CHANDIGARH, Punjab—Amid sharp criticism by the various organizations in Punjab, the newly appointed state incharge of Congress in Punjab, Kamal Nath, quit from his post on June 15th. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee received a sigh of relief as the state unit was expected to face a major loss in the upcoming assembly elections due to the appointment of Kamal Nath.
Kamal Nath is a key person that is accused of the 1984’s Sikh genocide and he admitted before at the Nanawati Commission that he was present outside the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib on November 1, 1984 when a father and son were brutally murdered by the mobs and the Gurdwara was put on fire. Although, he claims that he was there to save other Sikhs from the mobs.
In a resignation sent to Congress’ President, Sonia Gandhi, just after three days of his appointment, Congress’ General Secretary, Kamal Nath, said that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), BJP and AAP were raking up the issue to malign the party. He termed the move as a cheap ploy to gain traction before the assembly elections of 2017 in Punjab. He said that the opposite parties were airing false allegations against him to divert the attention of the masses from the real issues of Punjab such as drug abuse and mis-governance.
‘The Nanavati Commission appointed by the NDA government absolved. Even during a subsequent motion to discuss the commission’s report in Parliament, none of the Akali-BJP MP’s, including Sukhbir Badal mentioned my name. Never in my long political career has any stigma been attached to my name’ he wrote in his resignation.
Kamal Nath was under fire immediately after his appointment as state incharge of Congress in Punjab. His appointment was being condemned by the worldwide Sikh and Human rights bodies. His predecessor Shakeel Ahmed was replaced by him for inept performance during Haryana’s Rajya Sabha elections.
There have been a number of protests in Punjab since the appointment of Kamal Nath to top Congress post. An effigy of Kamal Nath was burnt in Jalandhar on June 14th by the Sikh Taalmel Committee for appointing him as State Incharge of Congress in Punjab and Haryana. Kamal Nath was appointed as State Incharge of Congress in Punjab and Haryana by Party President Rahul Gandhi to replace Shakeel Ahmed for his inept performance during the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana.
Addressing the media on this occasion, the president of the protesting body, S. Tejinder Singh Pardesi, said that the Congress rubbed salt on the unhealed wounds of the victims of the 1984’s Sikh genocide. He also said that the Congress depicted its anti-Sikh face by appointing the key accused of the 1984’s Sikh genocide as the state Incharge of its Party affairs in Punjab and Haryana.
He added that Kamal Nath played an equal role to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar during the Sikh carnage of November 1984. He informed us that Kamal Nath was leading the Hindu mobs on November 1, 1984 near Gurdwara Rakab Ganj where lots of Sikhs were killed by these mobs.
Not just the Sikhs, but other communities also objected to Kamal Nath’s appointment. The Chairman of the Punjab Muslim Welfare Development Board, Sri Dilbag Hussain, earlier strongly condemned the appointment of Kamal Nath.
Addressing the gathering Muslim activists at Jalandhar, Mr. Hussain said that the Muslim religion was plaintiff of delivering justice to the victims by bringing culprits into justice. He added that Islam considers murderer and murder inciting elements equally guilty. ‘Congress has always promoted the perpetrators of 1984’s Sikh genocide to rub salt on the unhealed wounds of the victim Sikhs’ he added.
He said that different commissions appointed by the union government of India to probe Sikh genocide cases held Kamal Nath guilty for leading and inciting the mob for about two hours to kill Sikhs. He further added that by appointing Kamal Nath as State Incharge of Punjab and Haryana, the Congress depicted its anti-minorities face.
Mr. Gafur Iaz Mohammad, Mr. Masood Akhtar, Mr. Mohammad Abrar, Mr. Mohammad Shehzad, Mr. Mohammad Tamanna, Mr. Mohammad Intekhab, Haji Israr, Mohammad Adil, Mohammad Shamsher, Mohammad Dilshad, Imam Hussain, Bagh Hussain, Liakat Ali, Mohammad Irshad, President of Intezamia Committee Masjid Bilal and President of Salamani Brotherhood were present on this occasion.
