The BJP Wednesday hit back at the Congress and Sonia Gandhi for holding the Centre responsible for the violence in Delhi, saying "those whose hands are tainted with the bloods of innocent Sikhs are now talking about checking violence".
The BJP's attack came after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi addressed a press conference here in which she held the Centre and the Delhi government responsible for the violence and demanded Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation.
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Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that Shah was continuously working with the police to control the situation in the national capital and demanding his resignation was "laughable".
"The Home Minister is continuously working with the police, helping their morale and directing them. Such comments and politics from the Congress will not help the morale of the police. We appeal to them to not do politics on the issue," Javadekar told a press conference.
He further said Shah had called a meeting of all political parties including the Congress over the communal violence in Delhi -- which has left at least 22 dead -- and asserted it is the responsibility of all parties to help maintain peace.
Javadekar said all parties should cooperate and work for peace at a time when violence is abating, notwithstanding the ongoing investigation.
"Playing a blame-game at this time is wrong. Politicising such violence is a wrong way always used by the Congress," he said, while asserting that culprits will be identified and no one responsible will be spared.
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"At such a time, attacking the government and politicising violence is a dirty politics," he said, adding that it also demoralizes police.
He also raked up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots when the Congress was in power to hit back at the opposition party.
"Those whose hands are tainted with the bloods of innocent sikhs in 1984 are now talking about checking the violence...they themselves had supported the violence," Javadekar alleged.
BJP National Secretary Y Satya Kumar also tweeted, "Who incited 1984 riots, where 4000 innocent Sikhs were killed? You remember those infamous words 'Jab badaa ped girta hai to dharti thodi hilti hain. How about some introspection?"
Javadekar, however, parried questions about the "provocative" statements made by BJP leader Kapil Mishra which allegedly led to the escalation of violence in the national capital.
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