Manpreet rejects probe by retired high court judge

Bathinda, October 16: Rejecting institution of judicial probe by retired judge by the Punjab government into highly condemnable incident of sacrilege and police firing resulting in the killing of two persons, People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal called for inquiry by a sitting judge of the high court as the issue was too sensitive with far reaching serious ramifications.

“ Punjab has passed through the worst phase lasting more than a decade in which thousands of lives were lost and that situation too was triggered by similar incidents. It is shocking that the police did not act when the Bir of Guru Granth Sahib was reported missing from Jawaharke village on June 1. The incident of sacrilege from nearby Bargari village has been reported a few days back when the farmers were agitating for their demands including adequate compensation for cotton damage and the related issues but the talks with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal ended in stalemate. That entire issue was now been diverted”, he added.

Manpreet made it clear that he was not blaming anybody but what was intriguing was that the two situations had coincided and it is the religious issue that has overtaken the economic issues relating to the deepening agrarian crisis.

He said as per the reports now available, the police pounced upon the agitators staging dharna peacefully early in the morning at Kotkapura without any provocation or warning. The situation could have been tackled through dialogue. He also questioned the need to open fire on the agitators at Behbal Kalan in which two persons had been killed sparking protests all over the state.

He blamed mishandling by the Akali Dal-BJP alliance government of the entire situation beginning with the agitation by the farmers who blocked rail traffic for six days to get their demands accepted. He said it was the cumulative anger that had now spilled out on the roads.

He reiterated that under the given situation, only probe by a sitting judge would address the problem and bring out the truth.