Center should intervene if Punjab government is unable to deal with ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit

Once again Punjab is heading towards unrest, violence and terrorism. Law and order has collapsed in the state and anarchy prevails. The entire administration is watching the abnormal situations by becoming mute spectators. Khalistan supporters are getting furious. The police and the administration are seen surrendering in front of the helpless miscreants. In such complicated-to-complicated situations, from whom would the general public expect their security! It is not a hidden fact that ever since the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, such situations have been witnessed many times on the law and order front, as if the criminal elements have got a chance to run out of control or it is a thought- Unrest, terror and anarchy are being allowed to flourish in the state under a well thought out strategy. While during the elections, the AAP had made many big promises to the people of the state ranging from completely improving the law and order to getting rid of drug addiction. How easy is it to say that the neighboring country is giving financial help to spread unrest in Punjab? The question is that the country which is struggling with economic poverty, will it give huge financial help to spread violence and terror? This is the easiest way for the AAP government to absolve itself of its responsibilities.

Looking at the deteriorating day by day situation in Punjab, it can be said that the AAP government there is proving to be a complete failure. If the failures of the AAP government continue to dominate like this, then it will not take long for Punjab to return to the militant era of the past. Those bloody days of eighties and nineties, even today many people would not have forgotten and no one would want that tragedy to arise again. But if the attitude of the government and the police-administration is not very thoughtful, mature and full of caution, then how small incidents will turn in the coming times, it cannot be said! A new dreadful, scary and terrifying black page will be written. Glimpses of this were seen at Ajnala police station in Amritsar in Punjab on Thursday, it appeared to be the same once the situation developed there. Looking at the newly emerging circumstances, it is being said that such an unexpected and tragic situation can happen anywhere.

Actually, the police there arrested a person named Lovepreet Singh on several other charges including kidnapping. Lovepreet Singh is believed to be close to Amritpal Singh, head of a fundamentalist Sikh organization ‘Waris Punjab De’, who had reached Ajnala police station with thousands of supporters to get him released. Many people in the crowd were also armed with guns and swords. It can be gauged from this that the policemen present there looked helpless in front of the pressure and attitude of the crowd. Thus, it is not considered a better option to deal directly with the protesters in a violent manner, but in a way the whole administration remained mute spectator was a strange situation. Surprisingly, the gherao of Ajnala police station appears to be a sudden incident, but the fact is that its background was being prepared for several days and perhaps the police did not take timely steps to deal with the matter in a deliberate manner. . The question is, whether the police there had no idea of ​​the issue of the radical organization, their modus operandi and the reaction of their patrons, despite their extensive network? It needs to be kept in mind that Punjab is a border and sensitive state of the country. In such a situation, due to minor carelessness, even a simple problem can take a complex form.

The attack on Ajnala police station by a mob armed with guns and swords has raised many serious questions. The most worrying aspect is that the attacking mob used the holy book of the Sikhs as a ‘shield’. The ‘saroop’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib was taken to the police station in a vehicle, so that the police could not take any action. This dangerous game of tying the hands of the police and forcing them was played under the leadership of Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh. Even if the police had arrested a person from this organization in a sensitive case, wasn’t complete preparation necessary before that? After all, what is the reason that the police had to soften its stand in the situation that arose after the attack on the police station? How strong were the grounds for Lovepreet Singh’s arrest that a court in Ajnala did not take much time to release him? If the police pulled back just under the pressure of the protest by its supporters, how would it be seen from the point of view of law and order?

At present, the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organization does not have a large mass base in Punjab, but the game of arson being played through it needs to be stopped immediately. If the Punjab Government refrains from taking strict steps, then the Central Government should ensure that such an atmosphere of hysteria is not created again in Punjab, the brunt of which we had to face in the eighties. At that time Bhindranwale’s name came up, but due to lack of evidence, he could not be arrested. By then it had established strong roots in the Golden Temple of Amritsar. Religious places had become shelters for criminals. Operation Bluestar took place to free the Golden Temple from terrorists, in which 83 soldiers were martyred and 493 Khalistani terrorists including General Singh Bhindranwale were killed. On October 31, 1984, four months after Operation Bluestar, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own two Sikh security personnel. We lost a powerful prime minister to terrorism and after his assassination anti-Sikh riots broke out across the country. The Khalistani movement did not end here. In August 1985, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harcharan Singh Longwal, who had signed the Punjab Accord with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was brutally murdered. On June 23, 1985, Air India’s Kanishka flight was bombed, killing 329 passengers. On August 10, 1986, former Army Chief General A.S. Vaidya was killed by two bike-borne terrorists, as Vaidya had led Operation Bluestar.

During this dark phase of Punjab, people belonging to the same community were killed after being thrown out of buses and trains. On August 31, 1995, Beant Singh, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, was killed in a bomb blast near the Punjab Civil Secretariat. I personally witnessed the incidents of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harcharan Singh Loganwal and Surjit Singh Barnala being inspired by Jain Acharya Tulsi to be ready for peace efforts and Punjab accord in Amet village of Rajasthan, Sant Loganwal and Surjit Singh Barnala two After the day’s meetings, the Punjab Accord was ready and the Punjab Accord was signed. Many such extensive efforts had an effect. After this, the Khalistani movement weakened due to the strict action taken against terrorism. Most of the Sikhs rejected this ideology. The black storm of terrorism targeted political leaders of almost all parties. These days once again the affairs of Punjab are serious because in Punjab bordering Pakistan, the activities of Khalistan supporters are on the rise again for some time. After returning to Punjab after staying abroad for a long time, Amritpal Singh is taking command of an organization named ‘Waris Punjab De’ and is trying to bring Khalistan supporters under the umbrella of this organization. This organization was formed by Deep Sidhu, who was arrested in connection with the Red Fort incident during the peasant movement. He had died in a road accident last year. Is the AAP government allowing the same violent, terroristic era to dominate once again? Why are Khalistani voices emerging or due to political interests they are being conspired? Whatever it is, the situation is serious.

-Lalit Garg

(The author is a senior journalist and columnist)