Lawyer for 1984 riot victims, ex-AAP MLA HS Phoolka joins BJP

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Senior human rights lawyer Harvinder Singh Phoolka, who has been fighting a long legal battle for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. Phoolka, a Jat Sikh from Bhadaur town of Sangrur, was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was a former legislator in the Punjab Assembly. (Representative photo)Phoolka, a Jat Sikh from Bhadaur town of Sangrur, was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was a former legislator in the Punjab Assembly. After joining the BJP on Wednesday, Phoolka recalled how he and his wife, who was then expecting, had escaped the rioters in 1984 after his landlord’s family hid them. Also Read | Kejriwal targets BJP, Akali Dal over drugs in Punjab He also spoke in detail about the legal battle he waged on behalf of the victims and how the BJP lent support for it. A recipient of the Padma Shri in 2019, Phoolka pursued the case against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, who were accused of stoking the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Phoolka entered politics in 2014 with the AAP, contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Ludhiana, but lost. He later won the Dakha seat in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections and briefly served as the Leader of the Opposition in the state. Two years later, he quit the AAP and took a hiatus from politics. Phoolka announced his decision to quit the position after the Delhi Bar Council barred him from law practice while also holding the position. He eventually resigned as an MLA in 2018 and quit the AAP in early 2019 to focus entirely on judicial causes. Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who was present during his joining, said it was not appropriate to call the event a riot, as the community was attacked.