A day after Punjab's former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal offered himself for arrest to the Special Invetogating Team probing 2015 sacrilege and related firing cases, his sucessor Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday termed it as "an obvious panic reaction to public exposure".
At the same time, Capt Amarinder warned Badal against persistently indulging in theatrics, adding that these would not help him regain the lost political ground for the Akalis.
Reacting strongly to Badal’s dramatic challenge to ‘put him in jail’ if the Chief Minister dared, Capt Amarinder ridiculed it as another piece of drama from Badal Senior, who was finding himself cornered on the issue of the sacrilege cases, in the backdrop of the findings of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission.
“Why is he so rattled if he has nothing to hide,” said Capt Amarinder, pointing out that the former Chief Minister was in the habit of indulging in theatrics, especially when faced with an uncomfortable situation.
Pointing out that he had never mentioned Badal or anyone else, for that matter, in connection with the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing incidents and desecration of Guru Granth Sahib, the Chief Minister wondered if Badal’s reaction was a case of guilt conscience rising to the fore.
Capt Amarinder, rejecting the Akali patron’s allegation of a political witch-hunt by his government, said that such shameful and petty tactics were the domain of the Akalis, and the Congress leadership had never believed in indulging in such acts.
He reiterated his sustained stand that he would not engage in political vendetta, and would allow the law to take its own course.
"The SIT probing the firing incidents had been set up on a decision to this effect in the Vidhan Sabha...It is a completely independent entity, with no interference whatsoever from the government. Who to call for questioning or whom to arrest is the prerogative of the SIT, which do not function as a puppet to the government, unlike the way systems worked under the Badal regime," Capt Amarinder lashed out.
All that his government had clarified, time and again, was that anyone found guilty of killing innocent people in these firings would not be spared, whatever his position or political standing, said the Chief Minister. "If Badal has interpreted that as a threat to him, then it could only mean that he is afraid of what might come out of the SIT investigations," he added.