Chandigarh: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Sikh community, evoked a mixed reaction from Sikh fora in Punjab on Tuesday with some of the Sikh scholars lauding his stance and others, reminding him of the killings of Sikhs during Congress regime in 1984.
While neither the apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) nor the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) reacted over Rahul’s remarks till the time of filing this report, noted Sikh historian Prof Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon, a former professor from history department, Panjab University (PU), who has also authored several books on the subject, lauded Rahul’s stance.
Prof Dhillon said that it is a good stand taken by Rahul Gandhi, for it is appropriate and timely. "We must always remember that we are a democracy; we are a multi-religion, multicultural and multi-linguist country and therefore there should be freedom of expression'', he told FPJ.
However, Gurcharan Singh Grewal, an SGPC member, in his video message said (on his personal behalf) that the point is that whether Rahul Gandhi is making such remarks as a sympathiser of Sikhs or just to hit at his political rival. Apparently referring to 1984 anti-sikh riots after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Grewal went on to say that in this case, Rahul must also remember what his (Rahul’s) father (Rajeev Gandhi) had said – ``when a big tree falls, the earth shakes’’. He asked, hence, the big question the people are asking him whether he is a sikh sympathiser or just scoring against his political parties.
Grewal further held that both the parties (Congress and BJP) which call themselves patriot, must learn to respect Sikhs, who are the country's biggest patriots.
