CANDIGARH, India: An influential section of the Unified Akali Dal (UAD) leadership wants the party to decide whether it favors the “gun or democratic” method to fight the Centre’s “excesses” in Punjab and to press for acceptance of the party’s demands.
The section which is led by Capt. Amrinder Sngh, leader of the UAD legislature party, feels that the party must take a clear cut stand on the issue to avoid confusion both within the party and in the mind of the public. lt wants the democratic method to mobilize the masses against the government.
The issue was reportedly taken up by Capt. Amrinder Singh at Wednesday’s joint meeting of the UAD council and the party presidium. Saying that contradictory statements made by party leaders were causing confusion, Capt., Amrinder Singh urged them to adopt a uniform approach,
However, a detailed discussion on the issue was not undertaken at Wednesday’s meeting.
The leader of the UAD legislature party now plans to take up the matter at public meetings and rallies of the party arguing the Centre was to organize the masses through democratic methods.
The UAD is currently staging dharnas at district headquarters. This phase of the stir will end on February 21 with a mass rally at Ludhiana. UAD demands include “unconditional release of detainees, grant of general amnesty to Sikh prisoners, immediate stoppage of fake encounters, punishment to the guilty of 1984 riots, repeal of black laws, and rehabilitation of Army deserter’s and stoppage of sacrilege of Sikh gurdwaras”.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 29, 1988
