The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday demanded the resignation of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the Home portfolio, in the wake of bir sacrilege incidents holding him responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.
The party also sought a probe by the Supreme Court monitored Special Investigating Team (SIT) into the incidents of sacrilege and the police firing in which two people were killed.
Besides, the party has also demanded strict punishment to the erring police officers, and Rs1 crore compensation to the families of two Sikhs killed in the police firing during protests.
“The people responsible for desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib must be arrested immediately and given the strictest punishment,” demanded AAP’s Punjab State convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Monday.
He said the way that the police opened fire on innocent people, who were protesting peacefully, is highly objectionable. “The Police department comes under Home Minister Sukhbir Badal and it cannot open fire on citizens without Sukhbir’s orders. We demand Sukhbir’s resignation,” he said while listing out the party’s list of demands. Chhotepur added that the entire incident must be investigated by a SIT set up under the Apex Court’s supervision.
“A compensation of Rs1 crore each to the next of kin of the two victims killed during police firing must be provided,” he said while appealing to the people to main peace and communal harmony in the State.
Only a day before, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had slammed the SAD-BJP Government for the firing incident in Faridkot in which two men were killed by the police.
Being the first sitting Chief Minister to make direct attack on Punjab government on the issue, Kejriwal demanded that the guilty cops must be punished. “The sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib is condemnable. I appeal to everyone whosoever are disrespecting the Guru Granth Sahib should not do this,” he said in a video message.
He said that sacrilege incident was the handiwork of a political party and “such things are possible only with political interference. But political parties want people to be divide and fight against each other to gain political mileage”.