CHANDIGARH: Dissident Akali legislators are organizing rallies at different place in Punjab to ‘educate the people about the paramilitary troops invasion of the Golden Temple. Already they have organized rallies at Patiala, Morinda and Ludhiana. They plan to hold similar rallies at nearly twenty different places. Their rallies at Patiala and Ludhiana evoked massive response. Addressing these rallies, the dissident leaders charged Barnala government for acting as the lackey of the Central Government. They said that they did not want split in the Akali Dal but they were not prepared to accept Surjit Singh Barnala either as Parry President or as Chief Minister.
Speaking at Ludhiana, S. Parkash Singh Badal said that Sikhs could forgive Barnala for committing sacrilege of Golden Temple after he accepted and received the punishment awarded by the Akal Takht, but the magnitude of his folly in committing the sacrilege is such as makes him unacceptable as party President or as Chief Minister. Mr. Badal also charged that district officials were pressurizing Panchayat members and other representative Sikh Organizations to say that Barnala’s action was correct. He that at some places Panchayat members was suspended for refusing to sign such a statement.
- Sukhjinder Singh said that the Singh Sahibs had repeated their earlier history of reason in handling Barnala’s sacrilege issue. He said that the manner the whole drama was enacted clearly points to collusion between the State Government and the Singh Sahibs. He also accused Barnala and his colleagues of offering money to ‘Singh Sahibs. He said that Sikhs would never accept anyone as their leader who had violated the sanctity of the Golden Temple.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 23, 1986
