The 1984 question: Rahul Gandhi’s reply, Manmohan Singh’s apology and Sonia ‘regret’

In August 2005, Singh, the country’s first and only Sikh PM, had apologised to members of Parliament and the nation for the riots. “I have no hesitation in apologising to not only the Sikh community but also to the nation. I bow my head in shame that such a thing happened,” he said in the Rajya Sabha.

He added, “… what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.”

Speaking at an event to mark the 100th birth anniversary of I K Gujral in December 2019, who was India’s prime minister in 1997-98, Singh reiterated the same sentiment. He said, “When the sad events of 1984 took place, Gujralji on that very sad evening went to the then Home Minister P V Narasimha Rao and said to him that the situation is so grave that it is necessary for the government to call the Army at the earliest. If that advice would have been heeded, perhaps the massacre that took place in 1984 could have been avoided.”

In January 1998, Sonia had said she could “understand” the pain of the Sikhs as she herself had experienced it, losing her husband Rajiv and mother-in-law Indira Gandhi in violent incidents. “There is no use recalling what we have collectively lost. No words can balm that pain. Consolation from others always somehow sound hollow… Three generations of my family have contributed in the fight for the country’s independence. I ask you on their behalf to ensure victory to their dreams.”

On his part, Rahul has a couple of times in the past echoed their sentiments when asked about the riots. In 2014, he had said: “The Prime Minister of the UPA has apologised and the president of the Congress (has) expressed regrets. I share their sentiments completely. Innocent people dying is a horrible thing and should not happen.”

The shadow of the riots has been on the Punjab leg of Rahul’s yatra. A day before the Yatra kicked off, posters appeared on the walls of the Congress Bhawan in Ludhiana questioning the top Congress leader over his party’s role in the country’s Partition in 1947 and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. On January 12, when Rahul’s Yatra made its way to Ludhiana, the 1984 riots victims held a protest in the city, burning effigies and demanding an apology from him over the Sikh massacre.

Both the SAD and BJP, ex-allies and now rivals, were the first to target Rahul over his Yatra in Punjab. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged: “This (Gandhi) family has a history of breaking Punjab and discriminating against it. No one has damaged Punjab as much as Gandhi family. Former PM Indira Gandhi ordered an attack on Darbar Sahib using tanks and mortars which destroyed Sikhism’s highest temporal seat Akal Takht. Rajiv Gandhi engineered the 1984 riots and even justified them. Rahul Gandhi should look into his conscience before coming here.”

Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma charged, “The Congress has never felt ashamed of the 1984 riots till date. I hope at least now he (Rahul) will tender an apology to Sikhs for this heinous act of his family.”