‘Happy To Take Responsibility’: Rahul Gandhi Admits To Congress’s Past Mistakes, Including 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots (VIDEO) | (Photo Courtesy: X/@Meghupdates)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that he is willing to take responsibility for all the “mistakes made by the party” throughout its history, including the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The comment was made by him during a Q&A session at Brown University in the US, after a Sikh attendee confronted him on the party’s role in the riots and protection of leaders like Sajjan Kumar.
The young Sikh man directly questioned Gandhi about his past remarks warning of a BJP-led India, where minorities might feel unsafe expressing their identity. “You talked about how politics should be fearless… We don’t just want to wear kadas, we don’t just want to tie turbans, we want freedom of expression, which has not been allowed under the Congress Party in the past,” he said.
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He also raised concerns over the delayed conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and alleged that many such individuals remain in the party. “Your party lacks the maturity to accept the mistakes it has made… There are many more like Sajjan Kumar currently sitting in the Congress party,” the man said.
Rahul Gandhi’s Response
In response, Gandhi said he was not present during the events of 1984 but was ready to accept accountability for his party’s actions. “A lot of those happened when I was not there, but I am more than happy to take responsibility for everything the Congress party has ever done wrong in its history,” he said.
“I have publicly stated that what happened in the 80s was wrong, I have been to the Golden Temple multiple times, I have extremely good relationships with the Sikh community in India,” he added.
BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi’s Comments
The BJP strongly criticised Gandhi’s remarks, calling them hollow and politically motivated. Amit Malviya, head of the party’s IT cell, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “A Sikh student confronted Rahul Gandhi at Brown University and reminded him of the unfounded fear mongering he engaged in last time he visited US. It is quite unprecedented that Rahul Gandhi is now being ridiculed not just in India, but around the world.”
Delhi Minister and Sikh leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said Gandhi had evaded genuine accountability: “It wasn’t just a video… This was the Sikh community’s expression of pain, anger and cry for justice. What Rahul Gandhi said was not an apology but a political pretense,” he wrote on X.
BJP national spokesperson RP Singh added, “If Rahul Gandhi truly takes responsibility, he should expel Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath from the party immediately. Until then, this is just eyewash.”
The video of the exchange, which was part of an event moderated by Ashutosh Varshney at the Watson Institute, has since gone viral on social media.
