PCC seeks Central intervention in Punjab

BATHINDA, Feb 7: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee PPCC has urged the Union government to intervene and help tackle the law and ord...

BATHINDA, Feb 7: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee PPCC has urged the Union government to intervene and help tackle the law and order situation in Punjab, in the wake of Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh8217;s warning of a recurrence of the khooni Baisakhi of 1978.

While addressing a press conference here today, PPCC general secretary Bir Devinder Singh said that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should immediately send a Central team to the state to review the law and order situation. He said that the tug-of-war for political supremacy between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra had taken a serious turn, posing a big threat to security in the region.

He alleged that the Centre, which had reacted sharply to the killings in Orissa, was acting as a mute spectator to the situation in Punjab, where terror prevailed after the provocative statements from the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.

He said that nobody would be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace in the state and added that the Akalis had taken a lesson from the decade-long bloodshed.

He called upon Badal, Tohra, Bhai Ranjit Singh, Keshgarh Sahib Jathedar Prof. Manjit Singh and Takht Damdama Sahib Jathdar Kewal Singh to resign from their respective posts in the larger interest of the people. He also alleged that the acts of Badal, Tohra and the Jathedar had tarnished the image of the Sikh community throughout the world and added that Bhai Ranjit Singh had fixed a Panthic agenda for Badal at Tohra8217;s instance.

The PPCC general secretary said that the Akalis had helped provide a conducive atmosphere for agencies like the ISI to strike any time and demanded that a red alert be sounded and all necessary steps be taken to provide foolproof security to the people.

He said that the Congress would celebrate the tercentenary celebrations of Khalsa Panth and disclosed that AICC president Sonia Gandhi would participate in the Khalsa march.

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In Punjab, the Khalsa march would start from Patiala on April 7 and reach Anandpur Sahib on Baisakhi day after marching through Talwandi Sabo Takht, Muktsar, Alamgir and various other historical towns.

Sonia Gandhi would also inaugurate a blood donation camp and several such camps would be organised to mark the occasion, he added.