Says Be-adbi incidents were a conspiracy to permanently sabotage possibility of Panthic Govts in future too
Amritsar December 14 – Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal today tendered an unqualified apology to “Guru Sahiban and Guru Panth” on the precincts of Shri Akal Takhat for the sacrilege incident and its aftermath during the Akali government . “It inflicted deep pain on the heart of both Parkash Singh Badal and on my own that these incidents happened during the Akali government and that we could not arrest and punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Badal sahib left us, carrying this wound on his heart.”
Badal was addressing a congregation at Gurdwara Bhai Gurbakash Singh adjacent to Akal Takhat Sahib (highest Sikh temporal seat) in the Darbar Sahib complex to commemorate the 103 years of SAD’s foundation.
“In retrospect, I believe it was a huge blunder to allow some so-called Panthic personalities and organisations to pressurise the government into handing over the probe to the CBI instead of conducting it ourselves. It was only later that their game plan became clear to us but by that time the probe had already been handed over to the central agency.,” said Mr Badal , adding that he and Mr Badal were deeply aggrieved at our failure to catch, expose and punish the actual culprits as well as those behind the sacrilege tragedy.”
The former Deputy Chief Minister said that he did not want to offer any alibis for this failure. “As a government, we should have realised the games that some elements masquerading as Panthic organisations were playing to not only destabilise the then government but also to permanently sabotage the possibility of a Panthic government in Punjab. We failed to realise that they were actually driving a wedge between the Khalsa Panth and its warrior force, the SAD. The worked hard to turn the community against its own right arm .That was the only way they could weaken the Khalsa Panth.” He asked the Sikh masses to note how the forces that were so loud and active against SAD govt on sacrilege had become silent on sacrilege incidents even at Harmandar Sahib or on the police assault on Sikh shrines , including the one at Sultanpur Lodhi.
He sent out a call for “ complete unity in the Panth under the Akali flag and principles. He said that both personally and as president of the SAD, he owned responsibility for any wrong or any injustice done to any Akali worker in the past either by him or by Parkash Singh Badal or by any other leader or member of the party. I take resposnbility for anything that went wrong and I apologise to all the brave Akali soldiers who felt estranged with the party. Both personally and as party president, I take full responsibility for all this.”
He said that he will personally ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. “I will personally attend to the grievances of every Akali worker and every Punjabi, like Badal Sahab used to do. He said that a united and strong Akali Dal was a prerequisite for a strong and progressive Punjab. “We need to remain united in order to save the precious resources of our Punjab including river waters and control over BBMB. But make no mistake: SAD alone can guarantee that our heritage and culture is saved from conspiracies to erode and dilute it.”
The party also condemned the brazen sacrilege committed by the police at the sacred Gurdham at Sultanpur Lodhi .
