SGPC, Akalis slam Rahul’s ‘hand’ remark

Tribune News Service

Amritsar/Chandigarh, Jan 11

SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar today said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi should apologise for hurting sentiments of Sikhs by comparing the party’s poll symbol “hand” with that of Guru Nanak.

“Rahul should submit an apology. This is the most awful comparison and shows that he is mentally unstable,” he said. The SGPC chief said the Congress’ symbol “is spattered with the blood of thousands of innocent Sikhs” and many Congress leaders responsible for the genocide (1984 anti-Sikh riots) are still under scanner.

The Shiromani Akali Dal described Rahul’s statement as “shocking in the extreme and unpardonable.” The SAD said Rahul’s speech had grievously hurt the religious sentiments of Guru Nanak’s followers.

In a statement issued by Akali leader and SAD secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, the party asked PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and other Sikh leaders in the Congress to express their strongest disapproval of Rahul’s sacrilegious statement.