A day after a 38-year-old woman set herself ablaze in front of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s residence, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday said it is shocking and shameful that the the Punjab Congress and other Opposition parties are trying to politicise a tragic self-immolation bid.
In a statement here, senior SAD leaders Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Daljit Singh Cheema said Congress leaders — Capt Amarinder Singh, Partap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jakhar — should explain their roles in creating jobs and being accessible to the people during the Congress rule in Punjab between 2002-2007 instead of trying to politicise a case of individual suffering.
Gurpreet Kaur, who hails from Gurdaspur district, came to the Chief Minister’s residence on Friday and wanted to meet him. Unable to meet Badal, she poured kerosene on herself and set herself ablaze. She was admitted to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital in Sector 16 with 40 per cent burn injuries. Her condition is reported to be stable now and is still undergoing treatment at the hospital. Kaur had been trying to meet Badal for the last few days. She was an orphan and apparently did a computer course at the bidding of Badal during a Sangat Darshan but failed to find a job for the last several years.
In their statement, the SAD leaders said the manner in which the Congress and the other Opposition parties including the PPP and the AAP have made statements without even looking into the circumstances of the case makes it clear that they have no agenda of their own and are even ready to behave inhumanly by riding piggy back on a human tragedy.
Grewal and Cheema said, “Capt Amarinder should explain how many jobs he created in the State during his five year rule.”The leaders said Capt Amarinder was known to be inaccessible to even his own Ministers when he was the Chief Minister. They claimed in direct contrast both — Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal — are always available to the people.
Bajwa meets the victim
Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa called on Gurpreet Kaur in the hospital on Saturday to enquire about her condition. Bajwa said the Badal Government had become so thick-skinned that it has failed to respond to the problems of the people.
“Gurpreet’s case is the extreme about the sad state of affairs in the State where the problem of unemployment had assumed explosive proportions but the Government has failed to implement any of its promises,” he said.He added that Gurpreet had earlier met the Chief Minister at whose suggestion she had done a computer course to get a job. However, all her efforts to meet him at his residence failed, forcing her to take this extreme step.
“The Badal Government can splurge lakhs of rupees on the opening ceremony of the World Kabaddi Cup by inviting Bollywood artists but is not willing to come to the rescue of the needy. It is the concerns and needs of the people which should be this Government’s top priority,” he asserted.He said there was yet another shocking incident this week when a woman was seen trying to meet Badal at a Sangat Darshan programme at Attari as she wanted to narrate her woes to him.