As he faces protest in Faridkot, Sukhbir tells party workers not to fear ‘panthic protesters’

Sukhbir Singh Badal.(Express photo by Gurmeet Singh/File)

Police intervened to quell a clash between Akali Dal workers and panthic protesters outside the venue of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s meeting with party workers at Chand marriage palace in Faridkot Wednesday. SAD leader Avtar Singh Khosa also sustained minor injuries as both sides faced off at the venue carrying sticks, rods and sharp edged weapons. Sukhbir faced protests the moment his vehicle entered the main road leading to the venue, with panthic protesters waving black flags and raising slogans against him.

At the venue, police presence prevented the situation from going out of hand, though tension prevailed for 15 minutes. A hour before Sukhbir’s arrival, panthic protesters led by Jaskaran Singh Kahansinghwala and Davinder Singh Hariyewala raised slogans against the SAD chief and were soon confronted by Akali workers who turned up in large numbers. Police then intervened and asked panthic protesters to leave the venue.

Kahansinghwala said, “We will protest against Akalis wherever they go in the state. They need to be punished for their involvement in sacrilege incidents.”

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Later, Sukhbir called the protesters ‘Congress agents’, and told SAD workers, “Don’t fear from these so called panthic protesters. Their past need to be researched. The ones who are sitting on dharna at Bargari village are doing it at the behest of Congress and even for the funds worth lakhs which are coming on daily basis in the form of donations.”

SAD leader Parambans Bunty Romana, said,”Congress is responsible for spoiling the atmosphere of Punjab. They will be responsible for any untoward incident. Police is rather giving protection to the protesters.”

State Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, while reacting to this protest, said: “Such protests are obvious as public want them to be punished. They need to feel sorry for their actions and can’t run away from the situation.”