Not raking up Op Bluestar, anti-Sikh riots issue for poll gains: Badal

Chandigarh: The 1984 anti-Sikh riots was the result of a "big conspiracy" which had been "organised by the then Central government and the Congress", Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said on Saturday even as he hit out at the opposition party over its claims on the Operation Bluestar issue.

A day after senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh accused Badal of raking up the Operation Bluestar issue for political gains, the Shiromani Akali Dal today dismissed the charge as "false and baseless". "It is unfortunate. What Amarinder says is false and baseless. There is no truth in that. While Amarinder did not go to any jail, after Operation Bluestar, I spent several months in prison," Badal told reporters here. Meanwhile, talking about the 1984 riots, Badal said, "Every one knows the truth. How many Commissions have been set up? I am not trying to favour (BJP), but every one knows that it was well organised by the then Central government and the Congress party... It was a big conspiracy.” "Has anybody said there was BJP`s or Akali Dal`s hand in it?" he asked. Further, responding to allegations by Singh that he had asked the Sikhs in the Army to mutiny following Operation Bluestar and the 1984 riots, Badal said, "There is absolutely no truth in that. These are just false accusations." "Emotions (at the time) were running so high... It is not just Sikhs, but even right thinking Hindus and others condemned what was going on," he said. Singh, who served as the Punjab Chief Minister between 2002-07, has alleged that Badal was in the habit of raking up the Operation Bluestar issue at the time of elections to exploit the sentiments of innocent people.