Congress Had Persecuted Sikhs, Denied Them Justice: Smriti Irani

Congress rewarded 1984 riot culprits with ministries instead of punishing them, BJP sent them to jail, says BJP leader

In a scathing attack on Congress in Punjab, Union Minister and senior Bhartiya Janata Party leader Smriti Zubin Irani on Wednesday called Rahul Gandhi a leader of Tukde Tukde gang.

Addressing a public meeting in support of her party candidates in Ludhiana, she accused the Congress party and its leaders of being anti-Hindu and anti-Sikh, saying it had not only persecuted the Sikhs but also denied them justice.

Union minister Smriti Irani in Ludhiana on Wednesday

“It was the BJP which had delivered justice in the anti-Sikh 1984 riots. The Congress instead of punishing the culprits rewarded them with ministries,” Irani said, adding, “It is the BJP which sent the culprits to jail.”

Lashing out at the Congress, the BJP leader said when the BJP government decided to bring the law to provide Indian citizenship rights to the harassed minorities in Afghanistan, the Congress opposed it. “It was the BJP government which got 155 Sikhs from Afghanistan as they were being persecuted there and granted them citizenship rights,” Irani said.

The Union Minister for Women and Child Development said it was the BJP government that had repealed Article 370, which enabled over one lakh Sikhs living in Jammu and Kashmir to get citizenship rights. “Even after the passage of 72 years of Independence those Sikhs who had migrated to Jammu and Kashmir were not granted citizenship rights by the successive Congress governments making an excuse of the Article 370.”

Irani said the central government had granted Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration to Golden Temple in Amritsar by virtue of which Shri Darbar Sahib will now be eligible to receive foreign donations.

Taking an indirect dig at the Congress for questioning the existence of Lord Rama, she said now its leader was roaming around the temples while proudly sporting his ‘jenayu’ (sacred thread).

The BJP leader appealed to the people of Punjab to ensure that on February 20 they come out to vote in favour of the BJP to put Punjab on the path of progress and development.