Families of 1984 riot victims burn Sonia Gandhi’s memoir in Delhi over her remarks

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Nov 12, 2026: Families of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, along with members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), on Thursday burnt a copy of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir at Rakab Ganj Gurdwara in protest against her remarks on the riots.

The protesters expressed strong resentment over Gandhi’s account of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence, in which thousands of Sikhs were killed.

In her memoir, Sonia Gandhi writes that although her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s "heart held no bigotry or rancour", he was thrust into a moment in history when governance had failed, paving the way for barbarism.

Recounting the events following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi writes that news of her killing spread rapidly. While many had initially welcomed the end of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the mood changed following Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

"By the afternoon, rioting had broken out in different parts of the city and beyond. Brutal acts of violence were committed against innocent Sikhs. More than 2,000 lost their lives in the capital alone, in the most cruel and cold-blooded manner," she writes in the memoir.