New Delhi, November 21: A day after a Delhi court awarded death penalty to a man and life imprisonment to another after holding them guilty of murder in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday blamed the Congress for violence against the Sikh community following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Jaitley accused Congress leaders of provoking mobs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Congressmen led violent mobs. The Police colluded with them. It did not fire, lathi charge or even teargas the mobs. The rioters were given a free hand to kill and loot.  Places of worship of the Sikh community were damaged. Sikh houses were burnt. Their trade establishments were looted. Thousands of innocents, men, women and children were burnt, were mutilated," Jaitley wrote in his Facebook post. 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots: Delhi Court Sentences Death to Yashpal Singh, Life Imprisonment For Naresh Sherawat.

The union minister alleged that the Congress had let the militancy in Punjab to go unchecked in 1984 for political gains. He also termed The Operation Bluestar "a historic blunder" and "poorly planned and terribly executed" move. Jaitley said the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi was the direct fallout of execution of The Operation Bluestar. "This was one of the most unfortunate and condemnable acts in Indian history," he added. Sajjan Kumar, Tytler Would Lose Sleep After Today's Verdict: 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot Victims.

Jaitley said the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee appointed the Justice GT Nanavati Commission of Enquiry, which "prepared an excellent Report giving details, Police-station wise, where the accused were prima facie guilty of crimes and the status of each case." He added that a SIT formed by PM Narendra Modi in 2015 "detected a large number of cases where the accused were prima facie guilty but even charge sheets have not been filed."

The Delhi court on Tuesday awarded Yashpal Singh death sentence and life term to Naresh Sehrawat for the killing of two Sikh men in Mahipal village in South Delhi in 1984.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 21, 2018 06:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).