Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday vowed to go hammer and tongs after Parkash Singh Badal and vowed to “fix" him for ruining the state as he held the Akali veteran squarely responsible for the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents.
Amarinder said it was not possible that Badal was not aware of the police firing. “The SIT probe report into the incident would go to courts and the truth would come out," he said, adding that the decision to withdraw the case from CBI and hand it over to a Punjab Police SIT was taken over fears that the BJP-led government at the Centre could influence the probe for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The Ranjit Singh Commission set up to probe the sacrilege cases and the firing incidents had suggested further investigation, which was why the SIT is being set up, said Amarinder.
Reacting to Badal’s assertion that he was ready to swear that he did not know about the firing, Amarinder dismissed it as a gimmick to divert public attention from his role in the incident.
“If something happens in my state then as CM I cannot take refuge in such lies and should be thrown out if I am not aware of what is happening right under my nose," he asserted, adding that as per the Commission’s findings, as many as 22 calls were made to Badal before the firing took place.
Badal was an “expert liar" who would manufacture lies every time to become chief minister, said Amarinder, adding that he knew the Akali leader personally and closely.
The Chief Minister pointed out that Badal did not even take action on the findings of the Zora Commission, which was set up by his own government to investigate the Bargari sacrilege and the subsequent firing incidents.
A certain legal procedure needs to be followed if the police needs to open fire to control a crowd, which was clearly not done in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura, he said, adding that the firing in these cases was clearly aimed at killing the peaceful protestors to create strife and tension in the state. The way the people were fired at was horrific, said Amarinder.
Dubbing Parkash Singh Badal as a “coward" who was used to running away whenever he has to face the people, the Chief Minister recalled that when Sikhs were under attack at the time of Operation Bluestar, the former SAD president had run away to UP.
He dared Badal to come out for debate on the firing incidents. Vowing strict action against anyone trying to create communal strife in the state, Amarinder said his government’s move to strengthen the blasphemy law was aimed at ensuring that the state’s peace was maintained at all costs.
The people of Punjab were fully aware of the Badals’ strategy of inciting communal clashes in the state ahead of any election, said Amarinder, adding that the Akalis were playing into the hands of Pakistan’s ISI, which wanted to disturb Punjab’s peace.
“The SFJ and other radicals operating from Canada, Italy, Germany and other countries were being managed by an ISI officer," said the Chief Minister, adding that there were no radicals within Punjab, whose people wanted peace and development.
His government was aware of the attempts being made to foment trouble in the state and would ensure that the nefarious forces being such attempts do not succeed, he said.
While India wanted peace with Pakistan this could not happen till Indian soldiers were being killed in Kashmir, said Amarinder, himself a former Army officer. He also expressed oubts that new Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan could step out of the shadows of the Army.
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