Sam Pitroda rubbed salt into wounds of 1984 riot victims: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Taking a dig at Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his comments on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said that he had rubbed salt into the wounds of the victims of the tragedy.

Describing the grand-old-party as a "caucus of mentally bankrupt intellectuals", Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also alleged that the opposition party, through its "criminal silence" on Pitroda's remarks, was once again trying to justify the brutal killings of Sikhs in 1984.

The Union Minister also described Sam Pitroda as Congress President Rahul Gandhi's "guru" (teacher). Slamming Congress leaders for calling Narendra Modi a "weak PM", Naqvi asserted that the Prime Minister had kicked out middlemen from the corridors of power in Delhi, exposed and isolated Pakistan's "factory of terrorism" and succeeded in getting Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar declared as a global terrorist.

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Naqvi told reporters that PM Modi had demolished the evil designs of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State. “The Indian security forces had eliminated terrorists through the surgical strikes and the Balakot airstrike,” he added.

“The entire world was acknowledging the development works carried out by Narendra Modi and the strong leadership of the prime minister,” he further said, adding that the Congress could not weaken his dignity and commitment by abusing him.

Lambasting Gandhi family, Naqvi said that feudal family of the Congress was in the habit of running a "family government or a remote-controlled government". "So, they are unable to digest a strong and effective government and a leader like Modi. Forming or running a weak and 'jugaad ki sarkaar' is in the Congress's DNA," he alleged.

Sam Pitroda, who is in-charge of the Congress’s overseas unit, rubbished the BJP’s allegation that the 1984-Sikh riots took place on the orders of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. "I don't think so, this is also another lie, and what about 1984? 1984 hua to hua (You speak about what you have done in the last five years. It happened in 1984, so what?),” Pitroda had said on Thursday.