LUDHIANA: The former Akali Dal president Jagdev Singh Talwandi virtually revived his party.
A meeting of the working committee members and district jathedars of the party held here with Talwandi in the chair urged Talwandi to provide a meaningful guidance to the Sikh community and to effectively check the attacks on Sikhs in the state.
Among others the meeting was attended by former minister Ramdhir Singh Cheema (senior vice president) Naranjan Singh Sekhon (junior vice president) Jaswinder Singh Brar and Manjit Singh Ghumman (both general secretaries) several office bearers more than half a dozen district presidents and a large number of active party workers.
The meeting urged all presidents and office bearers of Sikh organizations to resign from their posts to achieve the goal of panthic unity. It was pointed out in the meeting that there were many factions of Akali Dal who claimed to represent the masses but none of them was prepared to shoulder the responsibility of leading the Sikh community in this hour of need.
In a resolution the meeting endorsed the program spelled out in the sarbat khalsa in 1986 (which was the call for creation of a Sikh sovereign state). It criticized the government for its dual policy towards Akali leaders. While some people like Tohra and Mann had been released Bhai Manjit Singh of the Sikh Students Federation was still in jail and the government wanted to create dissension among the leadership. The meeting also demanded the release of Justice Ajit Singh Bains
The meeting condemned the anti-farmers policy of the government and supported the decision of the farmers not to bring their produce to the markets.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 29, 1992
