Chandigarh/ Punjab (February 01, 2014): Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is often accused by various Panthic/ Sikh groups for being opportunistic and further for adopting dual policies for his ulterior political gains. He is also blamed for ‘playing politics’ over sensitive Sikh issues including those concerning Sikh identity and mass level atrocities on Sikhs.
Sikh Siyasat News has accessed some of the statements of Parkash Singh Badal which expose his dual policy on the issue Special Investigation Team (SIT) for investigating cases related to the Delhi Sikh massacre of November 1984.
“Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday [May 08, 2013] met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots [massacre] cases in the capital” IBNLive reported on May 08, 2013.
“We want that a Special Investigation Team be formed and it should probe the cases under the supervision of the Supreme Court. There are so many cases on which no action has been taken like the Nangloi case which has been pending for 25 years,” Parkash Singh Badal had told reporters after meeting the Indian Prime Minister.
In clear contrast to his demand for SIT in May 2013, Parkash Singh Badal recently rejected the efforts of Aam Aadmi Parti (AAP) government in Delhi led by Arvind Kejriwal to form SIT regarding cases related to November 1984 Sikh carnage.
Addressing the media in Goniana village in Muktsar district on January 30, 2014 Parkash Singh Badal said there was hardly any need for it SIT regarding November 1984 related cases.
Human Rights body Khalra Mission Organization (KMO) has already taken strong notice of Badal’s statement rejecting SIT for November 1984 related cases.
“Parkash Singh Badal had promised in 1997 to establish an enquiry commission to investigate mass police atrocities on Sikhs, including fake encounters, custodial killings and enforced disappearances of thousands of innocent Sikh youth in Punjab” . said Bibi Paramjeet Kaur Khalra of Khalra Mission Organization.
“It’s his third term as Chief Minister since 1996 But he did nothing in this regard”, Bibi Paramjeet Kaur Khalra added while talking to the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN).
“What Badal did not deliver in last 16 years regarding fake encounters and enforced disappearances in Punjab, AAP government in Delhi look sincere to do that regarding November 1984 related cases in initial weeks of their governance”, she said while adding that Badal was not justified for rejecting AAP’s effort to form SIT regarding Delhi Sikh massacre of November 1984.