Taking strong exception to the so-called ‘warning’ by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on recent arrests under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that he will do everything under the law as needed to protect the security and integrity of Punjab and of the nation, and the Akali leader’s threats could not deter him from ensuring the safety of his people.
“If there are any specific instances of wrongful arrest or registration of case by Punjab Police under the UAPA, as he has claimed, Sukhbir should send me a list of the same instead of making unnecessary noise,” said the Chief Minister.
“There is no question of falsely implicating anyone,” he said, urging the SAD chief to refrain from playing into the hands of the separatists by trying to incite the state’s youth, especially Sikhs, against the police force.
Pointing out that UAPA had been in existence for long, the Chief Minister reminded Sukhbir that under the SAD-BJP regime, more than 60 cases under UA(P)A had been registered in Punjab, of which 19 were in 2010 alone and 12 in 2017. Of the 225 individuals arrested in these cases, 120 were acquitted or discharged, indicating that indiscriminate application of UA(P)A had, in fact, been done by the Akalis during their tenure, he observed.
Captain Amarinder lashed out at SAD chief for trying to compromise the interests of Punjab with his politically motivated propaganda against the Punjab Police, particularly the DGP, whose professional and secular credentials were above board
.“It is shocking that Sukhbir, who is leading a party that claimed to be the custodians of Sikhism, is in fact protesting against the Punjab Police’s fight against separatist and terrorist activities designed to divide the Sikhs on communal lines,” said the Chief Minister.
CM’S ATTEMPTS TO SOW SUSPICIONS AMONG HINDUS AND SIKHS DANGEROUS FOR PUNJAB: SUKHBIR
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday described CM Capt Amarinder Singh’s reaction to the advice against abuse of UAPA and indiscriminate repression against innocent Sikh youth as “an archival reproduction of the old Indira Gandhi narrative and statements against the community, describing every innocent Sikh youth as a potential terrorist and a threat to national security and integrity”.
“Every Sikh can recall how Mrs Gandhi had used exactly these words to jsustify the rolling of tanks into the holiest of the holy Sikh shrines, Shri Harmandar Sahib leading to the destruction of the sacred Shri Akal Takht Sahib. Amarinder could at least have asked someone to change the language and the arguments to make his statement look original. But why would he when the Cong mindset that led to the15-year long tragedy of Punjab remains the same?” said Sukhbir
Maintaining that SAD stands for peace and communal harmony, Sukhbir said that we will never allow anyone to disturb the excellent sentiment of fraternity among different communities in the state, especially among the Hindus and the Sikhs.
Referring to Capt Amarinder’s references to national security and integrity, Sukhbir said that the brave and patriotic Sikh masses need no lessons in nationalism or patriotism from the opportunistic Sikh Congress leaders.