NEW DELHI: Congress MP and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi hit out at his party colleagues over their remarks describing former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar as a “role model”. Channi said those praising Kumar should “mind their tongue”.In a video posted on X on Saturday, Channi said, “Sajjan Kumar is a killer of the Sikh community, a traitor; he conspired to have Sikhs killed…. Far from being a role model, even uttering his name is a sin. If such people become role models, then country will be destroyed.”“He should have been shot in a public place; instead, he died in prison. If someone is calling him a role model, then they should mind their tongue and themselves,” Channi said.His remarks came amid a growing controversy over comments made by some Congress leaders including Deependra Hooda following Kumar’s death on Thursday.Hooda had described Kumar’s death as an “irreparable loss” and praised his connection with people and contribution to Delhi.“Today, such a loss has occurred on the country’s political horizon, which cannot be made up for. Sajjan Kumar was not just a personality of Delhi, rural Delhi, and the whole of North India, but the connection he had with people was an example,” Hooda had said.“His example is given, and the way he stood by people in their joys and sorrows, and the contribution he made to Delhi’s development, is remembered to this day. His passing has caused a great loss,” he added.The remarks triggered criticism from Sikh groups and political parties.
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Sikh leaders and families affected by the 1984 violence protested outside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence in New Delhi on Saturday.The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee demanded an apology and sought clarity on whether Hooda’s remarks reflected the Congress’s position.Congress leaders in Punjab have since distanced themselves from Hooda’s comments.Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the remarks may have been Hooda’s “personal view”.Kumar, 80, died while serving a life sentence in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.The Delhi high court convicted him in 2018 in the Raj Nagar case involving the killing of five members of a family and the burning of a gurdwara.
