Chandigarh: The National Scheduled Castes Alliance today appreciated the decision as the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to mandate the state government to take up the issue of renaming the domestic terminal of Adampur Airport with the Union Civil Aviation ministry. The said terminal is to be named after Shri Guru Ravi Dass Ji.
President of the Alliance, Paramjit Singh Kainth said “This move is one which is commendable but in the light of what has been going on in the State, relating to the Scheduled Castes community, this seems to be an effort to again mislead and distract the people from the plight of the victims of rape, assault, murder, extortion etc who are being ignored by the State Government and are still in seek of justice which seems a long shot”
He further said “Naming the airport terminal after Shri Guru Ravi Dass Ji is a welcomed decision, there is much need to popularize and highlight the name of a saint who did so much for the society and the people. More efforts like this would only allow the Government to be accepted more by the Scheduled Castes community but such efforts have no value if the State Government is keen on oppressing the people. Numerous cases all over Punjab have been pending relating to the Scheduled Castes people. Faridkot, Sangrur, Mohali, Nawanshehar etc are few such names from a long list of cities and towns which belong to cases yet pending and the victims more traumatized during the proceedings of their cases.”
“The State Government can’t hide its real face from the Public, distraction won’t work. If the State Government really wants to show itself as pro-Scheduled Castes then it should work to bring the status of Law & Order in the State to normal. The Politicization of bureaucracy has been one of the reasons of such menacing times in the State. Rather than helping criminals, it should help solve crimes and put the criminals behind bars.” Kainth said.
He said “Policies like Scheduled Castes Sub Plan, Post Metric Scholarship etc have yet not been discussed either in cabinet or assembly session. If the Government is really concerned, why not discuss and act on the issues that really matter to the community. They should call a special assembly session on the issues the Scheduled Castes community.”