CHANDIGARH: The family of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota and the action committee on Thursday announced a statewide protest on October 25 and said they would not allow a post-mortem examination until their key demands, including the resignations of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and DGP Gaurav Yadav, were met.
The protesters said the Aam Aadmi Party’s electoral symbol, the ‘jhaadu’ (broom), would be burnt in villages and towns across Punjab during the protest.
Manpreet Kaur, wife of the deceased Jhota, said that the resignations of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav were their primary demands and that they remained firm on them. “Those running the government are directly responsible,” she said.
The action committee said that if the state government panel lacked the authority to fulfil its pending demands, the state Cabinet or other authorities were empowered to make such decisions and should come forward for talks with them.
The committee announced a statewide protest on October 25, during which the ‘jhaadu’ (broom), the electoral symbol of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), would be burnt in villages and towns across Punjab between noon and 7 pm. It claimed that the agitation would be intensified in the coming days and appealed to people to gather in large numbers at the main protest site near the Deputy Commissioner’s residence in Mansa at 2 pm on October 25.
“The state panel has only handed over the official notification regarding the CBI probe into the incident and the suspension of the DSP,” a committee member said.
The committee also said that the government panel had given no assurance regarding the proposed trauma centre to be named after Parvinder Singh Jhota, including when it would be established and how much money would be allocated for it.
Regarding security for the bereaved family, the committee said that a gunman had yet to be provided to them.
The committee also condemned the state government for not allowing a debate on the drug issue in the Vidhan Sabha and demanded that the matter be taken up during the remainder of the session.
