New Delhi: The anti-Sikh riot of 1984 has come back to haunt Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Kamal Nath, after two witnesses have agreed to depose before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) about his role in the riots.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanded that the senior Congress leader resign from the post of Chief Minister for his alleged role in one of the worst atrocities against the Sikh community by the Congress party.
The SAD leader, Manjinder Sirsa said, “Two witnesses are ready to depose. We talked to them today, they’ve agreed to depose before SIT whenever they are called. We talked to SIT today, they said they will give us a specific date.”
The leader also demanded that security must be provided to the two witnesses for their protection.
Sirsa also asked the Congress party President to oust him from his post so that Sikhs will get justice.
He said, “We demand that the Congress president immediately takes resignation of Kamal Nath and oust him from his post so that the Sikhs get justice. We also demand that the two witnesses be given security as they will testify against the [MP] CM in connection with a massacre.”
The SIT was constituted by the Union Home Ministry to inquire the closed cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and to probe against Kamal Nath’s involvement.
Sirsa had alleged that Kamal Nath had played a pivotal role in the anti-Sikh violence after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation against Indian Army’s storming of the Golden Temple.
In response, the Congress workers unleashed unspeakable violence against the Sikh community all over the country. In Delhi, the violence was brutal and thousands of Sikh men and women perished in the genocide.
Independent sources claim around 8,000 to 17,000 Sikhs were massacred. Women were raped and children orphaned. The Sikhs have been fighting to bring the Congress leaders behind the killings to justice. However, successive Congress governments have tried to protect their leaders like Kamal Nath from being punished.