New Delhi: Members of the Delhi BJP's Sikh cell staged a protest against Rahul Gandhi near his 10 Janpath residence here on Wednesday, demanding an apology from the Congress leader over his remarks in the US concerning the community.
Raising slogans and carrying placards, the protesters, including women, tried to approach Gandhi's residence from Vigyan Bhawan, but were stopped by police at a barricade.
Addressing a gathering of several hundred Indian Americans in Washington DC on Monday, Gandhi accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of considering some religions, languages and communities inferior than others and said the fight in India is about this and not about politics.
Asking the name of a turbaned person in the gathering, Gandhi said, "The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That is what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions."
The protesters raised slogans against the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, demanded his apology for "humiliating" Sikhs and held the Congress responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the country. Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national spokesperson R P Singh alleged that Gandhi has "insulted" Sikhs through his statement.
"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the Sikh community is witnessing progress and the members of the community feel safe in India. The 1984 massacre, where Sikhs were beaten up and killed, occurred during the Congress rule," he said.
Delhi BJP's Sikh cell convenor Charanjeet Singh Lovely said Gandhi's "small-mindedness is evident from his statement, claiming that Sikh turbans are not safe in India and that Sikhs lack religious freedom". "The Congress has historically been the political party that caused the most harm to Sikhs," he said, citing the 1984 riots.
Delhi BJP's Sikh cell in-charge Tarvinder Marwah said Gandhi should learn the history of his family and acknowledge the atrocities inflicted on Sikhs by his grandmother and father. "No other political party has wronged the Sikh community as much as the Congress," he said.
The BJP has come down heavily on Gandhi over his remarks in the United States about Sikhs, saying the Congress leader is trying to create a "dangerous narrative" by speaking on "sensitive issues" abroad.
