NEW DELHI, Apr 8 : Delhi Shiromani Youth Akali Dal president Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday said journalist Jarnail Singh’s act hurling a shoe at Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram underscored the need for the Congress to amend its “communal and anti-Sikh policies.” He announced Rs.2 lakh in legal aid for Mr. Singh.

Claiming that the “symbolic hurling” at a press conference here was “aimed” not at Mr. Chidambaram but at the Congress as a whole, Mr. Sirsa said exploitation of Sikhs by the party for the past 25 years compelled the journalist to resort to the step.

“Congress leaders like Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar had a role in the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Instead of taking legal action against them, the party had been defending them by misusing the judicial system as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation,” said Mr. Sirsa, who is also a municipal councillor.

The Sikh Forum has also urged the Congress to reconsider its decision to field Mr. Tytler and Mr. Kumar for Lok Sabha elections. Its secretary R.S. Chhatwal said: “What happened at the Minister’s press conference was most unfortunate and avoidable … we want the Congress to understand that its decision to nominate Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar has hurt the Sikhs. Should the party persist with the decision, it will only aggravate the situation.”

However, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna condemned the “despicable act” of Mr. Jarnail Singh, who brought a bad name not just to his profession but also to the community.

“This is not the way to express one’s grievance, nor [is] a press conference a forum to address one’s concerns, ” he said.

The BJP described the shoe-throwing incident as “unfortunate.” Party spokesman Balbir Punj also said there was a lot of anger and resentment among Sikhs that the guilty in the 1984 riots were not punished. However, Mr. Punj offered no response to a question how many persons were convicted, during the BJP-led government’s rule at the Centre, of offences committed during those riots or why the CBI could not find enough evidence against Mr. Tytler and Mr. Kumar.

Asked about the incident, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury said: “Why do you want us to react? He [Jarnail Singh] is a member of your fraternity and journalists should themselves answer whether what he did was right or wrong.”