Ludhiana: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest against the Congress over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Ludhiana on Sunday, with party workers burning an effigy of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and raising slogans against the opposition party.
The demonstration was held at around 11.30 am outside Sanjay Talwar’s office on Tibba Road under the leadership of BJP district president Sunil Modgil. A large number of district office-bearers and party supporters took part, carrying placards targeting Rahul Gandhi.
BJP district president Sunil Modgil and party vice-president Gurdeep Singh Gosha said the protest was organised to highlight the alleged role of Congress leaders in the 1984 anti-Sikh violence.
Gosha accused the Congress of responsibility for the killings of Sikhs during the riots and claimed that 3,325 Sikhs were killed in Punjab during the Congress government’s tenure. He also said members of both the Hindu and Sikh communities had lost their lives during the violence.
The BJP leaders alleged that the Congress had damaged communal harmony in Punjab, where people from different communities had traditionally lived together.
The allegations formed the central theme of the BJP’s protest, which sought to hold the Congress accountable for the events of 1984.
