In an apparent attempt to keep alive before the panchayat elections the controversy over the Badals’ alleged involvement in the sacrilege incidents and related police firings in Punjab, the Congress senior leader and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday reiterated his demand for booking the father-son duo--Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Badal.
Sidhu, releasing the video clips of “police action” on the “peaceful” protestors at Kotkapura in 2015 following sacrilege incident, demanded that both the Badals — former Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and SAD president Sukhbir Badal — be brought to book even before setting up the proposed special investigation team.
“Both Badals should be booked first and later the proposed special investigation team can investigate the matter. The Commission says there is prima facie evidence against them,” pointed Sidhu.
Sidhu’s demand for including the Badals’ name in the FIT at Kotkapura assumes significance as the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been insisting that any action against the guilty could be taken only after the proposed SIT would be constituted and conducts its inquiry.
On the same argument, Capt Amarinder has rebuffed the demand of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA HS Phoolka of registering a case against the Badals and the former Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini within 15 days.
Besides demanding to book Badals before constituting SIT, Sidhu also went against Capt Amarinder’s another claim of having Pak’s ISI’s involvement in “some of the sacrilege cases” in Punjab. “There was no mention of ISI hand in Justice Ranjit Singh report,” he said.
Sidhu’s assertions came a day after he, along with several senior Congress leaders and Minister, visited the sacrilege-hit areas in Faridkot and met the victims of police action and their families.
Along with the CCTV footage showing the police action, Sidhu also issued the statement of Dr Kulwinderpal Singh, who was allegedly asked by the police officers to reach the Kotkapura hospital on October 14, 2015, for any “eventuality which might arise” because of ‘dharna’ by the protesters.
Holding SAD patron Badal and his son Sukhbir responsible for firing at Kotkapura, Sidhu said that both of them should be booked as there was “prima facie evidence” in the Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission's report, which probed sacrilege incidents, to proceed against them.
Notably, the Commission, whose report was tabled in the Vidhan Sabha in the previous month, had held the police responsible for using force at the protesters in Kotkapura, while describing it as “unprovoked, unwarranted and uncalled”.
The footage was procured from different cameras installed at the main road, connecting Moga, Jaitu, Muktsar at Kotkapura in Faridkot, the Minister said.
In the footage, Sidhu said that a large number of Sikhs could be seen sitting in the middle of the road in a tent at around 6.40 am as part of their protest against sacrilege incidents.