LDUHIANA, May 11: The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today said he should be judged from his performance during the last five years and not by what the opposition says about him. He also said, the tragic issue of 1984 riots cannot be kept alive for always as those who were raking it up were only trying to get political mileage out of it. He said, he had taken up the issue of turban in French schools with the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of that country.Addressing a crowded press conference alongwith the national spokesperson and the party candidate from Ludhaina, Manish Tewari, at Hotel Majestic Park Plaza here today, Dr Singh said, he had tried and given his best to the country. When asked as how he felt about being described as a weak Prime Minister, he remarked with all dignity and modesty, “judge me from my performance”.
The Prime Minister was at his modest and dignified best during the press conference. At no point of time did he seem to claim credit for anything, whether signing and sealing off the Indo-US Nuclear Deal or surviving through the trials and tribulations of the coalition politics, he consistently ensured that the credit goes to the United Progressive Alliance government.
To a question about the 1984 riots, Dr Singh said, it was a grave tragedy which cannot be kept alive for always. He pointed out, 25 years had passed by and the old scars must not be scratched. He said, although no amount of compensation is sufficient for such tragedies, but his government had tried his best to compensate and rehabilitate people who were victimized by the tragedy.
About a question as why Congress, being a secular party was projecting him as a Sikh Prime Minister in Punjab, Dr Singh said, “I am an Indian first”. He said, he was certainly proud of being a Sikh. At the same time he was the Prime Minister of the whole country. “I belong to everybody including those who voted for me and those who did not vote for me and I will always belong to everybody”, he said, while adding, he does remain a Sikh at the core of his heart having an unfailing faith in the teachings of the Gurus.
On the issue of terrorism, the Prime Minister asserted, it must be routed out but it was important that arbitrary laws were not enacted and only the real culprits were punished. About Afzal Guru’s execution, he pointed out, the Prime Minister or the government had no role. It was the decision of the Supreme Court and in all such cases certain mandatory legal procedures have to be followed, which are being followed and the law will take its own course.
The Prime Minister said, the government of India was trying to sort out the issue of turban of Sikh students in France. He said, he had personally talked to the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of France and the efforts were on to sort out the issue.
He said, his government had strongly conveyed to the government of Pakistan its concern and displeasure over the imposition of jazia on Sikhs in Swat region. He said, the Pakistan government has assured the government of India that all measures were being taken to safeguard the interests of the minorities, particularly the Sikhs, there.