DARJEELING: Singh binds ‘martial’ Sikhs and Gorkhas

Darjeeling News (Darjeeling, April 12): Jaswant Singh today said the attacks on Sikhs in Delhi after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 were stoked “intentionally”, comparing the riots to a police lathicharge on a Gorkha ex-servicemen’s rally in Siliguri last year.

The BJP leader, who is the candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat and enjoys the support of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was addressing a gathering of former soldiers at the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club.

Singh, who struck a chord with the ex-servicemen immediately with his comparison, scored another brownie when he appealed to the sense of izzat (respect) found in the “martial” races like the Sikhs and Gorkhas. He compared the death of Sikhs in uniforms in the riots “like raising a hand against the President of the country”. MORE...