Taking strong exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to link Rajiv Gandhi with the anti-Sikh 1984 riots, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday drew a comparison with the Godhra massacre, which took place under Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister.

It was wrong of Modi to connect Rajiv Gandhi with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, Amarinder Singh told reporters in Chandigarh.

Advertisement

“What if someone starts linking Modi with Godhra?” he asked, adding that it did not behove the Prime Minister to stoop to such levels to win an election.

However, Singh expressed his complete disagreement with Sam Pitroda’s controversial “hua to hua” remark on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Terming it to be shocking to have come from a Congress leader, Amarinder Singh said, “The 1984 riots were a big tragedy and justice had yet not been meted out to the victims. If some individual leaders were allegedly involved in the riots, they should be punished as per law,”

He further said that certain Congress leaders including Sajjan Singh have been accused of instigating the mob but that does not mean that PM Modi could try to implicate Rajiv Gandhi or the Congress party in the riots.

By the same yardstick, PM Modi should also have been implicated in the Godhra attack, he added, asking the Prime Minister to refrain from undermining the prestige of his position with such “crude and baseless statements”.

He further reminded PM Modi that names of several BJP and RSS leaders had also figured in the FIRs in the 1984 riots and also called for action against all those responsible for the massacre of innocent Sikhs.

He said PM Modi was unnecessarily dragging Rajiv Gandhi’s name to court controversies and divert attention, with his lies, from the real issues.

BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been incessantly targeting Rajiv Gandhi ahead of the polls in Delhi on Sunday.

Earlier on Friday, the BJP tweeted a video of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which includes a clip of Rajiv Gandhi saying on the riots, “When a tree falls, the earth shakes.”

Titled “this video will shake your spirit”, the clip also shows Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath and HKL Bhagat.

The BJP has dragged Rajiv Gandhi’s name on various occasions in the poll season.

Last week, PM Modi had said that Rajiv Gandhi, who was termed ‘Mr. Clean’ by his courtiers died as a “corrupt” leader.

Again on Wednesday, PM Modi fired another salvo at Rajiv Gandhi saying that he used warship INS Viraat as his “personal taxi” for a holiday when he was the PM.