New Delhi – Paying homage to Sikhs killed in the 1984 Sikh Genocide in Tilak Vihar, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party of prime minister Narendra Modi for the anti-Muslim Gujarat riots of 2002 and the Dadri lynching over beef rumours and said the saffron party had only tried to score political points from the communal riots.
“Had ’84 riot victims got justice, brutal attacks like 2002 and Dadri wouldn’t have taken place. Never before has it happened that the President had to speak up on intolerance,” Kejriwal was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Enhanced compensation cheques for Rs 5 lakh each were handed out to 1,320 next of kin of Sikhs killed in the genocide. Delhi Chief Secretary K K Sharma said the government will issue such cheques to 2,300 families.
He said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the AAP government during its 49-day rule in 2014 was disbanded after the government resigned.
“A day before I formed government, on February 13, the BJP government at the Centre appointed an SIT to probe the 1984 riots. They were afraid that Kejriwal will come to power and appoint honest police officers in SIT and send the guilty behind bars. They formed an SIT a day before my government took charge so that I don’t set up one. But in the last eight months, the Centre’s SIT has not reopened a single case,” said Kejriwal.
Reiterating their demand for punishment to the guilty, the Sikh community took out a protest march here on Sunday. Some leaders of the Muslim community also took part in the protest march supporting the demand.
“We have expectations from the AAP government. If we didn’t, they would not have got 67 out of 70 seats in the election. We are hopeful that they will get justice for us,” said 65-year-old Balvir Kaur, who was in line for her cheque.
In solidarity with the victim families, Kejriwal wore black armband. However, his political rivals may see his assertion and gesture as his attempt to woo the Sikh community ahead of the 2017 assembly elections in Punjab.