Reshuffle: Azad, Kamal Nath Made In-charge of UP, Punjab