JALANDHAR: Three senior leaders of the Akali Dal (Mann) Atma Singh, Ajit Singh and Sucha Singh Chhottepur have said that their party had never authorized any Akali Leader to start a dialogue with the central government.

In a statement here on March 31, the Senior leaders of the presidium said that any dialogue with the government would only take place under the leadership of the

detained leader Simranjit Singh Mann. Representatives of Damdami Taksaal and the All India Sikh Students Federation, and other militant organizations would also participate in any such dialogue.

They said that the party would not allow participation in any such talks of any Akali leader who had a bad reputation and those who were responsible for Operation Bluestar, the Indian Army’s bloody assault on the Golden Temple in 1984, or those who were responsible for the dismissal of the Akali Dal government led by Parkash Singh Badal in 1980.

They said complete Panthic Unity was in need of the hour in order to solve the present crisis. They asked the government to stop false propaganda against the Akali Dal and demanded the release of detained leaders Simranjit Singh Mann and Parkash Singh Badal.

Article extracted from this publication >>  April 7, 1989