Anil Vij calls 1984 riots a planned massacre

Ambala (Haryana) [India], Feb. 1 (ANI) Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Thursday courted another controversy by calling the 1984 riots a planned massacre by the Congress and termed it as the most communal party in the country.

The Haryana Minister said that the prime accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Jagdish Tytler, has been hiding the truth for so long.

Speaking to ANI, Anil Vij said, "J Tytler has been hiding the truth for so many years. In 1984, the murders were done by them. Congress is the biggest communal party in the country. (J Tytler itne saal tak sachchai ko chupa kar rakha,1984 mein katal-e-aam hua,yeh in saaron ne karawaya.Congress desh ki sabse badi sampradayik party hai)."

"It is indeed a big issue that Rajiv Gandhi's name has been included in the 1984-riots. (Rajiv Gandhi ka naam ana ki woh bhi ghoom kar dekh rahe the logon ke gharon ko jalte hue, yeh badi baat hai)", added the Haryana Minister.

Recently, former deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal accused former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of supervising the anti-Sikh riots in parts of Delhi in October and November 1984.

Singh's response came in the wake of reports that Gandhi took several rounds of North Delhi with then-senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler to assess the situation during and immediately after the riots.

"Jagdish Tytler has revealed that Rajiv Gandhi travelled with him across the city in 1984. It means that the then prime minister was supervising the killings. CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) must look into it, it is a very serious issue," Badal told ANI.

In an interview given to a news channel recently, Tytler had claimed that Gandhi took stock of the situation and asked him to contain the riots.

Tytler was then a sitting Member of Parliament from North Delhi.

The former union minister is regarded as a controversial leader for his alleged role in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in Delhi following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

The anti-Sikh riots in parts of north and northwestern India came in the aftermath of "Operation Blue Star" in June 1984, when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar and flush out and or eliminate Sikh separatists housed within with weapons. (ANI)