The Delhi Assembly Friday passed a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, from former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, alleging that he justified the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of his mother and the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Gandhi was conferred with the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1991. Delhi Assembly passes a resolution urging the Centre to take back India’s highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ from late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, alleging that he “justified” the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In his first speech after the riots, Gandhi had said: “Whenever a big tree falls, the earth shakes”. While the Congress party has denied any role in the rampage, former prime minister Manmohan Singh recounted the remorse for the killings in a speech in the Parliament in 2005.

Source: Indian Express December 21, 2018 14:35 UTC