CHANDIGARH: While the BeantK.P.S.Gill combine is telling India that bombing the Sikh leader Maninderjit Singh Bitta at Delhi this week shows that the Sikhs armed struggle may be down but is not out.
Bitta escaped almost unhurt as a Result. This is said to be the third attack on him by militants although he himself claims it to be the 14th attack. Even the Indian intelligence agencies do not give credence to Bitta’s inflated claim. In other words, some of the attacks have been maneuvered by Bitta to gain cheap publicity.
it is owning to Bitta’s quality as €stuntman that Indian prime minister Narasimha Rao appointed him chief of the youth Congress(I), according to political observers. He was a minister in the Beant Singh government. He is 37. Despite objections from Minister Arjun Singh that Bitta does not qualify to be a member of the youth Congress (I), Rao made him President of the wing.
Raoaims at making use of Bitta’s Services to attract Hindu voters of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and U.P. in the forthcoming Assembly elections. The other star attraction for the ruling party is Beant Singh. Both Beant Singh and Bitta are musciemen of the ruling party. ‘They believe in strong-arm tactics to deal with political opponents. They fit in ideally in the Rao scheme of things. Prior to his ¢lavation in politics by the ruling party, Bitta was a mere street fighter with blemished record. Even as a Congress (I) legislator, Bitta lived up to that reputation when he thrashed Akali legislator Inderjeet Singh Zira in the Punjab Assembly some time ago, On another occasion, Bitta and his men fired indiscriminately at Jalandhar to prevent Akalis from catching bogus voters Bitta had mobilized to win the Lok Sabha seat for Umrao Singh.
Political observers believe that militants may have chosen Bitta as a high-profile target to attract worldwide publicity. But obseryers also give credence to the theory that the bomb attack may have been organized by the R.S.S. family because it is high on Bitta’s agenda. He had announced some time ago his plan to confront the BJP with a strong-arm team of the youth Congress(I).
Article extracted from this publication >> September 17, 1993
