AHMEDABAD: President of India’s leftist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lal Krishna Advani said here Tuesday that if the Akali Dal (Mann), the majority party in the northern Indian state of Punjab, wanted to prove their credibility, they should “delink” themselves from the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF).
Addressing a press conference here, in Gujarat, Advani said the AISSF had demanded a separate Sikh homeland of “Khalistan” and given a call for boycotting the republic day functions. The Mann group, which had six of its candidates elected to the lower house of Parliament while one was “murdered”, should “delink” themselves from these elements, he added.
He said his party was not in favor of ordering immediate election in the strife-torn Punjab state and added that the president’s rule, now on in the state, would continue up to May and, if they situation did not improve by then, it should be extended by amending the constitution.
Asked if it was possible to amend the constitution without the help of the Congress (I) party, Advani said the Punjab unit of Congress had already favored post-ponement of elections there.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 2, 1990
