Phoolka quits AAP, to focus on 1984 riots cases

New Delhi: Senior advocate H.S. Phoolka quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday and announced his withdrawal from politics, saying he wanted to focus to getting justice for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Party (AAP) has happily relieved me for my old cause of justice to victims (anti-Sikh riots) of 1984," Phoolka tweeted.

Phoolka told reporters that the Aam Aadmi Party was doing very well in Punjab and will win in the next polls.

"The 1984 riot cases are at a crucial juncture now and require my full time. So AAP has agreed to relieve me from all posts," Phoolka said.

Later Phoolka posted on Facebook, "After detailed discussions with Kejriwal ji and with his approval, it has been decided collectively that I quit active politics and resign from party posts."

He said the step would enable him to devote time fully "for getting justice for the victims and punishment for the culprits such as (Congress leaders) Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler".

"As much as an inherent part as I am of AAP, my dedication to the cause of 1984 remains unaltered. At this stage, where I feel I am needed more for these cases, I must not hesitate to take a step back from everything else and give the cause my undivided attention," Phoolka said.

On Phoolka's resign, AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai informed, "He resigned only from the party posts, not from the party. He was and will always be an AAP member."

Phoolka recalled that he started working on riot cases in 1984 as a young lawyer.

He wrote in his post, "It is extremely unfortunate that despite the passage of over three decades, even today we are fighting for the same thing we have been fighting for since 1984, i.e. to bring the real culprits to book."

In his post he also appealed to Indians, including Punjabis residing in America and Canada, to gather at the UN Assembly in New York on September 25 "in large numbers to convey a loud and clear message to the Indian prime minister and world leaders and members of UNO that 'we will not forget about the genocide of November 1984'."

(IANS)