Chandigarh: Punjab BJP on Wednesday organised a conference on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, with survivors and party leaders accusing Congress of shielding those responsible and questioning the 42-year delay in securing justice. Speakers also challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to an open debate on his family’s role and successive Congress govts’ handling of the cases.At the conference, ‘Zakhm 84 De’, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said Punjab continued to bear two major scars — the 1984 violence and drug addiction. Referring to former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s remark, “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes”, he said it amounted to justifying the killing of innocent Sikhs. He questioned why the Gandhi family had not apologised to the victims.Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon and party’s state in-charge Satish Poonia also targeted Rahul Gandhi, urging him to address survivors’ grievances. Poonia specifically referred to survivor Nirpreet Kaur.Senior advocate H S Phoolka recalled the prolonged legal battle, citing the Nanavati Commission, constituted in 2000, whose report in 2005 recommended further investigation into allegations against Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and Dharam Das Shastri. Former Delhi high court judge Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra (retd) highlighted alleged investigative and prosecution lapses.Survivors, including Atma Singh Lubana and Nirpreet Kaur, recounted killings, arson and attacks on Sikh families, with several participants breaking down. A photographic exhibition documented the violence and displacement.
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