Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka on Wednesday questioned the presence of an Aam Aadmi Party Delhi legislator at former Congress MP Sajjjan Kumar’s condolence meeting, accusing the party of “playing politics” with the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
He added that after the Narendra Modi-led government came to power in 2014, the then Union home minister Rajnath Singh announced an additional ₹ 5 lakh compensation for each victim family of the 1984 riots.
“The victims had waited for decades for justice, and their suffering should not be reduced to a political tool. Phoolka questioned what action the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has taken against its legislator. “While compensation was distributed in several states, it was delayed in Delhi after the AAP government came to power. I repeatedly requested the AAP government to distribute the compensation. The money had already been sanctioned by the Centre.
Phoolka said he resigned from all party posts in September 2015 in protest against the delay. Subsequently, on November 1, 2015, the Delhi government distributed the additional compensation at a function in Tilak Vihar. “The victims had already waited 30 years.
Addressing a press conference here, Phoolka said the AAP’s recent protests over three BJP MPs visiting Kumar’s residence were an example of political hypocrisy and accused the party of using the issue for electoral gains instead of genuinely fighting for justice. Those who genuinely stand with the victims cannot simultaneously express solidarity with those convicted in cases relating to crimes against them,” he said. Phoolka said BJP national president Nitin Nabin had summoned three party MPs — Kamlajeet Sehrawat, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Yogender Chandolia — and expressed displeasure over their visits to Kumar’s residence. He said the Centre directed the states to distribute the compensation at the earliest. But I was told that there was no point in giving it immediately and that it could be given closer to the Punjab elections,” he alleged. Their suffering should never have been viewed through the lens of electoral calculations,” he said.
