Opposition parties in Punjab have lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party led Government following abrupt clashes broke out between the two religious groups. Right from Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi, to state unit president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring; former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, among others lambasted the State Government over the leniency in law and order in the state.
“Visuals from Patiala are disturbing...I repeat, Peace & Harmony are imperative in a sensitive border state like Punjab. This is not the place to carry out experiments...Earnestly appeal to the Punjab govt to ensure law and order is maintained,” tweeted Rahul Gandhi.
Condemning the incident while appealing to the people to ensure peace at all costs, Warring blamed AAP Government’s “incompetence” to tackle the law and order situation. “It is quite unprecedented that people came face to face brandishing swords in Patiala and this is all due to the incompetence and inefficiency of this government in handling the situation,” he said, while expressing strong apprehensions of a deep-rooted conspiracy to sabotage peace in Punjab.
Warring observed that this was the failure of police and the state intelligence wing, which could not foresee the situation. “Or may be this government has some vested interest in creating uncertainty in the state and that is the reason why it did not take pre-emptive and precautionary measures and allowed the situation to drift into violence,” he said, maintaining that the Government might be wanting to get public attention diverted from real issues concerning the public as AAP has failed on all its promises and commitments it had made to people of Punjab before elections.
At the same time, Punjab Congress president asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, “since he instead of Bhagwant Mann remains in control of everything in Punjab”, to let the Punjab Police do their job rather than making them implicate people in false cases to satisfy his personal ego. “I am confident that if Punjab Police are allowed to work professionally and not forced to do other things, such a situation will not arise”, he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress’ former president Navjot Singh Sidhu also took to Twitter, and said: “Punjabis are tied in with our Guru’s teachings of Universal Brotherhood and Oneness. No antisocial elements should be allowed to incite any sort of division in our society. The incident in Patiala occurred due to the gross failure of the Punjab government to anticipate and control the mob. Responsibility should be fixed.”
Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa also tweeted, “Complete anarchy in the state...Disturbing visuals from Patiala. It’s high time that Punjab CM gets his house in order. Law & order has collapsed in past one month with one incident after the other taking place in state. CM should immediately visit Patiala with DGP Punjab.”
Bajwa also appealed to the people to maintain law and order in the state, especially being a border state, reminding them of the sufferings the state have witnessed in the past.
SAD president and former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said: “Patiala incidents deeply disturbing and a cause for grave concern for peace in Punjab. Administrative paralysis in the state has seen law & order situation drifting towards anarchy in recent weeks. I appeal to all Punjabis to maintain peace & communal harmony at all costs.”
SAD, in an official statement, asked the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to fulfil his responsibilities and immediately tackle the law and order situation which had plummeted to an all time low in the State. Expressing shock at the manner in which the AAP government failed to preempt the disturbing incidents at Patiala by taking timely action, SAD senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema said: “This is a classic example of a complete collapse of the law and order situation. The AAP government did not act decisively despite advance warning. Even now rather than setting its own house in order, its spokespersons are choosing to go into a blame game with the opposition. Its Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has even shamelessly claimed that the incident was the result of a clash between the SAD and the Shiv Sena. Such cheap allegations are despicable and indicate that AAP has not learnt a lesson from the past and is ready to politicize unfortunate clashes which could again vitiate the communal atmosphere in the State.”
Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder, strongly condemning the incident, said that it reflected AAP Government’s complete failure to take care of the law and order in the state. At the same time, he appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony at all costs and not to get carried away by any provocations.
Reacting to the incidents that shook the peace in the quiet and peaceful historic city today, Capt Amarinder expressed surprise as to how the administration could allow the situation to escalate to this extent that it ended up in violence. Even a layman could foresee and make out that the proposed “protest march” by one group of people could lead to violence, he pointed out, while adding, it is surprising why the police did not take any preemptive action.
The former Chief Minister said, the law and order situation is continuously deteriorating in Punjab and today’s incidents in Patiala were only a part in a long series.
“With the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who holds Home portfolio also, having no authority of his own, as all decisions are taken by Arvind Kejriwal, one cannot expect anything better”, Capt Amarinder observed, while disclosing that Mann has to get approval for everything from Delhi and he cannot handle emergency situations of his own. “Mann is neither capable, nor authorized to take any decisions, which bodes ill for Punjab”, Capt Amarinder remarked.
