‘99.99% people in Punjab don’t want Khalistan’: Cong condemns Amritpal Singh’s stand, Ajnala violence

Warring said that in October last year, he had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking the government to monitor the activities of Amritpal Singh but appropriate action was not taken. “I had written a letter to Amit Shah about Amritpal Singh in October. I had raised concerns asking them (the home department) to keep an eye on his activities. We lost a lot 40 years ago due to this. Even Amit Shah had said he is concerned about the deteriorating law and order issue in Punjab. So what did Amit Shah do when he knew about this issue? This is very dangerous politics. Punjabi people are being divided,” Warring said.

“Why was an FIR registered wrongly? Why did you not publish the one who registered it? Also, if the FIR was rightly registered, then letting off an accused is wrong! There is no comment from the chief minister on this. Our resolve against this (secession) is clear. Back then, (Khalistani) terrorists said those who fight elections will be killed in 1992. But Congress fought and won elections. Many leaders were butchered. But we will die safeguarding Punjabis,” he added.

Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, said that Punjab has not witnessed the storming of a police station since India became independent. “It has never happened in Punjab in 75 years (of Independence) that a man (Amritpal Singh) tells the police that he will get an arrested person released from jail and succeeded in doing so. The police took back their case. This is a failure of the state government as well as the central government. Unfortunately, there is not a single statement from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann,” he said.

“This is a very important issue for the entire country. We are secular and nationalist. Being a border state, Punjab has faced a lot of violence from the 1960s to the 1980s and secession. About 2,500 people from the Congress party have died due to this conflict of secession. Finally, we were moving towards the road to recovery and this happened,” Bajwa added.

‘Waris Punab De’ group’s leader Amritpal Singh’s enter Ajnala police station demanding release of his associate Lovepreet Singh Toofan. (Express photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)

Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a former deputy chief minister of Punjab, said the storming of the police station was a complete failure of IB, RAW and BSF. “Punjab is the head of India. This is a national security threat. We condemn it. Bhagwant Mann and BJP are trying to end the peace in Punjab,” he said.

Former minister Vijay Inder Singla said the situation will affect Punjab’s economy as it did in the past. “Many people took their investments away from Punjab when such a conflict took place in the past. We want the work environment to be peaceful. If such instances continue, we will lose on investments. This will affect the economy. Punjab cannot afford this again,” he said.

On Saturday, in a Twitter post in Punjabi, without naming Amritpal Singh, Mann said that those who use the Guru Granth Sahib as a shield cannot be heirs of the state.