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Saturday, Apr 11, 2009
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Congress move

The Congress decision to drop Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar — accused of involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots — as its candidates for the Lok Sabha election is the latest in a series of flip-flops.

The Congress is in denial and however fervently it wishes, the ghost of the 1984 riots will not disappear until justice is seen to be carried out.

Harisankar Kurup,

Secunderabad

Cornered by massive Sikh protests in Delhi and Punjab over the Central Bureau of Investigation’s clean chit to Mr. Tytler, the Congress decided not to take any chances. The saving grace for the party was to drop Mr. Tytler and Mr. Kumar.

B.H. Shanmukhappa,

Davanagere

As a Sikh, I believe that the decision to drop Mr. Tytler and Mr. Kumar is a political stunt.

Not allowing them to contest the Lok Sabha election will not help to bring those responsible for the anti-Sikh riots to book.

Pavneet Singh Jaggi,

New Delhi

The nomination of Mr. Tytler and Mr. Kumar as candidates brought back memories of the 1984 riots. It was obvious that the Sikh community was seething in anger over the CBI’s clean chit to Mr. Tytler.

It will be interesting to see if the Congress succeeds in assuaging the feelings of the Sikhs now that it has withdrawn the candidature of the two leaders.

H.P. Murali,

Bangalore

It’s heartening to see that good sense prevailed in the Congress. The move has put the BJP on the back foot, as the party was bent on making the candidature of Mr. Tytler and Mr. Singh an election issue. It is now time for the BJP to bring those involved in the Gujarat genocide to book. The first person to face action should be the party mascot and Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi.

Shariqh Khaleel,

St. Paul, Minnesota

Nemesis has finally caught up with the Congress. I am sure it won’t be long before the BJP and Mr. Modi are made accountable for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Mr. Modi’s role as the chief architect of the Gujarat pogrom cannot be denied by anyone.

Sandeep Ghiya,

Mumbai

The Congress decision to drop Mr. Kumar and Mr. Tytler is a classic case of “too little too late.” If the party believes that the two leaders were involved in the anti-Sikh riots, as alleged, it should remove them from its primary membership and initiate appropriate legal action against them. If, on the other hand, the party is of the view that they had nothing to do with the riots, withdrawing their candidature just to appease a section is rank opportunism.

K.G. Sukumaran,

Chennai

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