Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday said that the time had come to punish the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
"The time has come to punish architects of Sikh genocide. The Akali Dal will soon discuss the ongoing legal proceedings with the union home minister to ensure proper investigations and early hearings of the cases to put the perpetrators of this heinous crime behind bars," Sukhbir Badal told media after offering prayers at the Golden Temple here.
"The NDA government has built up the trust of Sikhs, who have been fighting for the last 30 years to get justice since the previous UPA government had tried their best to shield the culprits and awarded high posts to them in the (Congress) party," alleged Badal, also the president of the Akali Dal which is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
He said that he was confident that the Narendra Modi government would deliver justice to Sikhs as early as possible by adopting every legal and administrative measure.
Hundreds of Sikhs were targeted and killed in Delhi and other places across India by mobs in the aftermath of the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security personnel October 1984.
Several senior Congress leaders were accused of instigating mobs to target Sikhs during the riots.