Warning the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal against issuing threats to the State’s bureaucrats and police officers, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that his Government would not tolerate any such coercive tactics and these would be dealt with strictly.
The Chief Minister directed the officials, both police and administration, to work without fear and assured them of full backing of his Government in all their legitimate decisions and actions.
Capt Amarinder, reacting strongly to Sukhbir’s reported threat against officers who he claimed were registering false cases against SAD workers at the behest of their ‘Congress masters’, said that his Government did not believe in victimisation or vindictive action but was following the democratic norms in every case.
He warned the former Deputy Chief Minister to desist from engaging in provocative statements and deeds that could disrupt the State’s peace and stability.
At the same time, he also made it clear that his Government would come down heavily against any individual or organisation found indulging in such activity.
Rejecting allegations that his Government or its officers were filing false cases against Akalis, the Chief Minister said that it was the erstwhile Badal Government which believed in filing false and baseless cases.
“In fact, my Government is now getting all such cases probed by a duly constituted Commission to ensure that justice is delivered to the innocent and the guilty are punished under the law,” he said.
“Even though it had enough evidence against several Akali leaders and workers, our Government would wait for the inquiry commissions to submit their reports,” said the Chief Minister, adding that they wanted to go by the book and not take any action without following the due process of law. However, nobody found guilty of misdeeds would be spared at any cost, he added.
Also coming down heavily on Sukhbir for his so-called ‘Jabar Virodhi lehar’ (anti-force wave) campaign, Capt Amarinder said that use of force (jabar) had been a way of functioning for the Badal Government.
“The Congress believed in strictly upholding democratic principles and the rule of law,” he said adding that Sukhbir and other Akali leaders were spreading disinformation to save their own skin.
With their misdeeds getting exposed, one by one, before the people of Punjab, they were now resorting to all kinds of cheap tactics, out of sheer desperation to divert public attention, the Chief Minister added.
“The Akali leaders had been victimising people in all possible ways through the 10 years of their misrule and are now trying hard to wriggle out of imminent exposure of their acts of omission and commission by the various Commissions that are probing the numerous charges against them,” he said.