The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday issued a one-week ultimatum to the Punjab government to arrest the killers of two party leaders and threatened to launch an agitation to ensure justice in "political murder cases".
Former Akali sarpanches Gurdeeep Singh and Dalbir Singh Dhilwan were recently killed in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, respectively, which the SAD described as "political murders."
At a meeting presided over by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal here, the party's core committee said the spate of "political assassinations of Akali leaders by gangsters with alleged links to Congress leaders and ministers are unprecedented".
It said the party was committed to breaking the "gangster-minister nexus" in Punjab and would take all necessary steps in this regard, be it going to the people or the courts, a statement issued by the SAD said.
The core committee also announced that it would agitate to ensure withdrawal of the "unjust and unprecedented power tariff hike" in Punjab, saying it had put an unbearable burden on the common man and made industries unsustainable.
Stating that the SAD would not allow the Congress government to pass on its "inefficiencies as well as management failures to the consumers", Badal announced that his party would hold district-level dharnas across the state to demand immediate withdrawal of the power hike.
The first sit-in will be staged at Sangrur on February 2.
It was also decided that a delegation of senior leaders would meet both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to convey the sentiments of the Sikh community regarding the continued incarceration of Balwant Singh Rajoana, serving death sentence for the killing of former chief minister Beant Singh.
The committee decided that the delegation would urge the central leadership to commute Rajoana's death sentence and demand that he be released from prison immediately.
The core committee also condemned Jail minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for allegedly ridiculing first Sikh Guru Guru Nanak Dev and comparing him with chief minister Amarinder Singh, the purported video of which went viral recently.
It said such shameful conduct had hurt the religious sentiments of the entire Sikh community and a case under Section 295 (A) should be registered against him immediately besides his immediate dismissal from the state cabinet.
The recent reported instances of cases being registered against 55 Sikh devotees who were participating in a Nagar Kirtan at Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and devastation of nine houses and 200 acres of land belonging to Sikh families in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh were also taken up for discussion.
The core committee expressed grave concern at the developments and appointed a two-member team of MPs Balwinder Singh Bhundur and Naresh Gujral to look into both incidents and suggest remedies. The MPs will visit both places and will also take up cases of the victims appropriately.
The core committee also decided to form a committee which will include representatives from the Shiromani Committee, Delhi Committee and the Patna Committee to celebrate the 400thbirth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
The committee, which also includes Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, will decide on the events which will be part of the celebration, besides coordinating with the Centre in order to celebrate the event nationally.
The core committee meeting was attended by Tota Singh, Gulzar Singh Ranike, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Sikander Singh Maluka, Sharanjit Dhillon, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Jagir Kaur, Kirpal Singh Badungar, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Baldev Singh Mann.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
