ROPAR: Bhai Manjit Singh on August 26 unfolded plans to project the All India Sikh Students Federation as an alternative to the Akalis whose leaders he said had discredited themselves in the eyes of the Sikhs.
Addressing a large convention at Gurdwara Bhatha Sahib he said the Akali leaders had mortgaged the honor of Sikhs for the sake of power.
He was particularly harsh on the late Sant Harchan Singh Longowal who had signed the Punjab accord with the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. “It is a sin to address him as a Sant” he said. Significantly, a resolution adopted by the convention calling for the release of Simranjit Singh Mann, Harminder Singh Sandhu, Rajinder Singh Mehta, At inderpal Singh and others omitted the names of Parkash Singh Badal and Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who are also in jail.
This was Manjit Singh’s first visit to Ropar district after his release from jail. He was arrested from the Golden Temple complex during Operation Bluestar in June 1984, and spent the next five years in Jodhpur jail. He was set free a few weeks ago.
During his detention Manjit Singh said, he was taken to Delhi on several occasions for talks with the Central government. They were offered a variety of offices, including the Chief Minister ship of Punjab, if they gave up the “path shown by Sant Jarnail Bhindranwale.” But they refused and had to spend five years in jail.
He felt the main reason for police repression and State violence in Punjab was the disunity among the Sikhs whose leadership had split into different groups. He appealed to them to close their ranks so as to give a united fight to the Government.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 8, 1989
