Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): A day after CBI filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in 1984 anti- sikh riot case, medical education minister Vishvas Sarang asked Congress leadership if the party will fight the upcoming Assembly polls under the leadership of State PCC chief Kamal Nath, who has been facing the heat over the alleged involvement in anti-sikh riot.
"Kamal Nath carries a big blot on his robe. Will he lead the party with it in the (Assembly) elections? He should come in the midst of people and say whether he was involved in the riots," said Sarang while talking to reporters at the BJP office on Sunday.
"The Congress has always played divisive politics. I appeal to the Congress leadership to remove those accused of involvement in the anti-Sikh riots. Or else it will be clear Congress wants to fight polls under the leadership of a man accused of killing Sikhs," said Sarang.
Names of four Congress leaders including Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath had surfaced as accused in anti-Sikh riots post the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, said the minister. Nanavati Commission had investigated the case after which it was forwarded to CBI and in 2004 when Congress came to the power it tried to put things under the wrap and did not take action against any accused, alleged the minister.
After 2014, investigative agencies worked on the case and brought the guilty to the book and as a result former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment, Sarang said. On Saturday CBI chargesheeted second Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the case and he too will be sent to jail shortly and Kamal Nath, another 'accused' in the case will also face the music, Sarang added.
Quoting from a book written by anti-Sikh riots witnesses Sanjay Soorie, the minister said that he (Soorie) has alleged that ‘Kamal Nath was leading the mob of four to five thousand rioters and on Nath’s instance, people serving at Raqabganj Gurudwara were burnt alive’.
He claimed there is resentment among Sikhs against Kamal Nath. When Nath was made in charge of Punjab in 2016, there was outcry against him and Congress leadership was forced to call him back from Punjab. Some time back in Indore, Sikh saint Manpreet Kanpuria had objected saying that one who is ‘accused’ of anti-Sikh riots how he can come to attend Prakash Parv.
