Name Congress men involved in 1984 riots, Sikh groups tell Rahul

Several Sikh groups on Thursday staged a protest outside the Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road and demanded that Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi reveal the names of party members who were involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

In a recent interview to a TV news channel, Rahul had said “some Congress men” were probably involved in the riots and “they have been punished for it”.

The protesters shouted anti-Congress slogans and held up black flags and placards, one of which read: “CBI should question Rahul Gandhi for Congress involvement in 1984 riots”.

“We want justice. We want to know who were the people involved in the riots,” said one of the protesters.

Asked about the Delhi government’s decision to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the riots cases, he said: “We have been demanding an SIT for the past 25 years. If Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is really with us, we welcome him, but if he is doing politics, we would like to request him not to do so.”

The 200-odd demonstrators marched towards the Congress headquarters and managed to break the first barricade. They were stopped, however, at the second barricade by police. Many of them were detained and taken to Tughlaq Road police station from where they were later released.

In the interview, Rahul had insisted that the Congress government in 1984 “was not aiding and abetting the riots” but had tried to stop the violence.

Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar are facing allegations of involvement in the riots that occurred in the aftermath of former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984.

The Delhi Police and the CBI have held probes into the riots.