By IANS,
New Delhi : Not mollified by the Congress party dropping Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as party candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, many Sikhs are demanding the prosecution of the two for their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
“This is not a victory. Our issue in Punjab is not about the tickets to Tytler and Kumar. They should be prosecuted,” Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said.
The journalist who chucked a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram in protest maintains that justice still needs to be done.
“I am not feeling victorious. This (move to axe him) may be good politically, but still justice needs to be done,” Jarnail Singh told IANS.
“If those who lost their near and dear ones (in the riots) think that it is good, it is fine. But the culprits should be brought to book,” he said.
Manvinder Singh, a businessman, thinks it is just an “eyewash”. He told IANS: “It is nothing but an eyewash. If the Congress was really so serious about people’s sentiments, they would not have given ticket to both of them till now. Thanks to Jarnail’s shoe, this will probably be the end of their political careers.”
Jagjit Singh Sandhu, a pilot, told IANS: “I think that it’s a gesture by a responsible political party that should be welcomed. Congress has responded to the feelings of the members of a community who feel that these people should not be given tickets till proven innocent by the judiciary.”
Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were alleged to have led mobs during the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in Oct 31, 1984. Over 3,000 Sikhs were believed to have been killed in the riots.