Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday rubbished the state Congress demand for a peace memorial in memory of people killed during the days of militancy in the state, describing it as nothing more than "a malicious and politically motivated attempt" to ridicule Sikh sentiments.
"PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa should ask the Centre to set up a repentance memorial for introspection by the Congress," said Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in a statement here.
The Akali leader advised Bajwa to ask his party`s high command to travel to the Golden Temple and offer apologies and prayers for the outrage committed there during Operation Bluestar.
The SGPC had already clarified that the memorial at Harmandar Sahib will serve as an abode for prayers for peace and communal harmony, Dhindsa recalled and said, "Bajwa and his party should desist from communalising the memorial".
Lashing out against the PPCC stand on the proposed visit of Narendra Modi to Punjab, he added, "If the main reason behind Bajwa`s objection to the visit lies in the riots in Gujarat, does he have any moral right to continue to be a member of the Congress, which is guilty of a far worse massacre against his own community."
Earlier in the day, Bajwa had criticised the ruling BJP-SAD alliance for the proposed visit of Narendra Modi to the state on June 23.
PTI
