Manmohan terms past riots 'painful'

Singh, a member of India's minority Sikh community, made the comments during a visit to a Sikh temple in the Indian capital New Delhi, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

The premier, who was sworn into office on May 22, said he understood the "pain and anguish" of Sikhs who were targetted after India's former prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh security bodyguards in October 1984.

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Gandhi was shot dead after ordering Indian troops into Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in the northern Indian state of Punjab in June 1984 to flush out Sikh militants fighting for an independent "Khalistan" state.

Her death triggered revenge attacks in which at least 3,000 Sikhs were massacred on the streets of New Delhi and elsewhere.

Singh, India's first Sikh prime minister, is a member of Gandhi's Congress party, some of whose politicians were accused of inciting the anti-Sikh riots.

The prime minister also expressed sorrow over the riots in Gujarat, which was triggered by the burning of a train compartment in which 59 Hindu activists and pilgrims were killed in February 2002.

More than 2,000 people -- mostly Muslims -- died in subsequent rioting, with human rights groups accusing the Hindu nationalist administration in the state of turning a blind eye to the violence.