Amritsar: Punjab BJP spokesperson and Sikh thinker Prof. Sarchand Singh Khiala said that advising people to forget the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre as an event of the distant past amounts to reopening the wounds of Sikh victims and their families. Sam Pitroda’s remarks that the country should focus on the future, education, employment, skills and artificial intelligence rather than events that took place four decades ago reflect a disturbing insensitivity towards the victims of 1984.
Prof. Khiala said that the passage of 42 years does not erase a crime, nor does it extinguish the victims’ right to justice. Development and justice are not mutually exclusive. India needs progress, but it must also confront the grave injustices of its past and ensure accountability.
He said that Sam Pitroda must understand that societies do not forget their history and cultural heritage. The age-old account of Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana continues to be remembered. The centuries-old plunder of the Somnath Temple has not been forgotten. The Sikh community continues to remember with reverence the Great and Lesser Holocausts (Vadda and Chhota Ghallughara) and the supreme martyrdom of the younger Sahibzadas. The horrific events of 1984, by comparison, are still part of the recent past.
Prof. Khiala said that in 1984, Sikhs were killed, homes and places of worship were burnt, and cases of sexual violence and gang rape of women were reported. Countless families were devastated, while many victims continue to await justice. Advising them to forget the past and move on is an attempt to silence their legitimate demand for justice.
He said that the silence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over Sam Pitroda’s remarks raises serious questions. The Congress leadership must clarify whether it agrees with Pitroda’s views. If it does not, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi should publicly condemn his statement and apologise to the Sikh community. On the one hand, Congress claims to stand for justice for the victims of 1984; on the other, its leaders advise people to forget the tragedy. This is a clear contradiction.
Prof. Khiala also referred to the statement made by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi: “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes.” He said that this remark continues to raise serious questions about the attitude of the government of the day towards the violence of 1984. Instead of political rhetoric, Congress must answer for its political record and for the failure to deliver justice to the victims.
He asserted that the Sikh community has not forgotten and will not forget its martyrs, its history or its wounds. Instead of preaching forgetfulness, Congress must first answer for its own past. The Sikh community does not need lectures on forgetting; it needs justice.
There can be no compromise without justice, no moving forward without truth, and no tolerance for any attempt to erase the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre from history.