Chandigarh: The senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership today said the party would unitedly fight the conspiracy hatched by the Congress in league with radical groups to belittle the contribution of SAD patron Sardar Parkash Singh Badal towards the Sikh panth as well as Punjab.
Terming the recent attempts to tarnish the image of the longest serving legislator and five times chief minister, senior most SAD leaders Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Jathedar Tota Singh and Sewa Singh Sekhwan said the Congress party was targeting the Sikh panth as well as trying to divide the community as per its old policy of divide and rule by leading a malicious and mischievous campaign against former chief minister S Parkash Singh Badal. “Instead of pointing fingers at a towering personality who has been jailed for sixteen years in the duty of the people, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh should tell why he was talking with the centre on the eve of Operation Blue Star. The chief minister has also made it clear the Sardar Badal did not fall into his trap and did not accompany him to Delhi”, they added.
The senior leaders said it was on record that even the biased and politicized Ranjit Singh Commission, which had been rejected by the SAD, had failed to indict Sardar Badal despite its best attempts. They said the retired judge had noted down in his report that the State police informed him that Sardal Badal had given directions that the situation post sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji and resultant protests be handled with sensitivity and that no one responsible for the sacrilege should be spared.
Mr Dhindsa and Mr Bhundur said “we want to put on record that the Kotkapura dharna was lifted peacefully but there was a most unfortunate incident later at Behbal Kalan village in which two youth lost their precious lives. In this case ten police officers were named in the FIR by the SAD-BJP government but now six police officers have been let off including those related to Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leaders”, they added.
The leaders also asserted that chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had misled the august Vidhan Sabha by stating that SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal did not visit the families of the two youth killed in the Behbal Kalan firing incident. “The SAD president not only visited both families but they were also given financial compensation besides government jobs”, they added.
Jathdar Tota Singh and Sewa Singh Sekhwan also condemned the Congress party for hatching a criminal conspiracy along with radical groups as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to attack SAD leaders through orchestrated protests. “We will take this challenge head on by holding State wide protests in all 117 assembly constituenciestomorrow besides Pol Khol rally at Aobohar on September 9”, they said.
Mr Sukhdev Dhindsa noted that the Congress government had also debunked the Ranjit Commission report which had recommended that the probe in the case should be handed over to the CBI, by deciding to hand over the case to the State police. He said as far as the SAD was concerned it stood by its stand to get all cases of sacrilege probed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.
The leaders also noted that chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had named four Congress leaders on the floor of the house and stated that he had been informed in the immediate aftermath of the 1984 massacres when he visited relief centers that they were directly responsible for mass murder of Sikhs. “Now that he has made this disclosure Capt Amarinder Singh should appear as witness before the SIT which is probing this case on the directions of the Supreme Court”, they added.
The senior SAD leaders also warned the Congress party that its anti-Sikh policies had led to the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib and the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in 1984. It asked the Congress party to desist from encouraging divisive forces again, adding the SAD would not allow the hard won peace and communal harmony of Punjab to be disturbed at any cost.
