Chandigarh, May 6 -- Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday termed leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi's apology over the 1984 Sikh riots as "hypocritical and meaningless words." Responding to a question on the 1984 riots and the Congress' relationship with the Sikh community, Rahul, during an event in the US, had said a lot of the "mistakes" the party committed happened when he was not there but added that he was "more than happy" to take responsibility for everything wrong it did in its history. The remarks by Gandhi were made on April 21 during an interactive session at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in the US. The video of the interaction was uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs on Saturday. Reacting sharply to Rahul's response, Sukhbir said that the reported words of the Congress leader flew in the face of his insensitive conduct towards the Sikh sentiments. "Rahul must first answer the fundamental questions. Why does the Congress still continue not only to shield but also to reward killers of thousands of innocent Sikhs with plum posts in the party? Is he really not aware of who is responsible for the genocide against our community in 1984? Sukhbir said. Referring to Rahul's claim that he was a minor when his party and his ancestors perpetrated these crimes against the Sikhs, the SAD president said, "True, he was a minor then. But he is 55 now. Why has it taken him all these 35 years just to start talking about his predecessors' and his colleagues' sins against Sikhs?" Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also condemned Rahul for refusing to offer an unequivocal apology to the Sikhs....