Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
CHANDIGARH, November 5: Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today took strong exception to the slander campaign launched by the ruling Akali Dal against the party Vice President Rahul Gandhi. “It is criminal and outrageous on part of Akalis to say Rahul was ‘perceived to be a killer’, when he was not even remotely concerned with 1984 incidents”, he said, while referring to the Akali statement issued today.
“I understand your frustration that when you can’t even venture out of your homes fearing wrath of people over getting innocent people killed by police, here is our party vice president who has visited the victims’ families, shared their grief and walked past miles and miles to meet people in the affected areas”, he said in a statement today.
“Instead of seeking refuge in the tragic and highly condemnable incidents 31 years ago, you should better come clean over the killing of innocent people protesting desecration of Holy Bir and falsely implicating innocent boys in the case”, Capt Amarinder told Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his party, Akali Dal. He also questioned the Akalis’ silence between 1998 and 2004, over getting the culprits punished, when they shared power at the centre with the BJP.
Condemning the repeated and baseless allegations levelled during last few days by the Akalis against Rahul over 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Capt Amarinder pointed out, “he (Rahul) was a 14 year old kid at that time and dragging him into such controversy now, only betrays a desperate and frustrated mindset of the Akalis devoid of any logic and reason, particularly after the recent series of events that took place in Punjab either at their (Akalis’) behest or with their consent and connivance”.
“Will you be held responsible for the poisoning of wells by your father and grandfather during Jaito morcha at the behest of the British in 1920s?” he asked Badal while referring to the allegations against Badals’ ancestors that they poisoned wells during Jaito morcha at the behest of the British. “Similarly, it is condemnable to drag someone into anti-Sikh riots issue when he was not even remotely concerned with these”, he added.
“The very fact that Rahul’s visit to the families of the victims of the police firing was so much appreciated by people of Punjab, amply speaks what common Punjabis think about him (Rahul)”, he observed, while challenging the Badals and the Akalis to dare and visit the victims in a similar way. “Why not hold your favourite Sangat Darshan now as there can be no better occasion than this to address the public grievances”, he remarked, while taking a gibe at Badal.
Telling Badals and Akalis to better introspect than level false allegations against the Congress vice president, Capt Amarinder asked them, “why is it that the Congress vice president was welcomed with open arms while he marched past the affected villages, and you and your workers were hiding in anonymity lest you be caught and thrashed by angry people?”
