A day after Punjab’s former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal broke his silence over the findings of Justice Ranjit Singh panel report, Punjab Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Sunday asked the Akali patron to clarify that if he hadn't ordered firing at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura, then did these orders came from the then Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal or the then DGP Sumedh Singh Saini.
Randhwa, reacting strongly to Badal’s statement wherein he denied ordering firing on the innocent Sikhs protesting in the aftermath of the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, questioned the former Chief Minister, if firing orders didn't came from him then who ordered it.
He demanded that the trio of Badal, his son Sukhbir Badal and former top cop Sumedh Singh Saini must be taken into custoday for unearthing the truth about who ordered firing.
Expressing astonishment, Randhawa said that the then Chief Minister holds a word with the Faridkot administration and the then DGP on phone and he did not orders firing but still the police fires on the innocent Sikhs.
“Badal should first ask his son, who was the Home Minister at that time, that whether or not the firing took place at his orders,” he said.
The Congress leader further said that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh doesn't need a certificate and sermonising from the so-called panthic Akalis on his credentials as a Sikh. “The entire world knows about the deep faith the family of Capt Amarinder has in Sikhism and on the other side, the whole Punjab is well aware of the evil designs of the Badal family to further its political ends by weakening the panth. So, the Badal conglomerate should first look into its own misdeeds,” he added.
Randhawa also demanded an explanation from the Akali Dal over Sukhbir’s statement appearing in media wherein he has stated that the decision of staging a walkout from the Vidhan Sabha during the discussion on Justice Ranjit Singh commission report was taken in a meeting of SAD core committee under Badal’s leadership.
“This statement exposes the double standards practiced by the Akalis who were citing less speaking time allotted to them as the reason for walkout whereas Sukhbir Badal says that the walkout decision was taken in core committee meeting presided over by Badal,” said Randhawa adding that Akali Dal cannot dare face the people owing to its gravest sins and is running from facing the people in both inside and outside the Vidhan Sabha.