Taksalis withdraw JJ Singh from Khadoor Sahib in support of Khalra
MOHALI: Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) president Ranjit Singh Brahmpura on Sunday announced to withdraw the party candidate from the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency, former army chief General JJ Singh, in support of the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) nominee Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra.
Brahmpura, the sitting Khadoor Sahib MP, made the announcement at a public meeting in Mohali while canvassing for his party’s Anandpur Sahib candidate Bir Devinder Singh.
He said the decision was taken after people from all over state and other places requested them to support Khalra. “We have decided that we will support Bibi Khalra considering her contribution to the Panth and her fight for justice. Also, we do not want that our votes should split and benefit the Congress or the Akali Dal. The decision has been taken to save Punjab,” he said.
Earlier, SAD (Taksali) secretary general Sewa Singh Sekhwan and spokesperson Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad had urged Brahmpura to support Khalra, but the party chief refused.
Even Punjab Ekta Party (PEP) president Sukhpal Singh Khaira had also appealed the party to withdraw their candidate in Khalra’s support.
Khalra is contesting as a PEP candidate under the banner of PDA. “The Congress killed thousands of Sikhs in 1984 and we do not know on what basis they are seeking votes from Sikhs. Before the 2017 assembly elections, the party made several promises but failed to deliver. If voted to power, we will bring back the lost glory of the state. The Badals have looted Punjab and are responsible for the 2015 sacrilege incidents,” he said.
Party leader Sewa Singh Sekhwan said Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh is the biggest liar in Punjab’s history. “He promised to eradicate drugs from Punjab, but nothing has been done in the past two years. Earlier, the Badals looted the state.” Bir Devinder Singh, former SAD leader Harsukhinder Singh Bubby Badal, former SAD MLA Ujjagar Singh Badali, and former member of the SAD working committee Gursev Singh Harpalpur also spoke on the occasion.
I do not understand why the British govt has not to this day agreed to say sorry. It should be probed whether Dyer instigated the atrocity of his own or was he following orders.
RAJ LOOMBA, Indian-origin member of the House of Lords
LONDON: If Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could apologise for the Komagata Maru incident of 1914, why the British government can’t do so for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre? asked delegates from India at a commemoration event in the UK Parliament on Saturday.
The event, organised by Indian-origin members of the House of Lords, Raj Loomba and Meghnad Desai and the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary Committee, rounded off a series of events in the UK to mark the centenary of the massacre considered by historians as a turning point in India’s freedom struggle.
Vikramjit Singh Sahney of World Punjabi Organisation said: “If Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can formally apologise for Komagata Maru, why can’t the British apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. These were the same Punjabis who fought for them in World War I”.
The event was held in the backdrop of Prime Minister Theresa May, ministers and representatives of the UK government reiterating ‘deep regret’ for the incident, but falling short of the demand for an apology.
May’s brief statement in the House of Commons, however, was seen as a step forward in the discourse of Jallianwala Bagh. Loomba said that it needs to be investigated if the order to fire at an unarmed gathering on the fateful day was given from the top of the administration or was one decided by General R Dyer himself.
Indian high commissioner Ruchi Ghanshyam said the incident had shaken the soul of India, but also highlighted the historical strategic partnership between Britain and India.
Chief patron of the centenary committee Manjit Singh GK highlighted atrocities committed in history and narrated individual sufferings of the Amritsar massacre.
Channel 4 telecast a documentary by journalist Satnam Sanghera, while The Guardian dwelt on the massacre in an editorial titled: ‘Time to see ourselves as others see us’.
The editorial said: “It is rare for a Conservative prime minister to express regret for any aspect of British imperial history. So the fact that Mrs May said anything at all was noteworthy: first, as a sign of continuing official unease at the highest level about the events of 1919 and second, as a recognition of the effect the massacre still exerts on the British-indian relationship to this day.”
It added: “The reluctance to apologise has many strands. They include concerns about precedent, legal consequences and claims for reparations. But the reluctance to look back dispassionately, understandable in some respects, is a national burden. It means Britain can fail to face historical facts, question ourselves as a modern nation and think about complexity”.
“It can mean we fail to see ourselves as others see us. These are enduring issues, which cannot be brushed aside just because they are sometimes exploited opportunistically”.