(Maheshinder S Grewal says Gandhi family had always harmed Punjabis politically and economically)
(Asserts Rahul Gandhi had always played politics with Punjabis and was doing the same now in his Bharat jodo yatra.)
Ludhiana – the Shiromani Akali Dal today asked Rahul Gandhi to tell Punjabi about his stand on Operation Bluestar and genocide of Sikhs in 1984 and disclose if his party had taken any action against Congressmen accused of massacring members of the Sikh community.
Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leader MaheshInder Singh Grewal said Rahul Gandhi should tell Punjabis why his family had harmed Punjab politically and economically. He said Rahul‘s grandmother Indira Gandhi created a truncated Punjabi Suba by leaving out Punjabi speaking areas besides denying the new state its capital city of Chandigarh.
Asking Rahul Gandhi if he justified operation Bluestar or condemned it, Mr Grewal said Rahul Gandhi should complain and admit to the heinous acts of his family and ask forgiveness for the same. He said thousands were martyred in the parikrama of Sri Darbar Sahib in 1984 and also in the genocide committed against the Sikh community in Delhi and other parts of the country. “Repeated commissions, including the Justice Sikri and Justice Tarkunde Commission accused Congress leaders of leading mobs which killed Sikhs. Instead of taking any action against these leaders you honoured them with coveted posts”.
Mr Grewal also highlighted that in 1955, Gulzarilal Nanda was prevailed upon to give 5.7 MAF of river waters of Punjab to Rajasthan by Indira Gandhi. “The injustice meted out to Punjab by ordering construction of the SYL Canal is known to all”, he added.
The SAD leader also asked Rahul Gandhi to clarify why successive Congress governments at the Centre did not implement the Rajiv Longowal accord which had been approved by Parliament. He said the accord had called for transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab on January 26, 1986.
Mr Grewal also took on Rahul Gandhi for his own role in defaming Punjabis while asking him what was his intention to hold the Bharat Jodo programme in Punjab. “You defamed Punjabi youth by wrongly claiming that 70% of them were drug addicts purely for political means during SAD government tenure in Punjab”. He said Rahul Gandhi had also never spoken out against grant of special incentives to industry in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir which has which had led to the flight of industry from Punjab to these states.
Asserting that Rahul had always played politics with Punjabis, Mr Grewal said the former had visited the residence of a farmer who committed suicide during the run-up to assembly elections, but never expressed sympathy for hundreds of farmers who gave up their lives in despair subsequently.EOM
Jangveer Singh
