CHANDIGARH: Akali Dal Badal President Prakash Singh Badal strongly refuted reports that he has changed his stance on the Issue of a “Sovereign Sikh State and of trying to wiggle out of the Situation,
My stance, and that of my party, Remains unchanged. We are com. mitted to the Anandpur Sahib and the Damdama Sahib conventions, which have resolved to achieve a Sovereign Sikh State,” he told Newspersons here.
Reacting sharply to conclusions being drawn merely on the press note circulated by his party, Badal recalled that his party had endorsed the resolution of a separate sovereign Sikh state in the first meeting following his release from jail.
Therefore, he had found it irrelevant to motion the fact again he argued. “The report is mischievous, in bad taste and aimed at creating a split in our party and the six Panthic parties which have come together on a common platform,” he charged,
The six Panthic parties, who boycotted the February 19 elections in Punjab along with some other Sikh organizations, had resolved in a convention at Anandpur Sahib on the occasion of “Holla Mohalla that there was no way left for the Sikhs but to strive for a Separate Sikh nation.
The resolution was further endorsed by the convention held on the occasion of Baisakhi on April 13 at Damdama Sahib.
Since the detained Akali leaders could not participate on either Occasion, there was speculation regarding their individual opinions, especially those of moderates like Badal and Tohra.
In a related development, the Akali Dal (Mann) adopted nine resolutions on the present Sikh Struggle, in its meeting at the Fatehgarh Sahib.
It also resolved to launch a public awareness drive shortly, with a view to prepare the people for fighting for the resolutions adopted during the Anandpur Sahib and the Damdama Sahib conventions.
The party also welcomed the imposition of restrictions under Super 301 on India by the US, while simultaneously issuing an appeal to Russia to stop the transfer of rocket technology.
It also urged them to stop all financial aid to India until all human rights violations were put to an end,
The Akali members also sent their resignations to party president Simranjit Singh Mann, who is undergoing medical treatment in Delhi, asking him to suitably use them with a view to forging unity among the Sikh Panth at an appropriate time.
Another resolution thanked the Punjab farmers for abiding by the appeal to refrain from selling wheat in the mandis beginning May 1-7. The farmers have been asked to take only as much wheat to the mandis as is considered essential, to ensure that a proper price is given to the farmer.
In an assurance to the Dalits and the weaker community, the Akali Dal (Mann) also promised to help them out to their state of “exploitation.”
Charanjit Singh Walia and Bhai Ram Singh, both party general Secretaries, regretted that state repression was on the increase each day.
They said the Government should release all Sikhs lodged in jails, especially since it did not have any package for the people of Punjab.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 22, 1992
