Chandigarh, August 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and strongly rebuked those describing the 1984 anti-Sikh violence convict as a “role model”.
Channi’s remarks came a day after fellow Congress parliamentarian Deepender Singh Hooda termed Kumar’s death an “irreparable loss” to the country’s political landscape and said he was regarded as a role model across the country.
Although Channi did not mention Hooda by name, his Punjabi video message directly addressed the praise showered on Kumar following his death.
“Sajjan Kumar was a killer of the Sikh community and a traitor who conspired to have Sikhs killed,” Channi said.
“He was nowhere close to being a role model. Even uttering his name is a sin. If such people become our role models, the country will be ruined,” he added.
In unusually strong remarks, Channi said Kumar deserved to have been “shot publicly”. He pointed out that the former parliamentarian died in prison while serving his sentences.
“If anyone describes such a person as a role model, they should control themselves and think carefully about what they are saying,” Channi said.
The Congress MP maintained that Kumar’s crimes were not an issue concerning the Sikh community alone. “This man brought shame upon the whole of humanity. How can the Sikh community, Punjabis or the country ever forgive him?” he asked.
In the English text accompanying the video, Channi said Kumar died in prison while serving two life sentences for crimes against the Sikh community. He described Kumar’s death behind bars as a “dark reminder of an individual who disgraced humanity and justice”.
Hooda, while mourning Kumar on Thursday, had described his death as an irreparable political loss. He praised Kumar’s influence in Delhi, rural Delhi and northern India, saying his connection with the people was exemplary and that he was cited as a role model nationwide.
Channi’s categorical denunciation has now brought the conflicting positions within the Congress into the open, particularly over the party’s response to the legacy of a leader convicted in two cases arising from the 1984 anti-Sikh violence.
Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in 2018 in a case concerning the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi’s Raj Nagar area. He received another life sentence in 2025 for the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh.
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