Akalis question Rahul's visit to Punjab firing victims

A day before Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is to visit Punjab where he intends to meet families of two men allegedly killed in police firing on protesters agitating against sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday questioned the visit, linking it to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Rahul should tell the people why he had never tried to console or share the grief of even one of the thousands of Sikh families whose near and dear ones had been butchered in 1984," Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjit Singh G.K. said in a statement.

"Rahul should tell the people why he had never visited the widow colony of Tilak Vihar in Delhi. He only needs to take out half an hour to go there.

"Was it because you felt guilty as you knew that the riots had been instigated by your own family members and meticulously planned and executed by senior members of your own party?" the DSGMC president said, terming as "mischievous" Gandhi's visit to meet families of two people killed in police firing in Behbal Kalan village last month.

Gandhi is expected to visit the families of the victims in Faridkot district on Thursday.

The Akali leader said the Congress leadership was responsible for the genocide of Sikhs in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

He said Gandhi and the Congress were only trying to "shed crocodile tears" for victims of the police firing in Faridkot last month.