Congress should apologise for 1984 Sikh massacre, not stage protests: Nitin Nabin

Chandigarh: Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Nabin on Sunday targeted the Congress during the ‘Samvidhan Bachao-Arajkata Hatao’ padyatra organised in Rohtak, saying that the party should have repented and apologised for the 1984 Sikh massacre, but Rahul Gandhi had instead taken to the streets to stage a protest. He said Haryana had always worked to safeguard democracy and would continue to play its role in protecting democratic values. Nabin said the heinous acts committed against Sikhs on November 1, 1984, and the massacre that followed were matters for which the Congress should have expressed remorse and tendered an apology. However, instead of doing so, the party had taken to the streets to stage protests. He asked, “Rahul ji, when our Sikh brothers were massacred, your father had said, ‘When a big tree falls, the earth shakes.’ The lives of so many of our Sikh brothers were lost in that shaking of the earth. You should have regretted what happened and apologised for it, but instead, you have taken to the streets to stage a protest.” Responding to the Opposition's allegations of vote theft and its calls for the removal of the government, Nabin said the BJP was committed to safeguarding democracy. He said the Opposition, which talked about destabilising a government formed through the people's mandate, should respect the people's verdict. He asserted that no one could harm the Modi government and that the BJP would form the government again in 2029. Nabin said the people were supreme in a democracy and governments were formed through their votes and trust. Instead of questioning democratic institutions, the Opposition should respect the people's mandate. He said the campaign reaffirmed the BJP's commitment to democratic values and constitutional institutions.