By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
After facing a series of scandals, Uttarakhand Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat is again in news these days for wrong reasons. He is embroiled in a raging controversy over his alleged objectionable remarks against the Sikh community.
Rawat on Sunday tendered an apology at the Paonta Sahib Gurudwara in Himachal Pradesh, near Dehradun.
Rawat, former state cabinet minister, also performed karseva in the gurudwara. Rawat said he has immense respect for the Sikh community and never intended to use indecent words against them. “If any lawyer or other member of the community has been hurt by his words, he sincerely apologizes,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Harish Rawat has decided to perform shoe seva at the Aarhat Bazaar Gurudwara in Dehradun on Monday to repent for his colleague’s “disrespectful” remarks. Rawat said, “Sometimes a slip of the tongue can prove to be very costly, and our Congress leader Dr. Harak Singh Rawat fell victim to one such slip.”
He stated that Sikhs are a great, brave, and revered community, a symbol of our national honor, courage, and sacrifice. “If we commit any mistake in thought, word, or deed, there is only one way for us: to seek refuge in Guru Sahib,” Rawat said.
The former Chief Minister said since his party colleague had made inappropriate remark, he has decided to perform shoe seva in the courtyard of the Gurudwara located in Aadhat Bazaar during the Sangat service at 6 p.m. on Monday (December 8).
Harak Singh Rawat, who had come to support the lawyers’ protest in Dehradun on Friday, allegedly made an “objectionable comment” while pointing at a Sikh lawyer, leading to protests against him at the site. Sensing the situation, Rawat immediately apologized for his remarks, but the uproar did not subside, forcing him to leave the area.
The video of Rawat’s statement quickly went viral on social media, sparking protests against him across the state. In the capital, Dehradun, members of the Sikh community burned his effigy and chanted slogans against him at the Clock Tower on Saturday.
Reacting to this, State BJP state President Mahendra Bhatt said that Congress members first attack Hindu and Sikh identity and then pretend to repent. He said Harak Singh Rawat’s language has exposed the truth hidden within the Congress party, which it had been concealing for years.
During the past two decades, Rawat has faced several scandals where the CBI probes were ordered that included the unwed Jenny rape and the Corbett National park cases. He claimed that he has been given clean chit in all the cases.
