Responding to a question on the 1984 riots and the Congress’ relationship with the Sikh community, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said a lot of the “mistakes” the party committed had happened when he was not there.
Gandhi, however, said he was “more than happy” to take responsibility for everything wrong the Congress did in its history.
Rahul Gandhi made the remarks on April 21 during an interactive session at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in the US.
The video of the interaction was uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs on Saturday. A clip from the interview was widely shared on social media.
In the video, Rahul Gandhi could be heard saying, “As far as the mistakes of the Congress party are concerned, a lot of those mistakes happened when I was not there, but I am more than happy to take responsibility for everything that the Congress party has ever done wrong in its history.”
“I have publicly stated that what happened in the 80s was wrong, I have been to the Golden Temple multiple times, I have an extremely good relationship with the Sikh community in India and a loving relationship with them,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was quoted by news agency PTI as saying on May 4.
BJP hits out at Rahul Gandhi
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) IT Department head Amit Malviya posted the viral clip on social media X on Saturday.
He captioned the video as: “‘You haven’t reconciled with the Sikhs’, a young man tells Rahul Gandhi to his face, reminding him of the unfounded fearmongering he engaged in during his last visit to the US.”
“It is quite unprecedented that Rahul Gandhi is now being ridiculed not just in India, but around the world,” Malviya said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Pratap Sarnaik contended that if Rahul Gandhi is seeking “forgiveness for something that happened in 1980, it shows his bachpana [immaturity]…:
Congress allies hail Gandhi’s remarks
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut reacted to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s comments on ‘Operation Bluestar” and said, “Rahul Gandhi is a politician with a clean heart [saaf dil ke neta hai]. We have seen that he accepts his mistake. We are fortunate that such a leader is there in our country.”
“In politics, it is a big thing to accept a mistake. PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah should learn to accept mistake and move ahead from Rahul Gandhi,” Raut said.
The Indian Army’s ‘Operation Blue Star’ began on June 1, 1984. The operation was carried out to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who had taken shelter in the Harmandir Sahib Complex (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab.
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwal had called for the creation of a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.
The operation, which was approved by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had a massive repercussion, leading to violent religious clashes.
The operation was ordered by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and took place from June 1 to June 10, 1984.