BATHINDA: Citing the latest disclosures of a CIA report on Punjab extremism, Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder on Tuesday blamed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the spread of terrorism in the state and vowed to make him pay for his sins.
In a scathing attack on Badal at a public rally in the Bathinda Rural assembly segment, from where the Congress has fielded Harvinder Singh Laddi, Amarinder said the Akali leader was clearly responsible for the killings of thousands of innocent people at the hands of terrorists during Punjab’s darkest days.
He referred to the CIA report, to point out that Badal had always been working “to promote his personal fortunes by heading his own Akali Dal dissident party and siding with Sikh extremists against the state government.”
He recalled that Badal had failed to turn up for discussion a day before the attack on Golden Temple as he was in the know about the impending military operation and had clearly decided to run away instead of facing the situation. He earlier swore at Akal Takht that he would stop the army at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing his life but ran away when the crisis erupted, Amarinder further pointed out.
Reiterating his promise to get all recent incidents of sacrilege in the state investigated, preferably by an independent agency, once he comes to power, Amarinder reiterated that he would throw Badal into jail if he is found to be guilty in any of these cases. Badal had played the communal card even earlier to promote his political and electoral interests, said Amarinder, adding that the latest incidents appeared to be an attempt by the Akalis to create communal polarization ahead of the assembly polls.
Dubbing both Badal and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal as slimy individuals who could not be trusted, Captain Amarinder came down heavily on AAP’s use of outsiders in the Punjab elections. He added that the Punjabis were deliberately being kept out by Kejriwal’s party to alienate them from the poll process as the AAP leader did not trust Punjabis and had no interest in their welfare.
He urged the people to confirm from their friends and relatives in Delhi what kind of mess Kejriwal’s government had made in the national capital. It is evident that Kejriwal is not for Punjab, and never will be, the PPCC leader asserted.
Coming down heavily on the Badals for plunging Punjab into a serious crisis on all fronts during the past ten years, Amarinder pointed out that farmer suicides were continuing unabated in the state, with the Badals only interested in promoting their own interests. As many as 449 farmers killed themselves in the state in 2015 and last year there were more than 50 farmers who were forced by the government apathy to take the extreme step, he pointed out, promising immediate steps to waive off all farm debts on coming to power.