CHANDIGARH: Leaders of two important Akali groups have called upon Sikhs to pass resolutions thanking President Clinton for his views on Punjab.
Parkash Badal Gurcharan Singh Tohra and leaders of Akali Dil (Mann) said the U.S. President had done the right thing by calling upon the Indian government {6 end violation of human rights and protect Sikh rights.
Gurcharan Singh Tohra asked rural panchayats Singh Sabhasan other Sikh groups 16 piss resolution und send these resolutions to the U.S President through the U.S. embassy in Delhi the Akali campaign is evidently i aimed at neutralizing the effect of a rally organized by leaders of Punjab Congress (I) and its youth wing.
This rally was held at Delhi to impress the U.S embassy officials that Sikhs were with the Indian government and that they had disliked when Presidents views on Punjab. The Congress (I) rally an Akall source said was Indian governments show. The participants were mostly policemen and their relations rather than ordinary people.
The Akalis said similar rallies commissioned by Congress (I) leaders to prop up Mrs.Gandhi in 1975-77 was a common phenomch on but the 1977 elections exposed the hollowness of these rallies when the masses had rejected Mrs. Gandhi’s emergency rule.
Men like Maninder Singh Bitta are no Mass leaders. These leaders operate on the crutches pros vided by the Punjab public which has much to answer for in the event of political changes in Punjab. These leaders could organize instant rallies but could not win a genuine election from anywhere in Punjab it was pointed out.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 11, 1994
