Indian National Congress (INC) Member of Parliament (MP) and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s 21 Apr appearance at Brown University, US drew attention on 3 May after a video showed a Sikh student Gurpartap Singh questioning him over the INC’s role in the Operation Blue Star, 1984 Sikh genocide, and the life sentence given to former INC MP Sajjan Kumar. Gurpartap said Sikhs lack full freedom of expression in India and accused the INC of failing to reconcile with the community. Gandhi replied that many wrongs occurred before his political career yet he was willing to accept responsibility for every mistake in the party's history. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT department head Amit Malviya shared the clip on X, claiming Gandhi was being ridiculed worldwide. BJP national spokesperson RP Singh demanded Gandhi prove sincerity by expelling Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath, and Sam Pitroda from the INC, noting Pitroda’s past ‘hua toh hua’ (whatever happened, happened) remark about the violence. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal asked, ‘Why does the INC leader still continue not only to shield but also to reward killers of thousands of innocent Sikhs with plum posts in the party?’ Panjab INC chief Amarinder SIngh Raja Warring condemned SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s call for Gandhi’s apology saying she should also apologize for her great-grandfather, Surinder Singh Majithia who honored General Reginald Dyer on the same evening that hundreds of innocent people were killed at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919. In a parallel development, on 28 Apr, the Supreme Court of India ordered the expeditious trial of 11 Kanpur cases arising from the 1984 Sikh genocide, stressing inordinate delay. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh directed Central Forensic Science Laboratory to reconstruct the illegible forty‑year‑old First Information Report. Separately, on 3 May, the Punjab and Haryana High Courtissued notices to the Panjab government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after parents of Canada‑based student Jaspreet Singh petitioned for a court‑monitored CBI probe into his 13 Mar death near Nabha, alleging a staged encounter (earlier coverage).
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