Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) chief Sam Pitroda, asked in an exclusive IANS interview on Thursday, November 12, whether he holds the Gandhi family responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, replied: "What is the sense in talking about something that happened 40 years ago now? I have said many times that there has been so much conversation on it. Let the people in court, and others decide; it was decided 40 years ago. Everything is ok; why do we just dig things up from nowhere and throw mud? I don't understand our attitude. What does that have to do with today? How long can you go on with this? You've got to look to the future."

Source: IANS (exclusive interview)

Pitroda added: "That was more than 40 years ago. And this has been going on and digging, and people just do this. Let's look at the future. Let's move on. Let's design a better, prosperous, peaceful nation for everybody. That should be the agenda." He said it makes little sense to talk a lot about the past, and that the real challenge is the future of children and grandchildren — their education, employment, jobs and skill sets. The violence he was asked about followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984; cases linked to the riots are still heard by courts, and Sikh organisations have continued to press for accountability.

Source: IANS (exclusive interview)

BJP reaction: 'Does pain have an expiry date?'

BJP MP Tarun Chugh launched a scathing attack on Pitroda's remarks on Thursday, IANS reported in a follow-up story headlined 'Does pain have an expiry date?' In a statement reported by Face2News, Chugh said Pitroda had again exposed the Congress's insensitivity, recalled his 2019 'hua to hua' remark on 1984, and asked where the Congress's unconditional apology to the devastated families was, saying justice has no expiry date and demanding that the Congress apologise to the victims of 1984. Those characterisations are Chugh's, made as a BJP leader criticising a Congress figure.

Source: Face2News (Chugh statement)

Also in the interview: election trust, and praise for Modi

In the same interview, Pitroda said he has "lost trust in the election system in India", claimed several people in civil society feel the same, and called it a very serious issue for democracy that somebody has to bridge. Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he described him as a Gujarati friend who has been "very warm, very kind" at a personal level, a good orator and hard-working, while saying he may disagree with Modi's ideology — "that's not against the individual; it's against the idea." Nation Press reported that the Congress had issued no official statement endorsing or distancing itself from Pitroda's remarks at the time of its report.

Source: IANS (exclusive interview)