Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday demanded a special sitting of the Vidhan Sabha to pass a resolution demanding withdrawal of the Bharat Ratna conferred on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Badal also accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of taking an about turn on passing a resolution against Rajiv Gandhi under pressure from the Congress government.
In a statement here, the SAD president said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh should clarify whether the Congress party in Punjab would respect the sentiments of Punjabis and bring a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the Bharat Ratna conferred to Rajiv Gandhi.
"This is of utmost importance as it will show how serious the Punjab Congress is in sending across a message that anyone who propagates and justifies mass murder as was done by Rajiv Gandhi does not deserve the country's highest honour. The SAD will not only support this resolution but also appeals that it be passed unanimously to send out a clear message that crimes against humanity have no place in civil society," Badal said.
He also asked Singh to specify the time frame within which the resolution would be presented before the assembly.
Speaking about the AAP volte-face on this issue, Badal said the party and its Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have exposed themselves by first passing a resolution against Rajiv Gandhi and then making a U-turn by claiming that the resolution had not been passed. He said AAP's outright lies on the issue of the resolution proved that it was in league with the Congress.
"The Congress party forced Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw the resolution within hours of it being passed in the Delhi assembly. This proves beyond doubt that AAP is the B team of the Congress party and all the noises it made about ensuring justice to the 1984 victims were lies aimed at deceiving the Sikh community," he added.
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Badal also said the AAP unit in Punjab also needed to clear its stand on the proposed resolution. He said Kejriwal had been continuously engaging in doublespeak on issues related to Sikhs.
"Even now he has resorted to double speak and tried to befool the Sikh community. The Punjab AAP unit should now clarify whether it supported Rajiv Gandhi and the actions of Gandhi's sycophants who indulged in murder and mayhem against Sikhs in Delhi. The manner in which Kejriwal is changing his colours every day he might tomorrow claim that the 1984 genocide did not even take place. AAP Punjab MLAs must tell whether they are with the Sikh community in striving for the punishment of all those who perpetrated the 1984 genocide, including the Gandhi family, or they like Kejriwal had sold their soul to the Congress party," he asserted.
Stating that the SAD would take the issue to the people in case the Congress and AAP did not clarify their stand on passing the resolution in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Badal said the Chief Minister has already made it clear that he was partial towards 1984 genocide perpetrator Jagdish Tytler and has already given him a clean chit.
"Kejriwal has proven that he is a Congress stooge. He not only took Congress help to form a government but is also set to become a junior partner of the Congress soon. It is because of this that he took orders from Congress managers and is now claiming no resolution was passed on the issue of Rajiv Gandhi. Now both parties should correct their stands in keeping with the sentiments of Punjabis or be exposed for colluding with each other to deny justice to the Sikh community," he said.