VOICE OF EX-SERVICEMEN PUNJAB

With pals like Nihalani, Badals need no foes

• 
• 

Previous ImageNext Image

I tend to think that the Badals (that means the father, the son and the brother-in-law) make a very smart and very shrewd team, but I am sure no one on the Badal bench would have thought of asking the censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani to come and pinch-hit for them in this match against Anurag Kashyap and his Udta Punjab.

Well, it only shows what happens when underequipped men (or women) are asked to guard the ramparts. Mr Nihalani's behaviour in the controversy can only be described as deeply disappointing. For anyone holding a public office, his utterances should embarrass even the most saffronite of the saffronites. This, though, is a matter to be sorted out between this small man and the other small men who appointed him as our censor chief. 

The creative community can only keep its fingers crossed. It is reassuring that so many Bollywood artistes, such as Priyanka Chopra and Aamir Khan, did not feel intimidated and have spoken out against the censor board's overreach. Even that very careful man, Amitabh Bachchan, has been constrained to protest Nihalani's war on Udta Punjab. 

The Badals are streetsmart enough to realise the damage Mr Nihalani has done to them. He has simply confirmed the rumour. Punjab does have a drug problem. In his clumsy handling of Udta Punjab, the censor chief has invited attention to the political dimension of the drug problem. 

I thought it was downright silly of Mr Nihalani to suggest publicly that the Udta Punjab producer had taken money from the Aam Aadmi Party for making this film. In one stroke, the Censor Boss has done an enormous favour to the AAP, and, correspondingly, has further damaged the Badals' already bruised image. This was one Nihalani intervention the Badals could have done without. He has made the Badals look guilty. 

Nihalani could have made a reasonable case that he was trying to curb vulgarity in films. From all accounts, Kashyap has been very, very creative with using expletives and other colourful phrases. A principled position on using explicit cuss words would have produced a different debate. But then, Mr Nihalani could not help being himself. He reduced the whole thing to a mohalla-level brawl.

Admittedly, one film or a controversy about a ban of a film does not bring about a total transformation in the public mood. But Punjab’s political mood is definitely in a flux. The Udta Punjab episode is one more turn of the screw against the ruling party. A totally avoidable headache. 

A Kolkata-based cousin wanted me to read a small monograph, Doing Time with Nehru, written by her school-friend, Yin Marsh. The monograph is a first-person account of how the ethnic Chinese community was treated once the India-China war broke out in 1962. Yin, then 12 years old, found herself among 2,000 Chinese-Indians who were rounded up, quarantined and interned in a camp in the Rajasthan desert.

The internment was a clumsy affair. The lower-level Indian bureaucracy had no idea how to keep an ethnically different group as prisoner. Yin and her family were tickled to learn that they were housed in the same bungalow “where Nehru lived when he was interned by the British years before, so we felt very privileged. It felt like we were ‘doing time with Nehru’.”

Though most of us remember the humiliation of our defeat in the 1962 war, this monograph reminds us of our dormant racism, how even a great, large-hearted man like Nehru countenanced this utterly unfair treatment of the ethnic-Chinese. Yin writes of a “The Foreigners Act and Order” that was passed in November 1962 and which gave “license to the native Indian population to harass the ethnic Chinese in many different ways.”

The internees were mostly offspring of mixed marriages and had been living in north-eastern India for generations, yet they were subjected to a hostile treatment. “This impression stayed with me for a long time after we left the camp and drove home the point of how arbitrary and unjust the Indian government policies had been.” The border war lasted just a month but the internment camp operated for five-and-a-half years. 

Yin writes that though “with the passage of time and maturity, I have overcome the anger that has been bottled up for years”, she reminds us that “this shameful chapter in India’s history was successfully suppressed for fifty years.”

THIS week, the journalistic fraternity lost an old-fashioned practitioner of the craft. KK Katyal, long associated with The Hindu, passed away. 

For years, he led The Hindu's national reporting team in Delhi. For some years, he was my boss at the newspaper, but he always treated me, and all other junior colleagues, with respect and consideration. 

He belonged to the pre-electronic media era, when journalism was a serious calling and journalists were taken seriously and respected. And, he was very respected. 

