The Congress distanced itself on Friday from the "so what" remarks of Sam Pitroda about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and asked the leaders of the party to be careful and sensitive in future.
Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party abhorred violence of any kind against any person or group of people on the basis of caste, creed, colour, region or religion, adding that riots and violence had no place in the Indian society.
Stating that the Congress had strived to ensure justice for the 1984 riot victims, he said the party continued to support the quest for justice and stern punishment for those found guilty in the anti-Sikh riots, as also the subsequent acts of violence, including the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
"Violence and riots are unacceptable and unpardonable in our society...
"Any opinion or remark made by any individual to the contrary, including Sam Pitroda, is not the opinion of the Congress party. We advise all leaders to be careful and sensitive," Surjewala said in a statement.
He added that unlike the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had fielded a candidate charged with terror crimes and who was being lauded as the saffron party's face by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, the Congress had shown the moral and political courage to punish the leaders accused of violence or involvement in the 1984 riots.
The Congress leader was apparently referring to the BJP's candidate from Bhopal in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Pragya Singh Thakur, who is an accused in the Malegaon blast case.
"This is the yardstick of self-imposed accountability and sense of justice to people followed by the Congress party, unlike the BJP...for the BJP, riots are vote-garnering exercise in every election, instead of ensuring justice and closure. People should see through this Machiavellian game of deception, distraction and distortion by Narendra Modi," Surjewala said.
The prime minister led a fresh BJP offensive on the Congress over Pitroda's remarks on the 1984 riots, saying it showed the "character and arrogance" of the opposition party.
As Pitroda's remarks kicked up a storm, the Congress leader accused the BJP of twisting his three words in Hindi to "distort facts, divide us (Congress) and hide their failures", and said things of the past were not relevant in the ongoing polls.
Replying to a reporter's question on the 1984 riots in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala, Pitroda, a close aide of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the head of the Overseas Congress, on Thursday said, "Hua to hua (so what, it happened)."
The BJP demanded that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi apologise to the nation while ally Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur said the comment was "disgraceful" and reflected the mindset of the Gandhis.
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