'Fight in India whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear turban, go to gurudwara': Rahul Gandhi in Washington, BJP reminds LoP of 1984 massacre

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the fight in India is not about politics. He said that the fight is whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear a turban or a kada in India. Gandhi's comment came while interacting with the members of the Indian diaspora in the US' Virginia.

He asked a person his name and said the fight is about whether a Sikh would be allowed to go to a gurudwara or not in India.

"First of all, you have to understand the fight is not about politics. The fight is about whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear his turban or go to the gurudwara in India. It's not just for Sikhs, but for all religions," he said. 

He also said that the audience in the event belongs to states including Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. "These are not just names; they represent your history, language, and traditions," the LoP added. 

The Rae Bareli MP's statement on Sikhs did not go unanswered. RP Singh, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reminded Gandhi of the massacre that the Sikh community was subjected to following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984. 

Singh said that during the Congress regime, turbans of Sikhs were removed and they were frisked. "3000 Sikhs were massacred in Delhi, their turbans were taken off, their hair was chopped off and beard was shaved... He (Rahul Gandhi) doesn't say that this happened when they (Congress) were in power," Singh was quoted as saying by newswire ANI. 

He also said that the BJP will file a case against the Leader of Opposition and drag him to court for his remarks in Virginia. "I challenge Rahul Gandhi to repeat in India what he is saying about Sikhs, and then I will file a case against him and drag him to court," Singh further said.