CHANDIGARH: The Akali Dal (Badal) President Parkash Singh Badal said recently that the non-Congress (I) political parties which had contested the Punjab elections allowed themselves 10 be used by the Center as a tool to impart legitimacy to a fake poll.”
Describing the Congress (I) as a traitor which has always betrayed the aspirations of the Punjabis to please its masters in Delhi” the Akali leader called upon these panties to realize their folly and join the fight against the Center.
In a statement Badal said the Congress ( government in Punjab stood rejected twice firstly when the Punjabis both Hindus and Sikhs responded to the call for poll boycott and now when village elders who had polled more votes. in the panchayat elections than many of the present Cabinet ministers had chosen to quit their posts rather than stomach the “indignities” heaped upon them by the police He criticized the Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao and the Home Minister S.B.Chavan for giving contradictory statements on the Punjab package. In any other country the government would have fallen on this issue or at least the home minister and the chief minister would have resigned.
The Akal leader maintained that the Center had never been serious about Punjab. The government was not only continuing with its old policy of confrontation by suppressing the Sikhs but had actually taken it to “unprecedented and inhuman levels.” The governments fight against militancy was a full scale war against the Sikhs especially the youth.
Referring to the statements by Congress (I) leaders against his party Badal said the ruling party had developed an anti-Akali phobia It had also betrayed the interests of the state in every matter including those of territory water language from prices and human rights On the other hand the Akali Dal had waged historic battles for protecting and preserving the dignity of the Punjabis and the Sikhs. The Congress (I) had betrayed the community which had made maximum sacrifices for the Independence. The government had now unleashed a vendetta against the farmers by preventing them from selling their wheat in a manner they desired.
The Akali Dal (Badal) will meet on July 23 to consider the situation prevailing in Punjab Besides the former MLAS district presidents and candidates for the denotified 1991 elections will attend the meeting. The party would also attend the meeting of the six Panthic organizations called on July 24.
This would be the first important meeting of the party after its President Parkash Singh Badal returned from the United States after an eye-operation.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1992