Unlike many of his contemporaries, he remained single-mindedly devoted to journalism and its inherent nobility. No ambassadorships for him, no high-commissionership either. No hankering after a Rajya Sabha seat. 

His family came from Jhang (now in Pakistan), and in his later years, he became an active voice in promoting greater interaction among Indian and Pakistani journalists, as a necessary requirement for a better relationship between the two countries. He deserves a last salute.

WE are told that a number of gurus are going to be descending on Chandigarh in the run-up to the Mega Yoga Event on June 21. Sri Sri Ravishankar has already put in an appearance. Other yoga-entrepreneurs are scheduled to arrive and do their bit to create a 'mahaul' for the Prime Minister's Event. 

These swamis remind me of a drill that used to take place in the insurgency-infested Kashmir valley some time ago: a ‘road-opening party’ was sent out to ‘sanitise’ a route before a substantial posse of soldiers and officers could be allowed to traverse that stretch of the road. The sarkari babas are doing a similar exercise.

From media reports, it can be gathered that many serving army and police officers attended a reception for Sri Sri Ravishankar at a private residence. I do not know if these officers consider themselves as the baba’s devotees. Nor do I know if the service rules frown upon such intermingling between officers and religious figures. But, it would be most unfortunate if any serving officer saw any collateral benefit from being seen in proximity with a godman who is known to enjoy the Prime Minister’s political confidence.

I think a totally unhealthy precedent was set last year when the Chief of the Army Staff persuaded himself to join Narendra Modi’s yoga show at Rajpath. Now, junior officers feel emboldened in crossing the line.

The argument that “yoga is above politics” is a false pretence. The political nexus of these babas is hardly a secret. And everyone knows how these sarkari babas use their political connection to advance their business interests. 

They all want to become raj prohits, if not raj gurus. Perhaps, they have in mind Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari as the role model. Old-timers still recall the tall, muscular, well-toned yoga master make a remarkably striking figure in a single white linen dhoti, as he strode in and out of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s residence. He was written about in the national and international media for his proximity to and influence over Indira Gandhi, how he had the ear of that prime minister and how he could get this or that minister in and out of her cabinet. He had his own aircraft, his own ashram-city, and his own television show on Doordarshan. 

Whereas Swami Dhirendra Brahamchari operated during the austere, socialist days, the modern-day sarkari babas make a prosperous breed in these days of corporate greed and middle class affluence and confusion. Yoga is becoming a handy camouflage for both political and business calculations.

And, after that reinvigorating Surya Namaskar, do have a cup of coffee.

kaffeeklatsch@tribuneindia.com

Not politicking, drugs a pressing issue: Capt

Says Rahul was the first to highlight problem, will target Akali Dal

Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh during a conference in Patiala on Saturday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar

Tribune News Service

Patiala June 11

Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh today said the Congress had every right to raise the drug issue related to Punjab at every level. He said Rahul was worried over the extent of the problem in the state and he would target the Akali Dal during his visit to the state.

Talking to The Tribune, Amarinder said Rahul was the first to highlight the matter. “We are justified. It is not politics but an issue that concerns the state’s youth and needs to be tackled on priority at every level,” he said.

Amarinder justified his invite to Rahul for the Jalandhar dharna saying that the AICC vice-president had logic behind his revelation at Punjab University when he had said that a majority of the state youth were at some point involved in drugs. “Instead of self-introspection, the coalition government mocked at him and even presented fake figures to deny the problem,” he alleged.

‘Open to pre-poll pact’

Hinting at a possible Bihar-like grand alliance to keep the SAD-BJP away from power, Amarinder said he was in touch with some parties and soon a “decision to have an alliance with them will be taken”.

Earlier, addressing a delegate session of the state chapter of the United Communist Party of India (UCPI) here today, Amarinder urged the Chief Justice of India to take note of the actual water currently flowing in the state rivers before deciding about the SYL issue. He said he would use all available means to prevent Punjab’s water being taken away.

