Sukhbir Badal Shrugs Off Killing of Punjab Youth in 80s

JALANDHAR (Baljeet Kaur) Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal who also holds the portfolio for home affairs and justice cannot bury his head in sand when killings of hundreds of youths by Punjab Police during militancy in fake encounters are staring him in the face.

No matter how lofty or untenable are the revelations made by former police cop Gurmeet Singh Pinky in a series of interviews to a senior journalist Kanwar Sandhu about the elimination of Sikh youths at the hands of trigger happy cops Sukhbir cannot simply just shrug it off.

By saying that since everything being alleged by Pinky occurred at the time when Punjab was governed under the central rule so hence it was the duty of the congress government to get the allegations probed doesn’t match up and gives an impression as if Sukhbir is only abdicating his responsibility as a home minister.

Such a position and attitude also belie the very spirit of Sadbhawana rallies which Sukhbir is so laboriously organising all over Punjab to send across a message to all sections that how the government under constitutional oath is committed to protect their fundamental rights including the right to life.

The only plausible reason why Sukhbir is dragging feet to order a probe appears to be the alleged involvement of senior police officers who have been occupying important positions during the tenure of his own SAD-BJP government including DGP Sumedh Singh Saini.

Pinky in his series of interviews reveal several instances in graphic details alleging direct involvement of police officers such as Sumedh Singh Saini, Shiv Kumar and BS Gill in the killings Sikh youths in cold blood.

Now Saini being the handpicked police officer of Sukhbir Badal for the top job it would not be easy for the latter to hand him over to an investigating agency especially at a time when the elections are around the corner and he needed him the most.

Sukhbir understood the significance of Saini when he had appointed him as Punjab DGP in 2102 knowing well that the top cop was facing charges of abduction and murder.

The CBI in 2000 had already chargesheeted Saini and others for the abduction and murder of three persons from Ludhiana in 1994. Later the CBI court had even framed charges against Saini & others.

The need for an independent probe also becomes imperative as Pinky alleged to have paid Rs. 50 Lakh to Uma Shankar, a security personnel deployed outside Saini’s residence in sector 16 at Chandigarh.

Such an allegation only defies Sukhbir’s frequent claims of providing a corruption free governance to people of Punjab.

When Sukhbir Badal sent his emissary Manjit Singh GK, president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and a delegation of members to United Kingdom and UAE countries in 2013 the biggest demand and the first pre-condition of the Sikh Diaspora to restore their confidence in Badals was to remove Saini at once.

However  Sukhbir remained adamant on his choice and was forced to remove Saini only recently on October 15. Sukhbir had to do it under immense pressure from various Sikh organisations who were protesting against the series of sacrilege incidents which the Punjab police under the command of DGP Saini failed to prevent.

Saini created yet another furore among the Sikh masses when he ordered to pick up two brothers Rupinder Singh & Jaswinder Singh for their alleged hand in the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib. Saini’s police even claimed to have unearthed a foreign hand in the sacrilege incidents.

However when the police failed to make any headway and were unable to establish the role of the two brothers in the sacrilege they had no option but to release the latter from the custody.

AAP MP Bhagwant Mann raises the issue in Parliament

After failing to get a positive response from the SAD-BJP regime, AAP MP from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday raised the issue in the Parliament demanding a probe by the National Judicial Commission.

Mann said in the parliament that the serious allegations made by Pinky about the involvement of senior police officers into elimination of Sikh youths can not be brushed aside and needs a thorough probe to bring the guilty cops to justice.

Mann said both Congress and SAD-BJP governments remained in power in Punjab for the last nearly two decades but none tried to get the extra judicial killings probed.

In fact both the Akali and congress governments are guilty of posting such officers on important positions during their respective tenures.

Captain Amarinder Singh too demands probe into Pinky’s allegations

Recently Punjab congress chief, Captain Amarinder Singh in a press conference at Jalandhar had raised the issue and asked the Akali government to get the issue inquired.

Amarinder also said that in case the congress formed the next government in Punjab it would get the allegations of Pinky Investigated.

Mann however is not convinced. ” What was Amarinder doing from 2002 to 2007 when he was the chief minister. Why didn’t he get such issues probed during his tenure. In fact he also gave prize postings to all those officers who are being alleged to have been involved in extra judicial killings”, said Mann.

Mann also demanded in the Parliament that the probe must be done on the pattern of South Africa where such allegations of police highhandedness were probed and guilty police officers were brought to justice.