Refuse Cong support: SAD to AAP

They added that AAP had to go beyond playing to the gallery

Challenging the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, the Shiromani Akali Dal today asked them to refuse the support of "guilty" Congress to prove their sincerity in demanding an SIT probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said AAP must "go beyond playing to the gallery" in their demand for the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the riots.

Asking for a probe against the Congress role and accepting support form the same party for staying in power looks a contradiction in itself, Sukhbir said in a statement here.

"You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound. You must take a clear stand and not just play to the gallery.

"We are happy that a political ally of Congress has supported our demand for an SIT. But to keep his credentials clean, the AAP must not have any trucks with the party which is unanimously seen as the guilty party," he said.

Delhi Government today decided on a probe by a Special Investigation Team into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots here, two days after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said some of the partymen were probably involved in the violence but were punished.

"The massacre took place in Delhi where (Arvind) Kejriwal is now the Chief Minister. For an SIT to function in an atmosphere completely free of political interference, Delhi must not have a government supported by Congress. Otherwise the whole purpose of the probe will be lost," Sukhbir said.

"The demand must not appear to be a mere political stunt and must go beyond playing to the gallery," he demanded.

The SAD leader said he regretted that Kejriwal's demand had to wait for Rahul Gandhi's admission even though the demand formed a part of the manifesto of the AAP.

The anti-Sikh riots had broken out after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Indira was shot dead by two of her bodyguards at her residence in Delhi.