Captain slams Sukhbir, says former PM Rajiv's name never came up during Sikh riots' probe

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday slammed SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal for his statement on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"The former Prime Minister's name never came up during or after the 1984 riots, and was being propped by the BJP and the Akalis in a desperate bid to garner Sikh votes," said Chief Minister Singh in a statement.

"By repeatedly lying about the issue, they have been trying to manipulate the facts, which clearly showed that Rajiv was in no way complicit in the events that followed the tragic assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in 1984," said the Chief Minister in the statement.

Badal had on Sunday condemned Singh's decision to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who he asserted was primarily responsible for orchestrating the Sikh massacre.

"They (the Akalis) claim to be protectors of the Sikh community but did nothing for Sikhs during 10 years of ruling the state," he said, adding that under their (BJP-SAD) regime, Punjab witnessed some of the worst incidents of sacrilege, which they did nothing to either prevent or solve.

The Chief Minister also cornered the Akalis over their "support to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in shameful violation of the very principles on which the Anandpur Sahib resolution was founded."

"By backing the Kashmir developments, they had made it clear that they had no respect for the country's federal structure and its Constitutional philosophy," he added, pointing out that the Anandpur Sahib resolution had advocated more powers to the states, with a stronger federal structure for the nation.