JALANDHAR: The Akali Dal Badal) withdrew its.14 day old and protest against the sacrilege incident in Gujjarwal village Of Ludhiana district last month.
Stating this here, Kuldeep Singh ‘Wadala, senior vice-president of the party, told newsmen that the Morcha was discontinued after the Government released all detained Akali leaders.
Wadala denied that the morcha had flopped; however, he admitted that the morcha could not get the popular support which it should have because the people were terrified due 10 police harassment and atrocities.
He demanded an open apology from the Chief Minister for the sacrilege incident and said he should desist from ‘planting’ news items against Akalis in the Press.
Defending his party’s decision to support the BJP in the elections he said it had been done to defeat the Congress. It was also intended to tell the Hindus of Punjab that the Akalis were not against them but the Congress.
Wadala said the party command would soon meet to take stock of the latest situation and decide the future course of action.
Wadala said the decision to call of the march had been taken in view of the “moral defeat” accepted by the Beant Singh Government as demonstrated by its ‘been offering them; for arrest for the past one The Akali leaders Said party volunteers would offer thanksgiving prayer at the Golden. Temple in Amritsar on Nov. 16 for the*‘moral victory of their march,” The volunteers would leave the Model Town gurdwaras here on the same day he added.
In Amritsar, 15 workers of the Akali Dal (Badal) of Jalandhar offered themselves for arrest this week. However, the police did not arrest them.
The workers came out of the Golden Temple from the Guru Ram Dass Serai side in two batches, shouting slogans; one jatha was led by Kuldip Singh, vice-president of the Jalandhar district unit, and the other by Jagmail Singh, president of the youth Akali wing of Jalandhar.
The Panthic Committee (Zaffarwal) has supported the Morcha from the Akal Takht and urged the Akali leadership to liberate the Golden Temple complex from the security forces. In a two page statement purportedly signed by Was a Singh Zaffarwal, which was released to the press here on Nov.14, the committee warned the Akalis that they could not carry on their morcha until the police which was camping within the complex was withdrawn.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 19, 1993
