‘Act condemnable,not feeling’

* Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said,”The incident reflects the magnitude of pain and angst over clean chits given to those ‘guilty’ of the unspeakable horror of the 1984 massacre. The method adopted by him might be questionable,but there is no mistaking the depth of his pain and the justness of his cause.”

* Former Punjab deputy speaker and disgruntled Congress leader Bir Devinder,who quit the party last week in protest against the allotment of party ticket to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar,said,”Despite not being in tune with the journalistic protocol,throwing of a shoe at P Chidambaram should not be seen in isolation,rather it represents the collective anger of the entire Sikh community. Amarinder should withdraw the candidature of his wife Preneet Kaur and son Raninder Singh in protest.”

* Punjab Congress spokesperson and MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh said,”Such things set a wrong precedent. The media is there to report,not react to answers that don’t suit it. The scribe probably could not control his emotions since the issue is a sensitive one. The Congress was magnanimous in excusing him.”

* Punjab BJP president Rajinder Bhandari said,”We do not endorse such acts,but the incident is a reflection of the anger. Justice has not been done. The Congress,instead of punishing the guilty,is rewarding them with tickets.”

* Punjab Congress president Mohinder Singh Kaypee said,”The Union Home Minister has already pardoned the journalist. What more can I say.”

* Chief of the Congress-backed Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Paramjit Singh Sarna is conscious of the ramifications of the issue. He said,”The DSGMC will support all Congress nominees,except Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.”

* Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said,”We neither approve nor condemn the act. It has reflected the ‘popular sentiments’ of Sikhs. More than 25 years have passed and the Sikhs have not got justice. The Congress leaders responsible for the acts of violence still hold important portfolios in the government and political arena. The clean chit added salt to the Sikhs’ wounds.”

* Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh Makkar said,”Though the act was regrettable,but the sentiment behind the move should be respected. If the newspaper where he is working terminates his services,we will offer him a job,and if a case is filed,we will fight it.”

* Former Cabinet minister and Akali MLA Bikram Singh Majitha said,”Though the act is debatable,the Congress must understand that the Sikhs have been hurt.”

* General secretary of Dal Khalsa,a radical body,Kanwarpal Singh said,”Over 25 years have been passed and justice has not been delivered. The act of Jarnail Singh is not against P Chidambaram,but against the justice delivery system. Jarnail Singh is a product of the time where there is no justice and secularism is dead.”

* Youth Akali Dal president Kiranbir Singh Kang said,”We hail the journalist for highlighting the Sikh cause. The action of the journalist was spontaneous to the lies uttered by the minister.”

* Haryana Congress president Phool Chand Mullana said,”This is a democratic country and there are other means of protest too.”

* “The action of the journalist is condemnable,but not his feelings. Parties should also not commit acts which invite such reactions,” said Gyan Chand Gupta,a senior BJP leader of Haryana.

* Haryana BSP General Secretary Mann Singh Manhera said,”In the past,the Congress had done many wrong things,still the incident should have been avoided.”

* Didar Singh Nalvi,General Secretary of the Haryana unit of the SGPC,said,”The country had not yet forgotten how Sikhs were brutally murdered.”

* Satpal Kaushik of the Haryana Janhit Congress said,”The scribe’s action was not correct.”

Meanwhile,much before the incident,the issue of party ticket to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar generated enough heat in an already-charged-up political season. The Punjab Congress has been on the defensive,while the ruling SAD left no stone unturned to make it an election issue. SAD president and Deputy CM have even demanded that “Amarinder should quit from the post he has held in the party”.

Former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh,who is the chairman of the election campaign committee,has been trying hard to steer clear of the controversy. He said,”The controversy over the allotment of party ticket will have no bearing on the state Congress and was never an election issue in Punjab.”

Amarinder said,”The CBI has given a clean chit,but it’s the court which has to ultimately take a decision.”