The main Opposition party in Punjab, the Congress, on Thursday questioned the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Government’s change in “stand” on reports of shifting 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar to Amritsar jail from Delhi’s Tihar jail.
Questioning the timing of the move, Congress party said that the State had earlier filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court where it was stated that bringing Bhullar back could create law and order problem and disturb peace in Punjab.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Pratap Singh Bajwa maintained that his party had no problem with any prisoner being shifted from one place to the other under the ambit of law, but, at the same time, he questioned the “shift of stand of the Akalis as per their convenience”.
Reacting to the reports concerning transfer of Sikh militants lodged in various jails across the country, including Bhullar, to Punjab, Bajwa said: “Eight years back, Punjab Government had given an affidavit in the Supreme Court, maintaining that if Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar is shifted to Punjab, it could create law and order situation in the state and disturb peace.”
“I want to ask the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal why have the Akalis shifted their stand and chose this time now. According to their convenience, they keep shifting stand. This Government should give an answer to the people of Punjab and also to the Bhullar family,” Bajwa said.
Bajwa alleged that the Akalis wanted to go back to fundamentalist issues having failed to deliver on all fronts.
“Knowing they (Akalis) will bite dust in next year’s elections, they are creating circumstances to part company with their alliance partner BJP by trying to polarize the voters. They are desperate to win over the hardliners and by seeking to raise their issues, they want to sort of win them over for their vested political interests,” he said.
Party’s ludhiana MP and grandson of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, Ravneet Bittu, has also opposed the shifting of Bhullar from Tihar to Amritsar Central jail.
Bittu warned the SAD-BJP led Punjab government that it may create serious law and order problem in the context of terrorism. “SAD-BJP government is playing with the fire,” he said.IJ
September 1993 bomb blast in New Delhi killed nine persons and left 25 others injured, including the then Youth Congress president Manjinder Singh Bitta.