Chandigarh April 21 – Member of Parliament and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked the Congress President Ms. Sonia Gandhi to break her silence on charges that dreaded terrorists in Punjab were sheltered and aided by senior Congress leaders like Captain Amarinder Singh and Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal.
"Incontrovertible evidence on the murky role played by the Congress party in the terror blood-bath that rocked Punjab for more than a decade and half has now been provided by two former Chief Ministers belonging to this party. Independent and credible reports about the bloody games of the Congress had been circulating the media and political circles for a long time. The Bhatthal-Amarinder spat in broad daylight has only confirmed those reports and proved beyond any doubt that terrorism in Punjab had been mothered, nursed and sustained by the then ruling party as a part of its diabolic conspiracies to defame the SAD and the Sikhs for cheap political gains," said Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal in a statement released here. The SAD president further said that it was no secret that the Congress party acted as a mafia gang of murderers and looters during those mad days in Punjab. "But now, these killers and looters have fallen foul of each other and have started revealing the dirty truth in public," he said, adding that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi must come clean on this highly sensitive issue.The SAD president said that his party would welcome a thorough probe by a central agency like the CBI into the entire gamut of the Congress role in the tragedy of Punjab. He said that the exchange of incriminations and recriminations between Captain Singh and Mrs. Bhatthal could not be dismissed as an internal affair of the Congress party as it involved the question of accountability for senseless killings of thousands of innocent Punjabis. "At stake also is the issue of security, unity and integrity of the country. Also, the Congress owes an explanation to the Sikh quom as to why it chose to paint a fiercely proud and patriotic community as traitors and terrorists while the entire conspiracy was in fact the handiwork of the opportunistic leadership of this party." Referring to the on-going spectacle of running battles between the "brother-sister duo" of Captain Singh and Mrs. Bhatthal, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the truth revealed by each against the other had frightening implications for peace and communal harmony in the state and the country and Mrs. Gandhi must state clearly as to why such leaders had been so honoured by her party as to be rewarded with the high office of the state Chief Minister.It may be recalled that while Captain Singh has been publicly accusing Mrs. Bhatthal of sheltering terrorists, she on her part has come out with evidence of his collusion with anti-national elements and his open support for the Khalistani Babbars.Captain Singh had even described Beant Singh's killer Jagtar Singh Hawara as a "gentleman". Hawara conveniently staged a highly dramatic and filmy tunnel-escape from jail and freely roamed Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib districts during Amaridner's regime. It was left to a police party from the Delhi police to nab him from Punjab. Mrs. Bhatthal had gone to the extent of accusing Amarinder of patronizing and funding the activities of Khalistan terrorists, both in India and abroad. She has also referred to his visit to the Dixie Gurdwara where he proudly got himself photographed in front of a banner proclaiming 'Khalistan Zindabad', and to his numerous clandestine trips to undisclosed international destinations. "Captain Singh and Bhatthal seem to believe that by turning approver against each other, they could perhaps get themselves absolved of their own individual crimes against humanity. They are sadly mistaken in this because the people of Punjab will never forgive those who planned, funded and organized senseless killings of innocent bus passengers, morning walkers, school-going children, infants, women and the aged."