AMRITSAR: The new Punjab governor Gen. O.P. Malhotra has categorically declared that there would be no army action in Punjab.
I am going to the forward areas to look as to what the army was doing there after its deployment he said while talking informally to newsmen after his visit to the Golden Temple.
The governor also visited Durgiana Mandir and also paid homage to the Martyrs at Jallianwala Bagh. The governor said during his visit to the border areas he would meet the army officials to assess the situation and also talk to the people.
Gen. Malhotra was accompanied by his wife Saroj the chief and home secretaries of the Punjab government Mr. S.L. Kapur and Mr. AS. Chata respectively. He was presented a saropa at the temple.
The SGPC officials were however conspicuous by their absence. The new SGPC president Mr . Baldev Singh Sibia and the SGPC secretary Mr. Manjit Singh Calcutta who were in the city abstained in protest against the army deployment according to a SGPC spokesman . Mr. Malhotra said that he would endeavor to create congenial atmosphere in the state for holding the elections before the expiry of the present term of president’s rule.
In a message the governor appealed to the people of Punjab to make collective efforts to create peace so as to enable the state regains its past glory.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 4, 1991
