AMRITSAR: Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh last week refuted the Akali charge that his government was anti-Sikh. On the contrary he said the sanctity of the Sikh shrines which had been used for sheltering militants has been restored under his leadership. Addressing a party rally here to mark the culmination of celebration of two years of Congress government in the state he also rebutted the charge of human rights violations by his government saying that human rights were being violated by the militants who had wiped Out 25000 lives during the last 12 years. Lashing out at the Akalis for throwing Punjab into a period of darkness he said that Akali Dal (Badal) president Parkash Singh Badal was mainly to blame for inciting the youth. He also condemned Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra’s role in allowing the premises of the Golden Temple and other gurdwaras to be misused by militant leader Jamail Singh Bhindranwale and his band of misguided youth.
The Chief Minister said that his government was trying its best to attract industry {o the state and its efforts had borne fruit with the Raunaq group agreeing to set up a paper and a sugar mill at Goindwal and Sri Ram group to set up a big chemical complex near Rajpura during the next 10 years. He said Godrej will set up a refrigerator unit and air conditioners’ manufacturing unit in the state memorandum of understanding for which would be signed on March 8.
Speaking on the occasion Minister of State for External Affairs R.L.Bhatia said no power in the world could stop the country from taking rapid strides in development despite its best efforts Pakistan had failed to break the strong cultural bonds between various communities which gave India its strength.
Condemning the Akalis for their action in thanking US President But Clinton’s statement on human rights in Punjab he said they had earlier lost the faith of the people of Punjab but now they had lost the faith of the ‘entire country.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 11, 1994
