The Defense Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, on Thursday said that the Government does not have reports about any large-scale infiltration of Sikh activists from Pakistan into India.
Speaking to pressmen here on Thursday Mr. Rao said, however, reports of few such cases had been received by the Government.
Mr. Rao, who is one of the members of the cabinet subcommittee on Punjab, said that our tour program of Punjab would be finalized within a day or two. The subcommittee would visit several places in Punjab to seek the views of the cross-section of the people.
Asked whether the committee would also meet leaders of political parties he said anybody was welcome to give his views. When a pressman asked him whether the committee would also meet the Akali Dal president, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, Mr. Rao evaded the question.
Mr. Rao said that the committee will make several visits which would however, be of short durations.
Asked to comment upon the sudden spurt in violence in the region, Mr. Rao said that even in the past, whenever any attempt was made to settle the Punjab problem, some or the other incident happened to stall the effort. ““‘We will, however, continue with our efforts to solve the lingering Punjab problem,” he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 12, 1985
