CHANDIGARH: The six Panthic Organizations which had boycotted the Punjab elections will not hold talks with the Beant Singh Government as it “lacks” the mandate of the people of the state “It is not an elected but nominated government. Even the village elders get more votes in the panchayat elections than the MLA have polled leaders of the AISSF (Manjit)and the Babbar Akali Dal two of the poll boycotting organizations said at a news conference here on Tuesday.
They made it clear that Congress govt in Punjab had no right to speak on behalf of the state neither could it safeguard the interests of Punjabis. The Rajiv Longowal accord by which the chief minister Beant Singh was swearing is a dead document and cannot be the basis of any solution” they said.
Those present at the news conference included Major Jagjit Singh Harminder S. Gill Sarbat S. Sohail and Dr . Sarup Singh Vice President general secretary secretary general and adviser of the AISSF and Rajinderpal Singh and Sukhdev Singh leaders of the Babbar Akali Dal. They also spoke on behalf of the Akali Dal (Badal the Akali Dal (Mann) the Akali al (Baba) and the Sikh Students Federation which had also boycotted the elections and most of whose leaders are in jail.
They said that the six Panthic organizations held a joint conference at the three day Hola Mohalla festival at Anandpur Sahib from March 17 and announce the program for the Sikh struggle which would be peaceful and democratic. The conference would be held even if the top leaders of the organizations were not released by that time.
The Sikh leaders resented the hurdles being created against the adoption of the Punjabi language at undergraduate level at colleges affiliated to the Punjab University.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 13, 1992
