AMRITSAR: Manjit Singh and Harminder Singh Sandhu AISSF leaders at a joint press conference gave an ultimatum to the Union Govt to concede their long standing demands by Jan 31 failing which the AISSF would have to take drastic steps to get their demands accepted.
‘When questioned by a newsman, Manjit Singh said they would disclose their steps at a proper time. They said the people of Punjab were with the AISSF as they had voted for people appointed by them and the complete bandh on Jan 1 was a clear indication in this regard.
Manjit Singh said the new VP Singh Govt was following in the footsteps of Rajiv Gandhi as the repression of the Sikhs had not stopped. Thousands of youths were in jail.
They demanded immediate elections to the SGPC as the present management was inept and corrupt. The AISSF would fight the elections to this supreme religious body of the Sikhs, they said.
Manjit Singh held the government responsible for the murder of Mr. Khudian and said that there seemed to be a deep rooted conspiracy behind it.
CHANDIGARH: The AISSF general secretary Harminder Singh Sandhu has reiterated the demand for a sovereign Sikh state. Talking to newsmen here Sandhu said the government should talk to the militant organizations otherwise the struggle to achieve this goal would continue. The government should also take into consideration views of Sikhs in other countries, particularly those who had to flee Punjab after 1978, he said.
While the AISSF had strived to make India strong, the post 1947 experiment had failed, he said. The center should now set a new precedent by providing room for a Sikh state. Sandhu said the Sikhs as a community had never been communal and would never be so. The time for introspection by the majority was at hand.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 5, 1990
