Gurugram: Two days of being pilloried on social media finally got to Deepender Singh Hooda. Speaking to ThePrint, he said Sunday that he had already expressed regret over his remarks on Sajjan Kumar, and denied ever calling the former Congressman a ‘role model’.
Earlier in the day, Hooda had posted a video statement on X insisting his remarks on Sajjan Kumar had been twisted, and that he had never used the term “role model”.
The Rohtak MP also said he could never intend to hurt his Sikh brothers, called the community his own family, invoked his great-grandfather’s imprisonment alongside Bhagat Singh’s uncle during Punjab’s 1907 Pagdi Sambhal Jatta movement, and said justice for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots must be delivered with no culprit spared.
In a press statement issued late Sunday evening, Hooda had reiterated that he sees the Sikh community as his own family and that no culprit in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots should go unpunished, adding that he regretted his statement if it had hurt their sentiments.
The statement, however, read less like a clarification and more like damage control, and it seems to have done little to contain the fire, particularly in Punjab where elections are due early next year.
पिछले दो दिन से मैं देख रहा हूँ कि मेरे बयान को घुमा-फिराकर लोगों के सामने पेश किया जा रहा है। और मेरे बयान में एक ऐसा भी अंग्रेजी का शब्द डाला जा रहा है, जो मैंने बोला ही नहीं, न ही मेरा दूर-दूर तक ऐसा कोई मतलब था।
मेरी कोई भी मंशा किसी हमारे भाई को ठेस पहुँचाने की नहीं थी। सिख… pic.twitter.com/W5qFlGUbI2
— Deepender Singh Hooda (@DeependerSHooda) August 23, 2026
The controversy began after Sajjan Kumar, serving two life terms for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died Thursday in New Delhi at 80.
Hooda’s initial remarks, praising Kumar’s connect with people and his contribution to Delhi’s development and calling his death an irreparable loss, set off a backlash that has now travelled well beyond Haryana’s borders, landing squarely in a state that votes within months.
However, his earlier statement to news outlets on the day of Kumar’s death, where he is heard heaping praises on Sajjan Kumar while terming him an example of a good leader, and lauding his role in the development of Delhi, is being circulated on social media by his detractors. “Sajjan Kumar ji poore Uttar Bharat mein jo unka logon se judaav tha, vo ek misaal hai,” Hooda had said.
[Sajjan Kumar’s connect with people across northern India was itself an example for others to follow]
Hooda’s party colleague Charanjit Singh Channi, on the other hand, did not mince words. The Jalandhar MP and former Punjab chief minister called Kumar a killer of the Sikh community and a traitor, and said a man convicted for conspiring to have Sikhs killed deserved to have been shot in a public square, not eulogised. He said the community would never forgive him.
Serving two life sentences for crimes against the Sikh community, Sajjan Kumar died in prison—a dark reminder of an individual who disgraced humanity and justice. pic.twitter.com/MP6a6x4h7z
— Charanjit Singh Channi (@CHARANJITCHANNI) August 22, 2026
Punjab AAP MLA Kuldeep Dhaliwal went further, demanding Hooda’s expulsion and asking the Congress high command, naming Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party president Mallikarjun Kharge directly, to act.
He also turned the spotlight on Punjab’s own Congress leadership, asking why Partap Singh Bajwa, Pargat Singh, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Channi, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring were silent.
“The Congress party should expel Congress MP Deepender Hooda, who calls the killer of Sikhs Sajjan Kumar his role model, and all senior leaders of Punjab Congress should protest against this. If they do not do so, it means all leaders of Punjab Congress also consider the killer of Sikhs Sajjan Kumar their guru,” Dhaliwal wrote on X.
ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੇ ਕਾਤਲ ਸੱਜਣ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਆਪਣਾ ਰੋਲ ਮਾਡਲ ਦੱਸਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਕਾਂਗਰਸੀ ਸੰਸਦ ਮੈਂਬਰ ਦੀਪੇਂਦਰ ਹੁੱਡਾ ਨੂੰ ਕਾਂਗਰਸ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਬਰਖਾਸਤ ਕਰੇ ਅਤੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਕਾਂਗਰਸ ਦੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਵੱਡੇ ਲੀਡਰ ਇਸਦੇ ਖਿਲਾਫ਼ ਵਿਰੋਧ ਕਰਨ। ਜੇਕਰ ਅਜਿਹਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਦੇ ਤਾਂ ਇਸਦਾ ਮਤਲਬ ਸਾਰੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਕਾਂਗਰਸ ਦੇ ਲੀਡਰ ਵੀ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੇ ਕਾਤਲ ਸੱਜਣ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਆਪਣਾ ਗੁਰੂ… pic.twitter.com/u5PX2DeZSk
— Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (@KuldeepSinghAAP) August 21, 2026
Pargat Singh, when asked to respond, kept it brief, saying only Hooda could answer for his own words, while also describing Sajjan Kumar as one who got punished for his wrongs.
“Sajjan Kumar committed wrongs and has been punished for them. Those who lead others towards harming people cannot be called leaders. Such individuals cannot be role models for Punjabis and Sikhs,” said the former Captain of the Indian Men’s Field Hockey team and now Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantt.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said invoking a convict from the 1984 massacre as a ‘role model’ reopened wounds that had not healed even 42 years on. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said to be in talks with the BJP to return to the NDA fold, joined in the criticism.
Back home, the fallout has reached Haryana’s own Congress ranks.
On Sunday, Kuldeep Sharma, former Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, wrote to Kharge, saying calls from Sikh acquaintances in Haryana and Punjab conveyed real resentment over Hooda’s remarks.
His letter noted that the Sikh community had voted overwhelmingly for the Congress after the farm agitation, and warned that goodwill was now souring into second thoughts, with opposition parties seizing the opportunity.
Coming on the eve of the Punjab election, Sharma wrote, Hooda’s statement had reopened old wounds and hurt the party’s own interest, and even though the Congress had already distanced itself from Sajjan Kumar, he argued that removing Hooda from the Congress Working Committee (CWC), where he sits as a permanent invitee, was necessary to demonstrate the party’s good faith towards a community that matters enormously in Punjab, and to the diaspora watching from abroad.
Known for his proximity with Deepender’s father Bhupinder Singh Hooda during latter’s two terms as Haryana chief minister, Sharma has been critical of the Hoodas, particularly after 2024 when his son Chanakya Pandit was denied ticket for the Karnal Lok Sabha seat, a constituency represented in the Lok Sabha by his father Pandit Chiranji Lal from 1980 till 1996.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tried to draw a line between the party and Hooda’s comments, calling them the Rohtak MP’s personal view and describing 1984 as a tragedy that could not be forgotten.
But with Sikh groups, including the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, protesting outside Rahul Gandhi’s residence and demanding an apology, distancing statements from Punjab Congress leaders have done little to assuage the outrage.
For a party trying to rebuild itself in Punjab, the timing could not have been worse. What began as a condolence message, within 72 hours, turned into a headache the Congress cannot wish away, with rivals across the political spectrum in Punjab now united on one point: making sure voters don’t forget it.
This report has been updated to reflect Deepender Hooda’s response
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Delhi court closes dark chapter with life sentence for Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case
The Sikh community is far too sensitive in it’s response towards such issues.
Congress leaders carried out such massacres against many other communities too. Muslims were quite often targeted by communal gangs led by Congress leaders in various states at various points of time.
Yet, the Muslim community votes overwhelmingly for the Congress in every election. We never find any Muslim leader cribbing and crying over the Congress’ past record of targeted violence – with the exception of Owaisi of course.