Ready to face bullets; won't allow vehicles from Punjab: INLD

Haryana's main opposition party INLD today said it would not allow vehicles from Punjab to enter the state, even if it has to "face bullets and lathis", during its protest on Monday over the the Sutlej- Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.
The party has sought an immediate announcement on the construction of the canal from the Centre and the state government and has warned that "otherwise the situation may turn bad".
"We will not allow any vehicle or even a cycle from Punjab to enter Haryana even if we are lathi charged or bullets are sprayed on us. We will block the roads and we do not care about bullets. We will not hesitate to sacrifice our lives," INLD general secretary Abhay Singh Chautala told reporters here.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly said emergency vehicles such as ambulances will not be stopped and asserted that their protest will be "peaceful".
Lashing out at the BJP-led Haryana government for trying to "scare" its workers by calling paramilitary forces to deal with the law and order situation, the INLD accused Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his cabinet of maintaining "stoic silence" over the issue.
The INLD leader toughened his party's stand on the SYL issue a day after home secretaries, DGPs and senior officers from the states met here to prepare a strategy to thwart any untoward situation on July 10.

"The DGP and the home secretary were deputed to address the media but our chief minister and ministers are not making statements," Chautala said.

The Haryana government had yesterday sought around 1,000 paramilitary personnel from the Centre to deal with any law and order problems in view of the INLD's protest over the SYL issue.
"Our DGP says paramilitary forces have been called and our home secretary says law and order will be maintained at any cost. We are not assembling for the purpose of disturbing peace and we will not take law into our hands... They are trying to scare us," said Chautala.

He had earlier said that INLD workers "will not allow vehicles from Punjab to enter Haryana" if the central government failed to implement the Supreme Court's order on the SYL canal issue by July 9.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has chosen several inter-state roads to put up blockades.
Chautala said he will lead the protest at the Shambhu barrier on the Ambala-Rajpura road on the Haryana-Punjab border.
Vehicles coming from Malout in Bathinda and other areas will be stopped at Dabwali and INLD workers will also stop traffic near Tohana, Khanauri and other areas, he said.
"We are holding it (the protest) so that the central government takes an immediate decision on the SYL matter, and the Haryana government also takes up the matter with the Centre to get the canal constructed. Otherwise the situation in Haryana will turn bad," he said.

Chautala said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi assures that the construction of the canal will be given to an agency, then the party shall suspend its protest.
The INLD leader claimed that 60 per cent area in the state had turned into a "dark zone" as the government was not giving permission for new tube well connections.
"New tube wells are not being allowed and the canal is not being constructed. Sixty per cent of land in our area will become infertile. In that case, our famers will have to move to other states," he said.
The INLD also accused the Centre of doing "injustice" with Haryana by not taking appropriate steps for the construction of the canal.

"We request the Prime Minister, who had said Haryana was his second home, to implement the Supreme Court's order in the SYL canal issue," he said.
In February, several INLD leaders, including Chautala, were stopped from marching into Punjab to undertake the digging of the canal.
Punjab has been maintaining that it does not have surplus water to share with Haryana.