Congress MLA extends support to Amritpal Singh, SAD sends its former MLA to protesting families on hunger strike

While Amritpal Singh and his aides have been on a hunger strike in Dibrugarh jail in Assam since February 16, their family members, including Amritpal Singh’s mother Balwinder Kaur, have been on a hunger strike at Heritage Street near the Golden Temple since February 22. Amritpal Singh was arrested in April last year.

Khaira, who is the first MLA to reach the protest site, said, “Amritpal has been locked in the state which has the lowest Sikh population. The chief minister of Assam is known for hateful statements against minorities. They can do anything with detainees. They can poison their food”.

Khaira compared the National Security Act (NSA) to the British-era Rowlatt Act which was revoked in 1922 after people opposed it. “But what is our government doing now? I found nothing that Amritpal Singh said or done and should have invoked the NSA. For the clash at Ajnala, there were IPC sections to deal with. But why were they sent far away under the NSA? This all happened on the instructions of Arvind Kejriwal and he admitted during a TV interview that it was a joint operation of state and Centre,” said Khaira.

“Did we form this Aam Aadmi Party government to allow the Haryana Police to enter Punjab and open fire at our people? No AAP MLA is speaking. They claim the legacy of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Baba Sahib Ambedkar. They would not have allowed the NSA to be imposed if they were alive. I want to ask Bhagwant Manna about this,” he added.

“Why is the Akal Takht Jathedar silent? I am not speaking against the Jathedar. He is our representative. But he should raise the issue of NSA with governments. What is the SGPC doing? Why is Shiromani Akali Dal Badal president Sukhbir Singh Badal afraid? Has anyone from Punjab’s Sikh leadership spoken on the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada? It is not easy for me to raise such issues while in Congress. They may even expel me,” said Khaira.

He said, “The NSA should be imposed on those who killed Shubkaran Singh and on those who killed former Akal Takht Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, and also against those who carried out fake encounters in the state. But the NSA is imposed on those who are just preaching against drug addiction.”

“We are entering into dangerous times and what happened to young farmer Shubkaran Singh on the Shambhu border and Amritpal Singh can happen to anyone. Everyone should come forward to raise these issues. I had made it clear to my party that I would speak in support of Amritpal Singh soon after the crackdown on Waris Punjab De had begun,” he said.

He added the Akali Dal should forward and lead the agitation against the NSA being slapped against Amritpal Singh.

Meanwhile, Valtoha told reporters he visited those on hunger strike in Amritsar after discussing it with SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and the party was standing in support of the families.

Amritpal Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Pappalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh, Harjit Singh, Basant Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Sarabjit Singh Kalsi, Gurinder Pal Singh, and Sarabjit Singh have been jailed at Dibrugarh under the National Security Act and other sections.