1984 was a needless tragedy, Sam Pitroda must apologise, says Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Facing acute embarrassment over Sam Pitroda’s seemingly dismissive comments on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Congress president Rahul Gandhi weighed in on Friday and said Pitroda’s statements were “completely out of line” and demanded that he apologise for his words.

Seeking to undo the likely mid-election damage that such a comment could pose to Congress’ campaign — Punjab and Delhi will poll on Sunday— Rahul also referred to the 1984 Sikh riots as “a needless tragedy that caused tremendous pain”.

“I think justice has to be done. The people who were responsible for the 1984 tragedy have to be punished. The former PM, Manmohan Singh has apologised. My mother, Sonia Gandhihas apologised. We all have made our position very clear — that 1984 was a terrible tragedy and should never have happened. What Sam Pitroda has said is absolutely and completely out of line and is not appreciated. I will be communicating this to him directly. He must apologise for his comment,” the Congress chief said in a statement on Facebook.

Earlier in the day, a red-faced Congress tried to distance itself from Pitroda’s statement while Pitroda himself sought to allege a “distortion” of his words. “Truth is being distorted, lies are being amplified through social media and targeted. People are systematically being intimidated. However, truth will always prevail and lies will be exposed. It is just a matter of time. Have patience,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, however, clarified that “remarks made by any individual” were not reflective of the party’s stand, while cautioning leaders to be careful with their comments. Congress also alleged that BJP was using the riots as a “vote garnering exercise in every election”, instead of ensuring justice and closure.

“Congress has striven more than anybody else to bring comprehensive and timely justice for the 1984 victims and we continue to support that quest for justice in the cases where it has not achieved completion and we continue to support stern punishment for those found guilty in accordance with law,” said Abhishek Singhvi, Congress spokesperson.