The Congress party on Sunday made a scathing attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann for his demand of taking up the issue of Khalistan in the proposed Sarbat Khalsa — an assembly of Sikh masses including all Sikh political and religious outfits — on November 10.
lashing out at Sikh leader, Congress MP from ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu said that there are some anti-national forces working behind Mann’s brain.
“The issue of Khalistan should not be raised at Sarbat Khalsa, instead there are more important Sikh issues which can be discussed. This is an attempt by the veteran Akali leader to derail the peace and harmony in the state once again,” said Bittu.
He said that earlier also, he along with certain radical groups, were looking for an opportunity to fight back and take Punjab into dark days of terrorism again. “We will not let this happen again at any cost,” he added.
Bittu appealed to the Sikh community, especially the Sikh preachers and the Sikh scholars, to refrain themselves from such leaders who are giving such instigating statements and trying to spoil the law and order in Punjab. “These leaders are backed by number of radical groups working overnight in the country and abroad to disturb the peace of the state. Already, Punjab has paid a price for this for a long time. We cannot allow anybody like Simarnjit Singh Mann to spoil the law and order situation in the state,” he said.
Congress MP said that the focus of Sarbat Khalsa should be on recent incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, “decreasing sanctity of Sikh institutions, reducing of SGPC to mere political tool and SGPC playing into the hands of one family”. Stating that the Congress support the demands raised by Sant Samaaj at Mohali, he said that the party also demanded immediate release of two brothers who “are illegally under a hatched conspiracy, arrested by the Punjab Police”.
“We also ask for the registration of the criminal cases against those police officers who were responsible for the firing on the innocent people in Faridkot,” he said.
Bittu alleged that the Punjab Government and its intelligence agencies have failed utterly in tackling the situation. “Now, they want to hand over the case to the CBI just to save their skin. Sitting judge of the Supreme Court in a time bound manner should investigate the case,” he said.