Sikhs 'purify' Shaheed Bhagat Singh statue after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pays floral tribute in Indore

After Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered floral tributes at the statue of freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh in Indore, members of the Sikh community ‘purified’ the statue with milk and holy water. They were enraged over Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s ‘hua to hua’ remarks over 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Priyanka had embarked on a roadshow in Indore on Monday and campaigned for the Congress’ candidate Pankaj Singhvi. She started the roadshow by paying floral tributes at Bhagat Singh’s statue. The protesters felt that Priyanka insulted the community by paying tribute at the statue. “We purified the statue with milk and holy water from Amritsar,” one of the protesters said as quoted by News18.

The Congress had faced a lot of flak for Sam Pitroda comment on Thursday: “Hua to hua' (So what, it happened),” about the anti-Sikh riots.  Pitroda, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi and Overseas Congress' head, made this remark in response to a question on the riots by a newsman in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed senior party leader Sam Pitroda for his controversial ‘hua to hua’ remark about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots saying ‘I don’t appreciate this type of nonsense,” reported The Print.

“I think that’s completely out of line and I think he should apologise for this… I think 1984 was a tragedy. It caused tremendous pain to the people. And I think he absolutely owes everybody an apology...And what Mr Sam Pitroda has said is absolutely and completely out of line. I haven’t spoken to him but I will, I will personally speak to him and tell him that I don’t appreciate this type of nonsense," Gandhi told ThePrint in an exclusive interview.

Earlier in the day, Pitroda apologised for his comment on 1984 anti-Sikh riots saying his remark was misrepresented and blown out of proportion.