SURAJKUND: The Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh, has come out strongly in favor of merger of four northern states into one entity for “better administration.”
Speaking on the political resolution passed at the AICC session here March 28, Beant Singh formed on the linguistic basis should be merged into a bigger unit.
He specifically said Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana should be unified to form a single region so that these states could be better administered. He also pleaded for promoting Hindi in all states especially southern states, so that it could become the lingua franca of the country.
Beant Singh said the wounds of Punjab were still raw. He urged the Prime Minister to give liberal economic aid and concessions and provide the much needed “healing touch,” He said he would discuss the specific demands of Punjab with Narasimha Rao later. He said the state was eagerly looking forward to Rao’s visit.
The Chief Minister blamed the Janata Party government headed by Morarji Desai for the present situation in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
Both he and Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, who spoke immediately after Beant Singh, blamed the Badal government, comprising the Akalis and the erstwhile Jana Sangh, for the rise of militancy in Punjab.
Beant Singh disapproved a proposal to start the political process in Jammu and Kashmir before militancy was brought under control. Without referring to Dr.Farooq Abdullah directly, he said those who ruled the state for long but visited it no more should be first told to go back to Jammu and Kashmir and revive their party there.
Those forces, which did not believe in the country’s integrity and unity, should be dealt with first firmly, only then should talks be held.
After the Bombay and Calcutta bomb blasts, militancy could not be considered problems of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir alone. He alleged that it was part of a wider “Pakistan conspiracy” to destabilize India, Therefore, the Prime Minister should firmly tell Pakistan not to meddle in the Indian affairs. Short of launching a war against Pakistan, Rao should tell that country in no uncertain terms of the consequences Pakistan would have to face if i t did not stop interfering in the internal matters of India.
He regretted that Pakistan was encouraging certain Sikh boys. But the militants were not Sikhs because Lue Sikhs were those who sacrificed their lives as per the teachings of the gurus for the country’s unity and integrity.
Referring to the dissidents who staged a daylong dharna at the main entrance of the pandal at the session Saturday, Beant Singh urged the Prime Minister to expel them from the party.
He said the dissident should be firmly “tamed” by Rao.
Unless a legislation was enacted to keep religion and politics separate, only then secularism could be established in the country. The events of December 6 at Ayodhya and after were a black spot on the country’s face, though a difficult task, the Congress alone could remove that stigma.
He said the BJP was neither for the construction of a temple nor had it any love for Ram. It was power alone that the party was hankering for.
In Punjab too, the Akalis never demanded anything for the status when in power. Out of it, they launched “dharam morchas” to grab power.
Obviously referring the dissident MP, Jagmeet Singh Brar, the Chief Minister said though people who gathered at the Congress congregation at Hola Mohalla rejected the Anandpur Sahib resolution, “some of our own party men favored the separatist document.
Bhajan Lal also described the BIP as the “biggest offender” responsible for weakening the country, Though the BJP criticized the Akalis for operating from inside gurdwaras it now began its political yatras from Somnath.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 2, 1993
