NEW DELHI: Jagmeet Singh Brar of the Congress shocked the Lok Sabha by drawing attention to the fate of a three year-old boy who was flung in the air and made what looked like the object of target practice by the police after both his parents had been shot at point blank range near Ambala recently.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Brar said the people in Punjab were more scared of the police than they were of terrorists now. Referring to the case of the boy, he said the parents were kidnapped and taken to a deserted spot where they were killed. Since the perpetrators of atrocities now were the juaniawn of law themselves, the people did not know where to go for justice or relief, he added.
Referring to another case he said the young wife of a gardener in Chandigarh was raped by two CRPF men. A rickshaw driver, who witnessed the outrage, later speared to death both the constables. Such incidents were happening under the very nose of the state government in Punjab, he said. Central intervention to stop police excesses in the state was needed, he added.
Madan Lal Khurana (BJP) said bodyguards of the Balram Jakhar, opened by killing a journalist and injuring half a dozen BJP workers during the minister’s visit to Bathinda recently,
Chandra Shekhar former Prime Minister, said the saddest part of the story was that the Center felt it had done its duty in Punjab after holding the elections, The police atrocities were inevitable after most of the discredited police officers were transferred back to the State, he added.
Somnath Chatterjee, CPS leader, said the government must do something about the rising crime in the state, “Punjab can’t be left to Beant Singh (chief minister).”
Article extracted from this publication >> July 31, 1992
