NEW DELHI: Stung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remark that Narendra Modi will be “disastrous” for the country as PM, BJP hit back suggesting whether Singh should apply the same yardstick to Rajiv Gandhi under whose tenure the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place.
“Is he willing to use the same phraseology for the Prime Minister as on 1st November, 1984 during whose tenure the worst ever genocide in the country took place against the Sikh community and for which nobody till date has been held responsible,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters.
The anti-Sikh riots had taken place in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, when Rajiv Gandhi took over as Prime Minister.
Jaitley’s comments came close on the heels of Prime Minister Singh’s attack on the Gujarat Chief Minister saying, “I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as prime minister.”
Sharpening his attack on Modi during his press conference, Singh went on to say, “If by strong PM you mean that you preside over mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, if that is the measure of strength, I do not believe that kind of strength this country needs, least of all in its prime minister.”
Replying to a question on the anti-Sikh riots, the Prime Minister said he has publicly apologized to the Sikh community on behalf of the government and what happened in 1984 should have never happened.
He said though no amount can be “adequate” to compensate for the loss of valuable human lives lost during the riots, the UPA has done “quite a lot” for the Sikhs who suffered.
“I think our government has done quite a lot (for Sikh victims). I used the opportunity of a decision in Parliament to publicly apologies to Sikh community on behalf of the government of our country for what had happened in 1984. It should never have happened.
“As far as compensation is concerned, I think one can never give adequate compensation to compensate for the loss of valuable life but wherever possible, we have provided succor to the suffering families of the Sikhs of 1984 riots,” he said at his press conference. -PTI
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