Workers of the Delhi BJP Minority Morcha and families affected by the 1984 Sikh genocide staged a protest march in New Delhi on Monday, 2 November 2026, demanding a public apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress for what they described as deliberately reopening old wounds by holding an INDIA bloc rally in Delhi on 1 November — the anniversary of the anti-Sikh violence.

The March and Its Route

Hundreds of participants — including Sikh women, Nihang leaders, affected families from Tilak Vihar, and BJP workers — marched from Gurudwara Sri Bangla Sahib to Gurudwara Sri Rakab Ganj Sahib, reciting Gurbani along the route. At the culmination, participants lit candles in memory of Sikhs who perished in the 1984 genocide, according to a Delhi BJP statement. Slogans including 'India will never forget the 1984 Sikh Genocide perpetrated by the Congress' were raised during the procession.

What the BJP Leaders Said

New Delhi BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj alleged that the 1984 massacre of innocent Sikh men and women was a premeditated conspiracy by the Congress. She cited the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's reported remark — 'When a big tree falls, the earth shakes' — as an attempt to justify the violence, and alleged that Rahul Gandhi had demonstrated the same mindset by scheduling his rally on 1 November, the date she described as the bloodiest single day of the pogrom.

Swaraj also noted that the conviction of Sajjan Kumar, a Congress leader sentenced for his role in the 1984 killings, was an achievement of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which she said had also provided compensation and jobs to affected families. She alleged that not a single INDIA bloc leader mentioned the 1984 Sikh genocide during Rahul Gandhi's rally.

West Delhi BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat, who marched alongside senior BJP leader Rajiv Babbar, stated that following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Sikhs were systematically targeted. 'Individual houses were identified, Sikh families were dragged out and subjected to inhuman atrocities,' she said, alleging the violence was orchestrated by Congress leaders and those operating under the party's protection. Sehrawat urged Rahul Gandhi not to revive what she called a 'painful chapter', saying affected families — particularly women who endured the period — remain united in seeking justice.

Background: The 1984 Anti-Sikh Violence

The anti-Sikh violence erupted across India between 31 October and 2 November 1984, in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Thousands of Sikhs were killed in what courts, government commissions, and human-rights bodies have since characterised as organised mass violence. The Congress has faced sustained political and legal scrutiny over the role of its leaders in the riots. Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress MP, was convicted by the Delhi High Court in 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killings.

Congress Yet to Respond

The Congress had not issued an immediate response to the BJP's apology demand at the time of reporting. The INDIA bloc rally held on 1 November in Delhi was focused on electoral politics, and no INDIA bloc leader addressed the 1984 anniversary from the rally stage, according to the BJP's account. The political row is likely to intensify as the date marks both the anniversary of the violence and an increasingly contested moment in the BJP-Congress rivalry over Sikh electoral sentiment, particularly in Delhi and Punjab.