Rajiv Gandhi didn't call Army for 3 days, had no intention to stop 1984 Sikh massacre: Harsimrat Badal

Union Minister Harsimart Kaur Badal on Thursday claimed that late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi did not call the Army for three days and let the 1984 Sikh massacre happen as he had no intention of stopping it.

Harsimart's reaction comes a day after former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh said that the Sikh massacre of 1984 in Delhi could have been avoided had the then Home Minister Narsimha Rao acted upon the advice of Inder Kumar Gujral.

"The massacre which happened in 1984 happened in the regime of Rajiv Gandhi. They did not call the Army for three days and let the massacre of Sikhs continue, they had no intention of stopping it," Badal told reporters here.

Badal further said that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were a blot on the Congress party which could never be removed. She said, "The people who were involved in the riots are being offered the position of the chief minister. Rahul Gandhi used to say that Congress had no role to play but now the former prime minister from their side is saying it."

She went on to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to ensure delivery of justice in the long-pending case.

"I think the Gandhi family should apologise and I am proud that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed an SIT to ensure justice in the case, which led to the conviction of Congress leaders like Sajjan Kumar," Badal said.

Speaking at an event organised to remember former prime minister Gujral on his 100th birth anniversary, Singh had said, "When the sad event of 1984 took place, Gujral ji that very evening went to the then Home Minister Narsimha Rao and said to him that the situation is so grim that it is necessary for the government to call the army at the earliest. If that advice would have been heeded perhaps the massacre that took place in 1984 could have been avoided".