CHANDIGARH: The Punjab BJP president Madan Mohan Mittal said that the Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao should visit the state immediately to study the prevailing situation which had worsened after the installation of the Beant Singh government resulting in greater alienation.
He told newsmen here that the BJP on its own was organizing a state-level rally at Ludhiana on May 24 to mobilize public opinion against militancy. The rally would be addressed by the senior party leaders including Atal Behari Vajapayee Madan Lal Khurana and Krishan Lal Sharma. The morale of the people had to be boosted as the spurt in killing of innocent people was causing more migration from the state.
Mittal said that the militants were trying to destroy the state part by part by resorting to “institutionalized” killings Massacre of non-Punjabi talent employed in Punjab and killing of an IAS officer two professors of the Punjab University persons of one community in Amritsar district workers and engineers repairing the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal and the murderous attack on a Punjab minister were parts of this nefarious design.
According to him the situation in Punjab was one of insurgency and the government would have to take more drastic measures to control it
Asked if his party had any solution to the Punjab problem Mittal said the states border with Pakistan should be sealed smuggling of arms checked and the interstate disputes with Haryana solved. He said any solution of the Chandigarh issue would be acceptable to his party’s units in Punjab Haryana and the Union Territory provided it was based on consensus.
The BJP leader said in reply to questions that the police were fighting militants in state of insurgency and excesses against innocent persons could take place which should be curbed. He said the DGP K.P.S.Gill was doing his duty in a difficult situation. He regretted that the Beant Singh government was surrendering to militants threats as was evident from a “spashtikaran” (explanation) by the irrigation department that had it known the “Singh” (militants) did not want repair of the SYL the same would not have been carried out. He said the recent strongly worded statements by the Punjab and Haryana chief ministers on the inter-state disputes had been issued on the direction of the Congress (I) high command as the Center did not want the problem to be solved. The only performance of the Beant Singh government in the first 100 days of its existence was the massive transfers in the administration he added.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 5, 1992
