Accusing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of killing the Sikhs during the 1984 riots, youth Akali leaders in protest blackened the leader’s statue at Salem Tabri in Ludhiana on Tuesday.
Soon after, Congress leader Gursimran Singh Mand cleaned the statue with his turban and milk.
Demanding revocation of Bharat Ratna bestowed on the late prime minister, the SAD workers used black spray paint to desecrate Gandhi's bust on Tuesday, following which the members of the grand old party cleaned it with milk.
Condemning the vandalism, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said, "I have asked police to identify the guilty and take strict action." He also demanded an apology from Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal for the "obnoxious act"
Strongly condemn vandalisation of Rajiv Gandhi's statue by @Akali_Dal_ workers in Ludhiana. Have asked Police to identify the guilty & take strict action. @officeofssbadal should apologise to people of Punjab for this obnoxious act.https://t.co/vh1F12KgEo
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) December 25, 2018
Hitting back at Capt Amarinder, SAD president Sukhbir Badal said, "It would have been better if you as a true Sikh and Punjab CM had condemned the Gandhi family and demanded expulsion of Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath from Congress party. But you are too busy in sycophancy of Gandhi family to save your chair."
"You should apologise to the Sikh sangat for failing them as CM and standing with hated Gandhi family. The community has shown what it thinks of Rajiv Gandhi in Ludhiana. Don't disrespect the sentiments of Sikhs," Sukhbir said in a series of tweets.
It would have been better if you @capt_amarinder as a true Sikh & Punjab CM had condemned the Gandhi family and demanded expulsion of #1984SikhGenocide culprits Sajjan Kumar & Kamal Nath from Congress party. But you are too busy in sycophancy of Gandhi family to save your chair/1
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 25, 2018
If you @capt_amarinder have any ‘dard’ for the Sikh ‘qaum’ you would resign as CM and stand with community to expose Gandhi family for authoring and engineering genocide of Sikhs in 1984. But it seems you are made of stone. No amount of suffering of the community moves you/2
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 25, 2018
You @capt_amarinder should apologise to the Sikh sangat for failing them as CM and standing with hated Gandhi family. The community has shown what it thinks of Rajiv Gandhi in Ludhiana. Don’t disrespect the sentiments of Sikhs/3
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 25, 2018
Cong govt & Gandhi family refused to let police/army come to rescue of 8000 Sikhs butchered in Delhi in 1984. Today when ‘84 victim families blackened Rajiv Gandhi’s bust in Ldh Pb govt realised need to move swiftly agnst Sikhs & make imm arrest in the case. Such is Cong justice.
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 25, 2018
Meanwhile, Capt Amarinder has directed the district police to immediately identify the culprits responsible for the violence and take stringent action against them, as per law.
Lashing out at the Akalis, Captain Amarinder Singh said in their desperation to win public support, which the party had completely lost due to its criminal acts of commission and omission in the 10 years of SAD-BJP rule, the Badals and their supporters were stooping to abominable levels.
“Had the Gandhis been involved in any way, they would have been named by at least some of the victims in the wake of the riots,” he observed, adding that while he had personally visited the refugee camps to meet the victims, Sukhbir had packed his bags and left for the US and was thus totally unaware of the developments at that time.
Meanwhile, Ludhiana Congress president Gurpreet Singh Gogi said the culprits would not be spared and they have registered a complaint with the police.
The Delhi Assembly had also recently passed a resolution demanding that Bharat Ratna awarded to Rajiv Gandhi be withdrawn over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which it termed as a "genocide".
The House directed the government to impress upon the MHA that it should take all important and necessary steps to specifically include crimes against humanity and genocide in India's domestic criminal laws, as recommended by the Delhi High Court in its landmark judgment sentencing Sajjan Kumar and other convicts to life imprisonment.