Chandigarh, April 12
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said that the Special Session convened by the Aam Aadmi Party government on April 13 to enact a new law against the sacrilege is only an attempt to cover up its failure to punish the guilty even after being in power for four years.
The PCC president asked as to why had the AAP failed to punish those responsible for the sacrilege and later killing of the protestors. “The special session will be yet another theatrical presentation by the AAP, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”, he remarked, while pointing out that the AAP has used “Special Sessions” to deflect public attention and wriggle through the difficult situations from time to time.
“Had the AAP government’s intentions been really sincere, it would have held deliberations with the stakeholders, scholars and legal experts before drafting such a law which has not only emotional and sentimental significance for the Punjabi community but also long term future implications,” added Warring.
Warring said that there was “open understanding” between the AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal with the patronage of the Bharatiya Janata Party on the issue. “Otherwise why would the AAP government not take any action against the guilty, when the Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal had himself confessed to the guilt in front of the Akal Takhat?” he asked.
The PCC president reminded the AAP leaders, particularly its supremo Arvind Kejriwal about his boastful claims before the 2022 assembly elections that those guilty of sacrilege will be punished within 24 hours. But four years have passed and the guilty are roaming scot-free, he told the AAP leadership.
Warring said that mere enactment of laws does not lead to any deterrence if there is no punishment. “So much so the AAP’s poster boy against sacrilege, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh has been completely sidelined from the party and he is on the verge of resigning”, he pointed out.
Taking on the BJP, he asked, why its government at the centre has still not notified the stringent anti-sacrilege law passed unanimously by Punjab Vidhan Sabha way back in 2016. He also asked the AAP government why it did not pursue the matter with the centre all these years. “What is the guarantee that the new law that the AAP will enact will not meet the same fate?” he questioned the AAP government.
Warring noted, like the Akali government brought a similar law in 2016, just ahead of the end of its term, the AAP was doing the same thing now, just a few months before its term and regime is going to end in Punjab for good.
