Chandigarh: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and senior advocate H.S. Phoolka on Wednesday sharply reacted to senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s account of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, calling it “another attempt to a build a fake narrative”.
According to the senior advocate, whatever Sonia Gandhi has written in her memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, is “factually incorrect”.
Speaking to IANS, Phoolka said: “She (Sonia Gandhi) has tried to show that Hindus were provoked after coming to know of the assassination of Indira Gandhi. This same narrative was attempted by the Congress in 1984.”
“However, we (BJP) have proved this on record that Hindus didn’t kill Sikhs, rather it was the Congress, the then-ruling party, which used government machinery to massacre the Sikhs,” he added.
Phoolka said that had Hindus being responsible for killing Sikhs at that time, then there was a danger of the situation escalating to Punjab.
“That is why we brought out the truth before the Commissions and have proved it on record,” he added, citing the reports of Misra and the Nanavati Commissions.
Further referring to Sonia Gandhi’s claim that “by the afternoon, rioting had broken out in different parts of the city and beyond”, on October 31, Phoolka challenged the Congress leader to show a single incident that took place in the afternoon on that day in the national capital.
“The President was the first Sikh to be targeted in Delhi, that too around 4:30 or 5 p.m. in the evening,” he said referring to the reported attack on the convoy of then-President Giani Zail Singh.
Moreover, Phoolka claimed: “People linked to Congress had themselves started this violence in the area around AIIMS, after the attack on the President (convoy)…another attempt is being made to build a fake narrative.”
The BJP leader also rejected Sonia Gandhi’s claims that the delay in the deployment of the Army during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, was due to certain concerns by the then-Army Chief.
Citing the then-Army Chief General A S Vaidya’s statement before the Misra Commission, Phoolka said: “General Vaidya had testified that after coming to know of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, he himself had called in troops at 10:30 a.m.”
“He (Army Chief) had called in Sikh Light Infantry from the Meerut unit and now Sonia Gandhi is claiming that General Vaidya didn’t have faith on the Sikh troops. In reality, it was the Rajiv Gandhi’s government which didn’t trust the Sikh soldiers,” he remarked.
Phoolka added that General Vaidya had also testified before the Commission that 6,100 soldiers were available in Delhi on October 31.
“It was mentioned in the Misra Commission’s report that even if 5,000 of them were deployed on November 1 in Delhi, at least 2,000 Sikhs would have been saved. So, who is responsible for the deaths of those 2,000 Sikhs, should be answered by Sonia Gandhi?” he said.
The senior lawyer said that even if then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was unaware of the developments, according to the Congress Parliamentary Committee Chairperson’s account, “what steps did he take after coming to know of it?”
Recalling Rajiv Gandhi’s speech after the riots, where he had remarked “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes a little”, referring to the assassination of late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, BJP leader Phoolka accused him of justifying the massacre against the Sikhs.
“In fact, leaders linked to the riots like HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath and others were promoted in the government,” the BJP leader said.
Referring to Sonia Gandhi remark “justice has been hard”, Phoolka said: “Judges from lower courts to High Court were transferred…and even chargesheets were not filed in courts.”
(IANS)
