Strip Rajiv Gandhi of Bharat Ratna, demands Phoolka

Famous lawyer and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader H S Phoolka and BJP’s national secretary Sardar R P Singh on Thursday demanded the government to take back the Bharat Ratna award from former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for his alleged role in the 1984 anti- Sikh massacre, justifying the killings by saying: “When the big tree falls, the earth shakes”. Rajiv Gandhi had made this controversial statement on November 19, 1984, just two weeks before the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of the country in the aftermath of assassination of his mother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

“Not even a single FIR was registered till Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister. The Congress party had branded Atal Bihari Vajpaye as ‘anti-national’ for releasing the list of 2,800 Sikhs killed in Delhi against the then Rajiv Gandhi government’s data of 650 killings stated in Parliament. The same government after three years came out with official figure of 2,736 killings of Sikhs,” said H S Phoolka, who is a known crusader for Sikh victims and authored a book When a Tree Shook Delhi. 

“A Prime Minister who takes three years to count the dead bodies of innocent citizens massacred in the national Capital and justifies the killing of the innocent citizens, definitely does not deserve a Bharat Ratna. We therefore, call upon the government to withdraw the Bharat Ratna conferred upon Rajiv Gandhi,” demanded both the Sikh leaders. “The huge crowed, whom Rajiv Gandhi was addressing at the Boat Club, lauded this justification by clapping. This crowd mostly comprised of the workers and leaders of Congress who had indulged in the killings of the Sikhs,” added Phoolka, reminiscing those frightening days.

He also added that Rajiv Gandhi rewarded the leaders whose names prominently figured in killings of the Sikhs in various government inquiries and human rights groups. “Jagdish Tytler was made the minister for the first time in December 1984, HKL Bhagat was promoted from state minister to Cabinet minister in December 1984 with Sajjan Singh and the other accused given plum posts,” added Phoolka.