‘Hua toh hua’: PM Modi takes dig at Congress over Pitroda’s 1984 anti-Sikh riots comment, Bhopal gas tragedy

Khandwa: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hit out at Congress patron Sam Pitroda for saying ‘hua toh hua’ (what happened, happened) in reference to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots last week, and said that Congress will say ‘hua toh hua’ for whatever untoward happened during their government’s rule.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa, Modi raked up the Bhopal gas tragedy that occured in the same year and said, “Thousands of people were killed due to the toxic gas that got released and several generations were destroyed… The perpetrators were sent outside the country in a government aircraft. Several lives were lost but if you today ask the Congress, they will say ‘hua toh hua’.”

Modi cited the example of noted singer Kishore Kumar, who belonged to the region, and said that during the period of Emergency, the then-Congress government banned the legendary singer’s songs because he refused to the lines of the ruling government.

“During the Emergency, Kishore Kumar’s song was banned because he refused to follow Congress’ instructions. He used to work on his own terms. The Congress party put a ban on playing his songs on the radio. Now, when somebody from Khandwa will ask about this, the Congress will say ‘hua toh hua’,” Modi said, news agency ANI reported.

Pitroda last Thursday added fresh controversy in the ‘1984 riots’ debate after he questioned a reporter with “what about 1984, it has happened and is a matter of past” when he was asked to comment on the row surrounding former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the dastardly event.

The BJP, calling the riots the ‘biggest genocide in India’, blamed Gandhi for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and that the ‘instructions to kill’ came directly from ‘then PM Rajiv Gandhi’s office’.

Diverting the question, ANI quoted Pitroda as saying, “Aap toh jhoot bolte rehte hain roz… Ab kya hai ’84 ka? Baat toh kariye aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. ’84 mein hua to hua. Aapne kya kiya? You were voted to create jobs. You didn’t create any jobs. You were voted to create 200 smart cities. Aapne wo bhi nahi kiya. Toh aapne kya kiya? Aapne kuch nahi kiya, isliye aap yahan wahan gup lagate hain. Stop it. (What about ’84? Say what you have done in the past five years, talk about that. What happened in ’84 is a matter of past. What have you done? You were voted to create jobs. You didn’t create any jobs. You were voted to create 200 smart cities. You haven’t done that too. So, what exactly have you done so far? You haven’t done anything, which is why you gossip everywhere. Stop it).”