Akalis counter Cong with list of ‘vendetta’ cases

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 22

Even as a Commission of Inquiry is probing “frame-up” cases registered during the 10-year SAD-BJP rule, the Akalis have prepared a list of alleged vendetta cases after the Congress came to power in March.

According to the list compiled by the SAD, Congress workers have allegedly murdered 16 activists of the Akali Dal, besides injuring six others in various incidents. More than 100 Akali workers have been falsely implicated in various cases since the change of guard, the party alleged.

The Akalis will start giving details of the cases on July 25, when they have announced to launch a statewide movement —“Jabar virodhi lehar” — against “oppressive” rule in the state.

Party spokesperson Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema said the Capt Amarinder Singh government had set up a Commission on Inquiry to victimise the Akalis in past cases, even as Congress workers were targeting the Akalis.

“We have compiled several lists on targeted violence against us, the registration of false cases and the deterioration of law and order during the past four months of this government. The Akalis will not take this oppression lying down. Our president, Sukhbir Singh Badal, will meet the victims from July 25 onwards and make public the cases of vendetta unleashed by the Congress,” he added.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Sunil Jakhar said the Akalis were trying to play politics over disputes between individuals.

“They are free to approach the police for an inquiry into the alleged attacks or false cases against them. Unlike the SAD-BJP rule, the Punjab Police now have no political affiliation under our government,” he added.

Jakhar said many incidents claimed as political vendetta against the Akalis had actually turned out to be personal disputes.

The Akalis claimed that three days before the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress, two youths were killed by Congressmen at Bareta village (Mansa) over a truck union dispute.

A day later, an 80-year-old man was killed in a Gurdaspur village when Congressmen allegedly fired at his family in a bid to intimidate the family. Besides, they allege that 35 false FIRs have been lodged in the past four months.