WSN Service

CHANDIGARH: The Akali Dal (Mann) 4pprehends an Indo-Pak conflict. Ina letter to the Indian government, the Dal spokes- man, Amritpal Singh Nakai, asked the Delhi government as to its real intentions because Not only the army in strength had been inducted into Punjab but it had moved into the state heavy armaments also.

The Dal letter offered the party’s participation in any program aimed at normalizing the situation provided the state was “demilitarized, decolonized and democratized”. 4 The Akali Dal spokesman further said that the election proposed to be held earlier was put off when the army too was present in the ‘state. When everyone talked of normalizing the situation, where was the need for bringing in persons like K.P.S. Gill and Surinder Nath, both belonging to the police force. Meanwhile, at a meeting of pro-Delhi political parties called here by Governor Surinder Nath, the BJ.P. Punjab chief, Madan Mohan Mittal, revealed that “half of India’s army had been inducted into Punjab” but, he warmed, it would not help resolve the vexed Punjab problem. Surprisingly, the representatives of B.J.P. and C.P.I. opposed the deployment of the army and expressed the fear that it would prove “counterproductive”. The army, they felt, could stay in Punjab forever and wanted to know the fate of the contestants after the army’s withdrawal. They stressed the need for a “political solution” as the use of force “alone” would not produce the “desired results”, The political leaders brought to the notice of the governor several cases of police repression and cited specifically the torture of a Hindu journalist of Kurali by the police, Nath expressed surprise even while the media some time ago extensively re- ported the matter indicating that the governor had no access to the published reports.

The governor defended the army’s deployment and said that the aim was to instill a sense of confidence among the public. He said that the army would not be given any poll duty.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 6, 1991