CHANDIGARH: Alleging that gangsterism and the drug problem have increased under the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, former chief minister and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann could run a stage, but not the state.
Speaking to the media in Morinda, Channi said the AAP government's Yudh Nashean Virudh (war against drugs) campaign was limited to newspapers, television and social media. He said the drug menace in Punjab was a concern and gangsterism had increased.
Taking a dig at Mann, Channi said, “There is a difference between running the state and a stage. This man can run the stage, not the state. For the last four-and-a-half years, he has been running a stage; he cannot run the state.’’
“Stopping the drug menace requires willpower, the capacity to fight the mafia and administrative skills, but Mann lacks all three,’’ he claimed.
“On the ground, the opposite is happening. Drug traffickers are enjoying political patronage from leaders of the ruling AAP. It has become AAP's policy to align with gangsters and drug traffickers to win the next polls, which is fatal for Punjab. Gurpreet Sekhon is the biggest example," he alleged.
Sekhon joined the AAP along with his supporters in the presence of Mann at a rally in Zira, Ferozepur, on September 6. He was one of the main accused in the 2016 Nabha jailbreak case, in which armed criminals attacked the high-security prison and freed six prisoners, including Sekhon.
Channi said Punjab was seeing worse days under AAP rule. “We demand that the chief minister should accept moral responsibility and resign’’ he said.
On the BJP's ongoing anti-drug yatra in Punjab, Channi questioned why the party, which is in power at the Centre, was not equally responsible for controlling the drug problem. He asked the BJP to explain how drugs were entering Punjab.
Channi also criticised the AAP government over the death of Gulzar Singh. Gulzar's family alleged that he consumed poison on September 7 after being harassed and subjected to casteist slurs for questioning Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about drug supply in his area at an event in Dirba a day earlier.
He also mentioned the case of Mohanjit Singh of Sheron village in Sangrur. Mohanjit alleged that police in the Sunam division tortured him after detaining him for waving a black flag from the rooftop of a house near the venue of Mann's 'Lok Milni' programme on September 2.
“They think they can rule Punjab by suppressing people. But not even the Mughals and the British could do so, nor can anyone else."
Channi also highlighted the incident involving Jagga Singh, a resident of Namol village in Sangrur. He said Jagga attempted suicide outside the district administrative complex in Sangrur and claimed that a local sarpanch threatened him after he shared a video of drug supply in his village.
In Gurdaspur district's Dera Baba Nanak, gangsters gunned down a sarpanch's brother and claimed responsibility on social media, Channi said.
The prevailing atmosphere in Punjab was taking a dangerous turn, he said. “Punjab is again being pushed into the fire from which it had earlier emerged,” Channi said, referring to the militancy days.
