Rahul Gandhi can't be blamed for what happened in 1984: Chidambaram

New Delhi, Aug 25: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today came out in support of his party president's comment on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and said Rahul Gandhi cannot be held responsible for something that took place when he was 13-14 years.

Chidambaram said former prime minister Manmohan Singh had apologised in Parliament as had former party chief Sonia Gandhi for the "terrible thing" (anti-Sikh riots) that took place when the Congress was in power.

Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the UK, had told an audience of UK-based parliamentarians and local leaders in London on Friday that the incident was a "very painful tragedy", but disagreed with the view that the Congress was involved.

Chidambaram said, "Congress was in office in 1984, nobody is denying that. A very terrible thing happened in 1984 for which Dr Manmohan Singh has apologised in Parliament. We are not saying that the Congress is absolved. Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi has also apologised and on numerous occasion, some of us have also said what happened in 1984 was a terrible thing."

"Now, you can't hold Rahul Gandhi responsible for that - he was 13 or 14 years of age then... He has not absolved anyone. What Rahul Gandhi has said is there is on the AICC website. The full text is there you can have a look at it, please read it," the former finance minister said.

Rahul Gandhi had also said he was "100 per cent" for the punishment for those involved in any violence against any body.

PTI