LUDHIANA: The chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, said here that the government was not withdrawing the security provided to the Akali leaders.
Beant Singh denied having stated that the government would withdraw the security of those who were preaching separatism. “We do not want them to be killed by the militants,” he said.
The chief minister said that the impact of the boycott call given by the Alkali’s was lessening and the ministers were touring districts and meeting the people,
Beant Singh claimed that there was an improvement in the law and order situation. He was confident that militancy would be checked in Punjab within six months and the situation would become peaceful,
In reply to a question, Beant Singh said the Akali leaders had become redundant as they had no political program. They were not seeking the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab nor a share of river waters because of fear of the militants, They were demanding “Khalistan” under threat from the militants, Beant Singh said that he was getting full cooperation from the bureaucracy,
The chief minister said that the boycott of the grain markets by the BKU had not made much impact and as much as 80,000 tons of wheat had arrived in the market, The state government would achieve its target as 25 lakh tons of wheat had already been procured so far.
Meanwhile, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president of the SGPC, said here that Sikhs were ready for a reign Sikh state, He said 90% of the people of the state had given a verdict in favor of it by boycotting” the elections to the Vidhan Sabha” and the Lok Sabha.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 15, 1992
