When Amitabh Bachchan spoke about allegations against him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots

When Amitabh Bachchan spoke about allegations against him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
When Amitabh Bachchan spoke about allegations against him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
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The News Minute | October 28, 2014 | 06:35 pm IST

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachachan has been summoned by the Los Angeles federal court for allegedly instigating violence against the Sikh Community in 1984. He has been accused of raising the slogan “Khooon Ka Badla Khoon" (blood for blood) on October 31, 1984 soon after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

In 2011, Bachchan wrote a letter dated November 28 to the jathedar (head) of Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh, pleading innocence and terming the allegations against him ‘wild’, ‘irresponsible’, ‘vicious’ and ‘unfounded’. Bachchan also attached a photograph of his maternal grandparents who were Sikhs, along with the letter. 

IANS published parts of the letter in a report dated December 16, 2011. In the letter, Bachchan writes, "I am addressing this letter to you with a most pained heart. Wild, irresponsible and most unfounded allegations, by certain sections of the Sikh community, about my involvement in the inciting of violence against them during the most unfortunate Sikh riots of 1984, soon after the death of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, has caused me acute agony."

He continued saying, "These vicious allegations have caused me deep hurt, particularly when they were levelled at a time when I had accepted the invitation from the Punjab government to attend the inaugural ceremony of the historical Khalsa Heritage Complex at Sri Anandpur Sahib, the birthplace of the Khalsa Panth. I was indeed looking forward to attending this sacred ceremony and sharing the immense pleasure and divine bliss with the Sikh Sangat, but declined because I did not want to be the cause for any embarrassment at this historical function."

"Now that the ceremony is over, I wish to take this opportunity to vehemently and categorically deny these allegations against me which are completely baseless, false and untrue. The Nehru-Gandhi family and our family have old ties from our city of origin, Allahabad. We have been together in each other's hour of grief and joy, but to allege that I was a part of the crowd that incited them to raise anti-Sikh slogans is a preposterous and blatant lie. Quite contrarily, I have always propagated the soothing of injured feelings and the maintenance of serenity. The unfortunate incidents of the riots of 1984 against the Sikhs shall always remain a blot and a dark phase in the history of our country, a country that prides itself in its secular credentials”, the actor added.

Bachchan wrote the letter after the Akal Takht asked him not to attend a religious ceremony on November 24, to which he was officially invited by the Punjab Government, at Anandpur Sahib due to the allegations levelled against him, stated a report by The Hindustan Times.

It has been alleged that the actor ‘then close to the Gandhi family, had come out of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi Oct 31, 1984, and instigated crowds’, reports IANS.

The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, had later acknowledged the letter and said they would take a decision after a meeting with their leaders.

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