NEW DEHLI: Rajasthan is a predominantly Hindu state ruled by the fundamentalist BILP, Its government feels upset at the tendency of the Punjab police to take away Sikhs arrested by the Rajasthan police in that state and Kill them soon after entering Punjab, On March 20, the Punjab Police killed three Sikhs hours after they were taken away by the Punjab police for interrogation. In this manner Rajasthan handed over about 200 Sikhs to the Punjab police most often without any Production warrants issued by Courts. This illegal arrangement between the two states was called Cooperation in the interest of containing Sikh militancy, The Rajasthan government has now decided to verify the antecedents Of the Sikhs arrested by its thoroughly before they are transferred to the Punjab police. This reconsideration has been prompted by a recent incident when the Punjab police took away four Sikhs earlier arrested by the Rajasthan police from Rai Singh Srinagar Kesarsinghpur area on suspicion, The Punjab police killed them the same evening near Abohar declaring that they tried to run away from police custody. On verification, the Rajasthan police found that three of the four transferred by it to Punjab were innocent of any crime. The incident led to a lot of agitation in the Srinagar area where lakhs of Sikh farmers are settled,
According to official reports, the Rajasthan government does not want to annoy Sikhs owing to their contribution in making Rajasthan fairly self-sufficient in food grains, But, political observers feel that the real reason is the apprehension in Rajasthan that Punjab militants attitude on the river water issue will become more tough if Rajasthan continued to treat Sikhs as Punjab polices canon-fodder..
Article extracted from this publication >> May 1, 1992
