Ex-punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal indicted in 2015 Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case Amarinder names 5 Cong leaders; SAD asks where’s Tytler’s name

NEW DELHI: Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has been indicted in a report filed by Justice Ranjit Singh (retired) on the 2015 Bargari Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case and the subsequent firing in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan. The report by the one-man commission, that was set up in April 2017 by the Congress government to investigate various incidents of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib and other religious texts, was tabled in the Punjab Assembly on Monday.

The report mentions that Badal was well aware of the situation developing at Kotkapura and the proposed action by police. “It’s clear that Parkash Singh Badal wasn’t only in touch with district administration, but was in touch with the DGP as well. He was quite aware of the situation developing at Kotkapura and also about the proposed action by the police,” the report states.

On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found in Bargari village in Faridkot district. In the protests that followed, two Sikh men died in police firing in Behbal Kalan village on October 14, while one person suffered bullet injuries and several others were hurt in the lathi-charge by police at Kotkapura.

The report further says, “Sufficient material is available with the commission that when the district administration was asked to speak to the then DGP, he had conveyed in no uncertain terms that they (district administration and the local MLA) should not bother much and that he will get the dharna site cleared within ten minutes.”

The report also mentions that the police had kept Badal in the loop while taking action to lift the dharna by Sikhs protesting against the sacrilege. The commission said that it had given the former CM the chance to explain his position, but he didn’t cooperate. NEW DELHI: Even as he continued to deny Congress’ role in the 1984 anti-sikh riots, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday named few party leaders who were allegedly involved in the massacre following the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in the same year.

While addressing the media, Singh reiterated party chief Rahul Gandhi’s views that the Congress, as a party, was never involved in the riots. “There was no Congress involvement other than the involvement of some people. I have named few of them – Sajjan Kumar, Dharamdas Shastri, Arjun Das and two others,” Singh was quoted as saying by news agency.

Immediately upping the ante against the CM for denying the party’s role and yet disclosing the names of five persons, except Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his alleged role in the incident, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “He(singh) took five names but he has a soft corner for Tytler. So, he did not take his name.”

Tytler was given a clean chit thrice by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case. The clean chit has been contested in a Delhi court.

The SAD chief also asserted that the CM must write to the Supreme Court as the main witness in the case. “He (Singh) should write to the Supreme Court that he is the main witness in the case,” he said.

A political slugfest has erupted ever since Rahul Gandhi said the Congress was not involved in the massacre of Sikhs following Indira Gan- dhi’s assassination in 1984. “I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don’t agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy,” he had said during an interaction with Uk-based Parliamentarians and local leaders in London on Friday.

“I think any violence done against anybody is wrong. There are legal processes ongoing in India, but as far as I’m concerned, anything done that was wrong during that period should be punished and I would support that 100 per cent,” he added.

In an immediate response, SAD accused the Congress chief of rubbing salt into the wounds of the Sikh community. Party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said Rahul had “justified the lynch mentality of the Gandhi family by shamelessly denying the Congress party’s role in the organized massacre of Sikhs in 1984 and had by this act become a ‘bhagidaar’ in this most inhuman and dastardly act”.