Worse than draconian dark days of Emergency: Sukhbir Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said today that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has committed "sacrilege" against sacred Sikh Gurdhams by abusing police to prevent devotees, including Akali workers, from paying obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib, Mohali, this morning.

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Earlier, Badal courted arrest along with Akali workers to protest against alleged political vendetta symbolised by the registration of a case against senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia. “That case is nothing but a symptom of Kejriwal’s hatred against Punjabis and an attempt to cover up his greed and loot in Punjab,” Badal said.

Majithia was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in connection with an alleged corruption case.

The SAD president was stopped by police squads from visiting Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib, after which he was scheduled to lead Akali workers to the State Vigilance Bureau office to protest Majithia's arrest.

A large number of Akali workers were forcibly taken away by heavy police contingents deployed to prevent them from paying obeisance and assembling inside the sacred precincts of Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib.

“The AAP has become so afraid of the SAD that it conducted a state-level crackdown on Akali workers and detained hundreds of senior leaders and workers at their residences besides undertaking preventive arrests,” said Badal.

Akali workers from Majha were not even allowed to cross the Beas bridge as ‘nakas’ were put up across the state to prevent them from reaching Mohali.

“Everything in Punjab is being directed and run by the communal non-Punjabi Arvind Kejriwal. Police cases are just a facade. What’s real is the hatred this communal leader has against Punjabis. We as Sikhs, Punjabis and as Akalis accept his challenge. We will not allow Punjab to be ruled by communal elements from Delhi,” said Badal, while speaking to media from police van.

He said, “Kejriwal and his gang have finally shown their true dictatorial colours and brought back the dark memories of the worst draconian days of the Emergency. Now, as during the Emergency, the real targets are Punjabis in general and Akalis in particular.”

The SAD president further said that Kejriwal had fallen back on repression as his last desperate measure to divert people’s attention from "the loot that his gang was currently carrying out in Punjab".

Repression and political vendetta, he said, are the last resort taken by all unpopular and rootless leaders. Describing the crackdown on peaceful Akalis as worse than the one during Emergency or even during the ‘Jaitu Da Morcha’, he said that not even during those days were Sikhs stopped from going to their sacred shrines.

“I don’t care about this repression against me personally as defiance against repression runs in my blood. But I warn the government against repression against our peaceful Akali workers.”

Badal described today’s developments as “broad daylight murder of democracy, civil liberties and human rights. Where are the champions of human rights today?” he asked.

“I accept the challenge thrown to all Punjabis by this government run by non-Punjabis.  We will fight it to the finish,” he declared.

Speaking further, he mentioned, “The SAD will not only stand against this loot of the resources of our state and our people, but also this dictatorial misrule of AAP that has turned Punjab bankrupt and stopped all development in the state.”

He urged Punjabis to unite to free Punjab from the clutches of the AAP. Badal further reiterated that his party’s campaign against "the loot, misrule and vendetta by this government" will be expedited with protests against the AAP government’s bid to grab 40,000 acres of land to fill its own coffers on July 15 in Ludhiana.