CHANDIGARH: The parents of slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala on Friday started an 'Insaaf (Justice) Yatra' from Phillaur and urged the public not to vote for the AAP candidate in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypolls, saying the government has failed to deliver in the last 11 months since his murder.
Balkaur Singh, the father of Moosewala, began his yatra from Bada Pind in the Phillaur assembly seat of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency ahead of the bypoll on May 10. He said the yatra will go on for two days and he will cover all nine assembly segments of the constituency.
Addressing a public gathering, Singh said, "You will be thinking what happened that a person like me who is already hurt has to reach out to all of you. You all know that till May 29, 2022, I was from a well-to-do family and was leading a king’s life. We were a three-member family living our life very well. What happened? We had no enmity with anyone. But we lost our lion-like son as he was shot down ruthlessly. His killers were around my house with weapons for 15 days but I could not gauge that someone could stoop so low. The Punjab government had full information as the Centre had written to them. Two persons were on the threat list -- the other person got information. He was lucky but we were not."
He further said, "Why have I come to your doorstep. You all are in the NRI belt and your children are residing abroad. If my son wanted, he could have also settled abroad in the UK or any other country. But he chose to live here and uplift his backward area as he wanted to bring an educational institution and hospital. This is our fault. The government has not given us justice till date even after 11 months. They only consider those who fired at my son as being guilty and are not agreeing to take any one else’s name."
Singh added, "I can only appeal to you, if you want to listen to me, they are doing politics on my son’s name. I have gone and knocked at all doors. I went to Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi and the Punjab CM Mann. Whenever I approach the authorities to seek justice, they say I am playing the victim card and doing politics over my son’s death. Yesterday after I posted the video saying I am coming to Jalandhar, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that I was doing politics. I am not a candidate of any party nor asking you to vote for any particular party or candidate. I am just appealing to you not to vote for those who cannot deliver justice to the masses. I am a victim and appealing to you not to vote for this useless government’s candidate because they cannot provide justice to a father who lost his young son. It will be a true tribute to my son by not voting for this government.”
His yatra may impact the poll prospects of the ruling AAP which lost the Lok Sabha byelection in Sangrur last year three months after it won the Assembly polls. During the Sangrur byelection, there was a lot of anger among the people over the singer's murder as soon as his security was reduced by the state government.
Meanwhile, the Pendu Mazdoor Union (PMU) of Punjab has prepared a list of eighteen questions for the AAP besides other political parties and asked the villagers to ask the respective party candidates when they come to seek their votes. The questions for the AAP include: why were the culprits of sacrilege cases not punished to date, why have the rental rates for Panchayati lands increased for Dalits, why were the houses of people in Latifpura razed without giving them alternative accommodation and they are still homeless, why were paramilitary forces deployed ahead of the arrest of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh as it created an atmosphere of fear among the people of the state, why were women not given Rs 1,000 per month till date as promised by the AAP.
"Some 50 houses of the poor were demolished in Latifpura locality of Jalandhar who were living there for decades as they were allotted houses there after partition. These people had electricity connections, Aadhaar and voter cards,” said PMU president Tarsem Peter.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira while attacking the AAP attached an alleged audio clip and tweeted, "Just watch the audio below to see how the Delhi masters of @AamAadmiParty are literally threatening Punjab leaders with dire consequences if they lose area assigned to them in Jalandhar Lok Sabha by poll! I feel ashamed how such cronies of @ArvindKejriwal are running the show and turning Aap 92 Mla’s & Ministers into “Bonded-Labour”!’’