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

New Delhi: The face behind justice for victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, human rights lawyer and former AAP lawmaker H.S. Phoolka, on Wednesday joined the BJP.

After joining the BJP here, Phoolka said, “I’ve been a strong supporter of the BJP since my childhood. From 2014 to 2017, I was in the Aam Aadmi Party. We thought that we had come to this party to end all the corruption that existed under the Congress government at that time, but later, we saw that the situation was quite different.”

Welcoming Phoolka, the Punjab BJP said his joining the party was a symbol of the strengthening of justice, truth, and principles

“We extend a warm welcome to the esteemed Panthic personality and former MLA, Sardar H.S. Phoolka Ji, who has been fighting the battle for justice for the victims of the 1984 cases. His joining the BJP family is not merely a political event, but a symbol of the strengthening of justice, truth, and principles. This step will provide a new direction to Punjab’s politics and further strengthen the commitment to justice,” the BJP said in a post on X.

Sunil Jakhar, Punjab BJP chief, said that Advocate H.S. Phoolka, who has fearlessly fought for justice for the Sikh community and is respected by every Sikh with great regard, has joined the BJP.

“The association of such a Sikh personality with the BJP shows that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party has been sincerely working for the Sikh community and Sikhism, and that the false narratives created by opponents are being shattered in the face of truth. Heartfelt welcome to Advocate H.S. Phoolka on joining the party,” Jakhar said.

Phoolka’s joining the party is significant given the fact that the state is going to the polls early next year.

Phoolka won his first-ever Assembly election in 2017 from Dakha (Ludhiana) on the AAP ticket.

In 2018, with the Delhi Bar Council asking Phoolka to choose between his Cabinet status as Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly and practice in the court, he resigned from his post to keep appearing as counsel for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Phoolka previously fought the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Ludhiana. At that time, he had said he had resigned from the Assembly as the Congress government in the state led by Capt Amarinder Singh did not act against those behind incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and police firing in October 2015 on those protesting such incidents.

Phoolka, a Jat Sikh from Punjab’s Malwa belt, resigned from AAP in September 2015 to focus on riot cases, which he has been representing for over four decades without charging any fees.

In 2024, Phoolka announced that he would be joining the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He had criticised the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government’s failure to ensure adequate security for former SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who had a narrow escape when former Khalistani terrorist Narain Singh Chaura fired at him, while he was performing penance for religious misconduct at the Golden Temple entrance in Amritsar in December 2024.

A law graduate from Panjab University in Chandigarh, he became a human rights lawyer, relentlessly fighting for justice for the Sikh community.

IANS