Hardeep Singh Puri hails relaxed job norms for Sikh riot victims

New Delhi : Highlighting the sops offered by the government to families of anti-Sikh riots for securing jobs, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday demanded an apology from the Congress for the 1984 carnage in which 3,000 community members were killed.

“The Congress seems to have no regret for the cold-blooded atrocities,” Puri told IANS.

People like former MP Jagdish Tytler, whose name also surfaced as accused in connection with the incidents, have been given a prime post in the All India Congress Committee, he said.

Puri’s remarks come close to a decision taken by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, on the direction of the Central government, to relax the minimum educational qualification while applying for government jobs for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The decision to lower the minimum educational qualification from Class 10 to Class 8 for riot victims had been pending due to bureaucratic delays.

The minister said the Congress failed to come to the help of families of the riot victims.

Puri said it was only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the matter that Sikh families were now going to get this relaxation in educational qualification for government jobs.

The decision is likely to benefit members of Sikh families who would now be able to easily secure jobs in government offices.

The LG office claimed the decision was taken after conducting a survey to study the problems faced by families of Sikh riot victims.

Puri’s remarks on relief for riot victims applying for government jobs are a part of BJP leaders’ efforts to highlight initiatives taken by the Centre for the welfare of the community.

These include highlighting the significance of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that grants citizenship to Sikh refugees who suffered torture, forceful religious conversion and terrorism in neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The BJP leaders also attacked the Congress for the 1984 riots, stating that it was the Modi government that established an SIT and re-opened 300 cases, leading to the imprisonment of the guilty and ensuring justice for the riot victims, besides providing them financial assistance.