BJP stages dharnas in Uttarakhand against Pitroda's remarks on 1984 anti-Sikh riots

The BJP staged sit-in protests across Uttarakhand on May 11 in protest against the "insensitive" remarks of Congress leader Sam Pitroda on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Pitroda, a close aide of Gandhi and Overseas Congress' head, on Thursday said, 'hua to hua' (So what, it happened) about the anti-Sikh riots. He made this remark in response to a question on the riots by a newsman in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP said Pitroda's comments showed the Congress has no regrets about the killing of thousands of innocent Sikhs.

BJP workers chanting slogans gathered at the collectorate in all the district headquarters and staged a dharna to protest against Pitroda for his "insensitive" remarks, state BJP media in-charge Devendra Bhasin said.

In Dehradun, BJP workers led by vice president Jyoti Prasad Gairola and Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi sat on a dharna at Gandhi Park demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his guru's "insensitive" remarks.

"Pitroda's remarks are highly condemnable. Besides proving that the Congress was behind the riots, they also reflect that the party does not regret the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs. It is like rubbing salt into their wounds," Gairola  said at the dharna venue.

"The then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's remarks after the riots and the role of several Congress leaders in the riots are well known. The Congress tried its best to save those who had a hand in the riots. It even made one of them chief minister. Under Narendra Modi, some of the accused have landed behind the bars and the fight will go on till everyone guilty is brought to book," he said.

Members of the Sikh community also held a demonstration in protest against Pitroda's remarks at Darshan Lal Chawk and later joined BJP leaders protesting at Gandhi Park, Bhasin said.