JALANDHAR: Communist party of India (Marxist) politburo member Harkishan Singh Surjeet Sunday called on the Akali party to take a firm stand against militants and cautioned that any further vacillation would render them irrelevant, PTI reports.
Talking to reporters here, Surjeet said the National Front government had removed some major irritants and it was now for the Akalis to respond. However, time was fast running out for them in Punjab, he added.
He said Akali leaders like Simranjit Singh Mann and Parkash Singh Badal should take a firm stand against militants.
Urging the Akalis to demarcate themselves from the militants, Surjeet said the government’s anxiety to solve the Punjab tangle should not be misunderstood.
The demand for a separate Sikh state Khalistan had increased as was evident in a meeting of nearly 300 prominent Sikhs at Richmond Hill in New York.
The Marxist leader said Simranjit Singh Mann’s conduct was giving a fillip to terrorist activities in the state.
Pro-Khalistan propaganda was carried out during the death ceremony of the slain AISSF leader Harminder Singh this week, in the presence of Mann, but Mann failed to utter a word, he said.
When asked if the government ‘was not becoming hostage to the Akalis, Surjit said the government had taken some steps in the past few days for strengthening the security and these were showing results.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 9, 1990
