Row erupts after Kamal Nath attends Sikh religious event in MP

The presence of Congress leader Kamal Nath at a Sikh religious event in Indore has led to controversy with kirtan singer Manpreet Singh Kanpuri lashing out at the organisers for inviting him.

A group of people from the community, led by a local BJP leader, also `purified' the venue on Tuesday by sprinkling holy water.

A video surfaced on social media on Wednesday showing a furious Kanpuri expressing anger over the organisers felicitating political leaders at the religious programme.

He also made an oblique reference to the anti-Sikh riots that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. Kanpuri, however, did not name Kamal Nath directly.

The event had been organised on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti on Tuesday. Nath, who heads the Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress, former BJP MP Krishnamurari Moghe and others attended the event at Khalsa College.

Eyewitnesses said that organisers handed mementoes to the political leaders, which delayed the kirtan (devotional songs) program.

After Nath left the venue, Kanpuri lashed out at the organisers from the stage and referred to the anti-Sikh riots.

The Delhi High Court in January had asked a Special Investigation Team to file a status report on a plea seeking action against Kamal Nath for his alleged role in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Nath has denied the allegations against him.

On Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narottam Mishra termed the incident "shameful and extremely sad". "Just as demonic forces used to obstruct yagnas of sages and seers in ancient times, more or less the same behaviour was seen at the Indore programme," he said.

State Congress's media department chairman K K Mishra told PTI that developments after Kamal Nath's visit to Khalsa College were "sponsored by some BJP people". He termed the BJP's allegations against Kamal Nath regarding the anti-Sikh riots "completely baseless". "After the riots, Kamal Nath has won Lok Sabha elections five times," he said, adding that the local Sikh community had not objected to Nath attending the program.

A group of people from the Sikh community protested against the invitation to Kamal Nath for the religious event. The protesters said they `purified' the venue on Tuesday by sprinkling holy water and milk from the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Amritsar. Local BJP leader Rishi Singh Khanuja, who led the protesters, said they were angry that Nath was invited to the program.