NEW DELHI: Sikh leaders and families affected by the 1984 anti-Sikh riots staged a protest outside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s residence in New Delhi on Saturday, demanding an apology over remarks by some Congress leaders describing former party leader Sajjan Kumar as a “hero” and “role model”.The protest, led by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Harmeet Singh Kalka and general secretary Jagdeep Singh Kahlon, took place amid heavy police barricading outside Gandhi’s residence at 5, Sunehri Bagh Road.A DSGMC leader questioned whether the Congress endorsed the remarks made about Kumar, who was convicted in a case linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.“After Sajjan Kumar’s death, the kind of statements given by Congress leaders saying Sajjan Kumar is our hero are objectionable. Rahul Gandhi has to clarify today whether Sajjan Kumar is their hero,” the leader said.Referring to Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda’s remarks, the DSGMC leader sought an apology from Gandhi and the party.“Forty-two years later, the wounds of our families have been reopened. Our sentiments have been hurt. Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders must acknowledge and apologise,” he said.The DSGMC had earlier said the protest followed what it described as the Congress “once again allegedly referred to Sajjan Kumar, accused in the killings of thousands of Sikhs, as a role model”.The controversy intensified after Hooda, speaking to ANI following Kumar’s death on Thursday, said, “Today, the country’s political landscape has suffered an irreparable loss… He is cited as a role model nationwide.”Punjab Congress leaders subsequently distanced themselves from Hooda’s remarks.Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said Kumar had been punished for his actions and that the party stood with the victims.“Sajjan Kumar did misdeeds. He has been punished for his actions. A leader does not lead in harming others. We stand with those who died due to him,” Aujla said.On Hooda’s statement, Aujla said, “It must be the personal opinion of Hooda ji but our view is that whatever happened and whoever it happened with, we stand with them, the victims.”Punjab Congress working president Raj Kumar Verka also said the party’s priority was to support those affected by the violence.“Sajjan Kumar’s life had been full of controversies. This is a matter related to Punjab and Punjabis have been hurt. If Sajjan Kumar is being held responsible for it, we first stand in support of those innocent people; Sajjan Kumar comes only later,” Verka told ANI.
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Congress MP Manish Tewari declined to comment directly on Hooda’s remarks, saying, “I haven’t read the statement, so it won’t be correct to comment on it… If he is saying something, he is capable to speak on it.”Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab on Friday criticised the Congress over Hooda’s remarks.Kumar, an 80-year-old former Congress MP, died on Thursday while serving a life sentence in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. He was convicted by the Delhi high court in 2018 in the Raj Nagar case involving the killing of five members of a family and the burning of a gurdwara.In February 2025, a Delhi court sentenced him to a second life term in the Saraswati Vihar murder case involving the deaths of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh.
