Deepender Hooda Calls Sajjan Kumar A 'Role Model'; SAD, Punjab BJP Demand Congress Apologise To 1984 Victims

Sajjan Kumar & Hooda: Deepender Hooda called Sajjan Kumar a “role model” after his death; SAD and Punjab BJP have demanded a Congress apology, putting the party’s Punjab unit in a bind.

North Desk Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 21

Congress MP Deepender Hooda has plunged his party into a fresh reckoning with its 1984 legacy — a day after former Congress MP and convicted 1984 anti-Sikh riots accused Sajjan Kumar died at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, Hooda told reporters it was “an irreplaceable loss for the country’s political horizon,” adding that Kumar “was not only a prominent figure in Delhi and rural Delhi but across North India,” that “his connection with the people was exemplary,” and that “he is cited as an example across our country.”

The remark has drawn condemnation from the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Punjab BJP, and organisations representing riot victims — and has put Congress’s Punjab unit, already fighting for relevance ahead of the 2027 Assembly election, in the position of having to answer for a fellow party MP’s words about a man the Delhi High Court found guilty of conspiring to murder five Sikhs and burning a gurdwara.

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Anti-Sikh mindset, says Punjab BJP chief

Sajjan Kumar & Hooda: Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon led the charge, calling Hooda’s characterization proof that “the Congress’ anti-Sikh mindset deserved the strongest condemnation.” Dhillon said that 42 years after the 1984 violence, the wounds of victims’ families “were still fresh,” and that describing a key accused as a “role model” at such a sensitive juncture was “nothing short of rubbing salt into the wounds of the victims’ families.” He demanded the Congress “immediately tender an unconditional apology” to the 1984 victims’ families and the Sikh community for what he called the “irresponsible and shameful” remarks.

Sajjan Kumar & Hooda Remark: SAD says–Should be ashamed

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia went further, directly challenging the Punjab Congress leadership to respond. “I condemn this statement. Deepender Hooda and the Congress Party should apologise,” Majithia said, adding a pointed jab at his home turf’s rival: “Punjab Congress president Raja Warring may be compromised, but now it will be seen whether he has a backbone or not.” Majithia asked how “a person like Jagdish Tytler, HKL Bhagat…and all those who killed our innocent Sikh brothers in broad daylight” could be called role models, and questioned whether the Congress high command (naming Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) shared Hooda’s view if he continued in the party.

Fellow SAD leader Daljeet Singh Cheema was more measured but no less pointed: “Deepender Hooda should think before saying anything about Sajjan Kumar, about what impact it will have on the hearts of those millions of people whose homes were destroyed because of this person. People were killed, burned alive, and their homes were destroyed.” He added that while Hooda was entitled to “his own personal political views,” glorifying such a figure “in public…causes a great deal of hurt to the Sikh community.”

Surjit Singh, president of the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Victim Welfare Society, said Hooda “should be ashamed for making such a statement,” adding that Kumar “has ruined the history of the Congress.”

The bind

The episode lands at a genuinely awkward moment for the party. In Haryana, the Hooda family remains Congress’s dominant face — Bhupinder Singh Hooda as Leader of the Opposition, Deepender as his political heir and a sitting Rohtak MP with a large personal following built partly on old-guard Congress networks that include figures like Kumar. In Punjab, by contrast, Congress cannot afford even the appearance of sympathy for a 1984 convict without handing SAD, AAP and the BJP a ready-made attack line ahead of 2027 — precisely the line Majithia opened by putting Raja Warring on the spot.

Kumar was convicted by the Delhi High Court in December 2018 for the killing of five Sikhs and the burning of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar, Palam Colony, and received a second life sentence in February 2025 for the killing of a father and son in Saraswati Vihar. He was acquitted in a third case in January 2026. He died Thursday at 80, still serving those sentences, with an appeal against his first conviction pending before the Supreme Court.

Whether Punjab Congress responds, and whether Deepender Hooda clarifies or walks back the remark, is now the next thing to watch.

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