Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday came down heavily on the Congress over Sam Pitroda’s “hua to hua” remark on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Addressing an election rally in Haryana’s Rohtak, the PM said that the three words sum up the arrogance of the grand old party and proves that “they have no regard for life”.
Without naming Pitroda, the PM said, “Yesterday a very tall leader of the Congress party said that 1984 riots ‘hua to hua’ (what happened, happened).”
“This leader is the closest to the Gandhi family and is the ‘guru’ of the party’s ‘naamdar’ (dynast),” the PM said referring to Pitroda and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
“Many Sikhs in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were targeted during the 1984 riots but today Congress is saying ‘hua so hua’,” he added.
“These three words are proof that the party which ruled the country for most of the time is insensitive. The words reflect the character, mentality and intention of the Congress party,” the PM said.
“Rajiv Gandhi had said ‘when a big tree falls earth shakes’. They even made Kamal Nath in charge of Punjab, now made him MP Chief Minister. So don’t take this as an individual’s statement,” the PM told ANI on the sidelines of the rally.
He asserted that the Congress will be reduced below 44 seats this time because of its arrogance.
Pitroda, the in charge of the Congress’s overseas units, had on Thursday rubbished BJP’s allegation that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place on the orders of former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
“Ab kya hai ’84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. ’84 mein hua to hua. Aapne kya kiya? (What about 1984 now? What have you done in the last five years, talk about that. What happened in 1984, happened. What have you done?),” Pitroda was quoted as saying by ANI.
Pitroda’s remarks gave ammo to the BJP, who relentlessly targeted the Congress over the “hua to hua” remark.
“Will the Congress President oust his ‘Guru’, who rubbishes the genocide of India’s most patriotic community in 1984?” tweeted Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday.
“Agony of the entire Sikh community. Suffering of all those Sikh families killed by Congress leaders in 1984. Attack on Delhi”s secular ethos. All Summed up in these three words by Sam Pitroda – Hua To Hua. India will never forgive #MurdererCongress for its sins,” BJP chief Amit Shah tweeted on Thursday.
The 1984 riots followed the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. At least 3000 innocent Sikhs were killed, mainly in Delhi and Punjab.
Several Congress leaders have been accused of instigating the mob during the riots.