Sikh leaders stage protest outside Rahul Gandhi’s house over remarks in US, demand apology

Leaders from the Sikh community staged a protest outside the official residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after his remarks during his address in the United States sparked a political slugfest.

The Sikh Prakoshth of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi took out a protest march outside Rahul and Sonia Gandhi’s residence over his remarks on the Sikh community, demanding an apology.

BJP leader RP Singh and other Sikh leaders were detained by the Delhi police during the protest, reported ANI.

During the protest, RP Singh said “Rahul Gandhi should apologise. He used the foreign land to defame India and gave a statement about Sikhs that Sikhs are not allowed to wear turban and go to Gurudwara…”

The protesters, including women, raising slogans and carrying placards tried to approach Gandhi’s residence 10 Janpath, marching from Vigyan Bhawan but police stopped them.

Apart from this, the protestors from the Sikh community slogans against Gandhi and demanded his apology for allegedly “humiliating” Sikhs, holding the Congress responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the country.

This comes after Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the Sikh community sparked a political slugfest in India, with BJP leaders saying that the Leader of Opposition defamed India on foreign land.

While addressing a gathering of Indian Americans in Washington DC on Monday, Gandhi said that that in India, the fight is for a Sikh person to wear a turban and a kada and go the gurdwara. He also accused the RSS of considering some religions, languages and communities of being inferior to others.

Gandhi asked the name of one of the Sikh attendees in the front rows during the programme. “What is your name, brother with the turban,” he asked.

“The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions,” said Gandhi.