“A big victory for Akali Dal. SIT Opens case against @OfficeOfKNath for his alleged involvement in 1984 Sikh genocide. Notification issued by MHA upon my submission last year, Case number 601/84 to reopen and consider fresh Evidence against Kamal Nath,” Sirsa said in a tweet.
Sirsa, who is the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the allegations against Kamal Nath.
“I thank the SIT for reopening the case. I request the people who were an eyewitness to Kamal Nath killing Sikhs to come forward and become a witness, there is no need to be scared,” he said in another tweet.
“Very soon he will be arrested and face the same fate as Sajjan Kumar,” the Akali leader said.
Sajjan Kumar, a three-time Congress MP, is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Sirsa also lashed out at the Congress for continuing with Kamal Nath as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh despite his alleged involvement in the riots targeting the Sikh community.
Briefing the media, Sirsa urged interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi to seek Kamal Nath’s resignation so that the Sikhs get justice for the 1984 riots near Gurdwara Rakab Ganj here.
The SIT was formed after Akali leaders, including federal minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, alleged that Kamal Nath had incited violence against Sikhs in 1984 following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party said will it hold a ‘Congress Bhagao, Pradesh Bachao’ (oust Congress, save state) campaign across Madhya Pradesh today.
As part of the agitation the party will hold a ‘Ghanta Naad Andolan’ (tolling of the bells) drive against the state government for public awareness against its failures through the past eight months since the BJPs defeat in assembly elections.
The BJP obviously wants to cash in on the factional skirmishes among Congress leaders that have distracted Kamal Nath’s administration. Kamal Nath who heads the party and the government has been shuttling between Delhi and Bhopal after verbal clashes between former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and some ministers. Though the matter has been referred to the disciplinary committee, there is an uneasy calm as diverse factions are exerting pressure on the leadership.
The issue is the replacement of Kamal Nath as state party chief. He has resigned from the post but has been told to continue till his replacement is found. While one faction would want former federal minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to be made the party’s state chief, both Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh are resisting the move. Kamal Nath’s other headache is Digvijaya Singh growing hunger for limelight. He has been selectively leaking his observations about the ministries in public and trying to intimidate them.
“Under the one-day demonstration – Ghanta Naad, we will ring “bells” on the roads to wake up the Congress government in MP which was in a slumber,” BJP leader Deepak Vijayvargiya said.
“We are going to take out rallies at all district headquarters and submit memorandums to collectors addressed to the state government seeking to wake it up from slumber,” he added.
He said that Kamal Nath’s government has turned a blind eye to corruption, which has flourished.
Welfare schemes, especially for the poor and farmers have been shelved, he said.
“The Congress state satraps are fighting to ensure that their camps grab the state party head’s post,” he added. “As a result there is no worthwhile development taking place in the state,” Vijayvargiya added.
The infighting in the Congress has cheered the BJP which was humiliated during the monsoon session of the assembly after two of its legislators crossed the floor and voted a Congress sponsored bill in the budget session of state assembly on July 24.