Bains brothers barred from entering Kapoori village

Gagan K Teja

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 23

Following the Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) call to dig the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL), the Bains brothers of the Lok Insaf Party (LIP) today headed for a showdown towards the point of conflict; Kapoori village, but were stopped by the police way behind. Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains, along with party candidates for the recently held Assembly poll, and over 400 supporters were heading to Devigarh to reach Kapoori but were stopped by the Patiala police near the new grain market, Patiala, around 1 pm.

Heavy security was deployed to avoid any untoward incident and ensure that they did not march forward. The Bains brothers vend their anger against Haryana and Punjab leaders claiming that they were playing a friendly match and were trying to ruin Punjab in the process, but the Punjabis were born fighters and they would not let anyone grab their right.

Simarjit said this entire incident had occurred on the behest of Parkash Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh, and termed Badal as a traitor, saying that it was for his laid pout attitude that Punjab had lost the case in the Supreme Court. Also, Chautalas were politically dead and they had created a drama to gain political mileage, he said.

However, he asserted that all neighbouring states should get one thing clear that Punjab did not have a single drop of water to spare. “Forget about getting Punjab waters, we will also ensure that Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi pay the royalty for water that has already been given to them in the past. We will get the bill passed in the Assembly on priority,” he said.

Bains further said “Punjab is a riparian state and, therefore, as per the Indian Constitution, neither the Supreme Court nor the Prime Minister or the President can intervene in this issue. Abhay Chautala has tried to challenge the Punjabis, but he doesn’t realise that our martial race has never bowed down to anyone. If he doesn’t desist from his dirty tricks, we will show him his real place.” After almost five hours, they headed back to Ludhiana when not allowed to move ahead.

80 AISSF members detained near Machingan

Around 80 members of the Punjab’s All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) led by federation president Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad were detained near Machingan village while they were marching towards Kapoori village.

They gathered at gurdwara Singh Sabha, Devigarh, and performed ardaas before heading to Kapoori. The cops accompanied them all along, but later detained them at Machingan village.

Peer Mohabbat said it was shocking how all political parties were conveniently sleeping over the issue that could destroy the coming generations of Punjab. “Sikh nationalists have laid down their lives to stop the construction of SYL, and now it is our duty to protect the river waters of Punjab. We will not allow any government to implement the Supreme Court's decision, and we are also in the process of challenging the SYL decision before the International Tribunal in Hague,” he said.