Set your house in order first: AAP

Jalandhar: Ahead of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi's visit to the district for a dharna against drugs on Monday, AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira on Saturday asked the former to come clean on the involvement of Congress men in drugs and black money cases. Khaira raised the issue of summoning of Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh by the ED in a drug trafficking case. He also talked about the summoning of Raninder Singh, son of PPCC chief Amarinder Singh, in a black money case. Khaira urged the AICC vice-president that before leading a dharna on the issue of drugs, he must clarify Chaudhary's role, who was recently summoned by the ED in the drug trafficking case. He said the probe related to his offshore accounts and black money of his family had begun in 2011 during the UPA’s tenure. — TNS

Probe Sukhbir’s

 ‘links’ with criminals: Jakhar

Jalandhar, June 11

Two days before Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Jalandhar for a rally against the drug menace in Punjab, PPCC chief spokesperson Sunil Jakhar today demanded the resignation of Sukhbir Badal as Home Minister and a CBI inquiry into the alleged patronage provided by him and his men to criminals.

Accusing the Deputy CM of patronising liquor baron and murder accused Shiv Lal Doda and real-estate developer Neeraj Arora (both lodged in jail), the Abohar MLA produced an audio clip of a telephonic conversation in which Fazilka jail superintendent Amrik Singh is heard saying that Youth Akali Dal south Malwa president Rozy Barkandi and Deputy CM’s OSD Satinderjit Manta had visited the Fazilka jail on June 8 to facilitate a patch-up between Doda and Arora.

Jakhar said since Barkandi and Manta were Sukhbir’s “right-hand men”, their visit to the jail showed Deputy CM’s patronage to criminals and drug peddlers. — TNS

Bathinda cops canecharge jobless teachers

Police canecharge unemployed BEd teachers in Bathinda on Saturday. Tribune photo: Pawan sharma

Tribune news Service

Bathinda, June 11

The Bathinda police today canecharged members of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) Pass Unemployed B.Ed Teachers Union who blocked the Bathinda-Mansa road here as part of their state-level protest.

The protesters, under the leadership of the state president of the union Raghvir Singh, earlier staged a dharna on the Bathinda-Badal Road for over an hour but later changed their venue and blocked Bathinda-Mansa road at the railway over-bridge.

Within a few minutes, the police started canecharging the protesters and removed the blockade so that the traffic flow was resumed. The police detained the protesters and released them in the evening. The Superintendent of Police, Desraj, claimed no case was registered against anyone at that time.

Swaraj Party condemns action

Chandigarh: The Swaraj Party on Saturday condemned the lathicharge on TET-pass BEd unemployed teachers.

In a press note, party president Manjit Singh said they supported the teachers’demands.

“While they were demanding that the recruitment process should be expedited as a large number of positions are vacant, the police canecharged them, seriously injuring dozens of them, including ladies,” said Manjit.

He demanded action against the police personnel who were involved in the act.

Drug addicts on prowl in city, loot whoever comes in their way

Watermelon seller Surinder Kumar shows his ‘galla’ from which drug addicts looted cash in Bathinda. photo: vijay kumar

Gurdeep Singh Mann

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 11

It seems drug addicts are on the prowl in the city as after robbing an onion seller at gunpoint near the Police Lines last week, a watermelon seller was looted by a group of addicts six days ago. No case has not been registered in this regard yet.

Though the police arrested three out of four robbers in the onion seller’s case and also added the recently amended Section 379-B of the IPC — having provision of minimum 5 to maximum 10 years imprisonment — no police action has been taken in the second case.

Dhobiana resident Surinder Kumar said he had been selling watermelons at roadside for the past 20 years on the stretch between Power House Road and bus stand light-point.

“It was 10 pm and customers were still there. Three boys came in a three-wheeler. One of them stayed back at the wheel with ignition on while others enquired about the rate,” Surinder said.

He added the moment he replied, they pounced upon the galla and took away Rs 7,500.

The victim was injured after the apparently intoxicated youth pushed him.

He said he had just counted the money and kept it aside in the ‘galla’ for the next day’s purchase.

“I chased them with the help of a customer on a two-wheeler for nearly a kilometer and caught hold of the neck of three-wheeler’s driver but couldn’t hold on due to rush of vehicles,” Surinder said.

The accused jumped all lights and escaped towards the railway station.

The police reached 30 minutes after his call. “The ordeal was still on as I had to make rounds of Kachehri Chowki the next day. I had to sit for hours but no case was registered. I feel I am the criminal,” he said.

Roadside sellers said, “The city was now akin to Bihar in terms of crime. In fact, Bathinda has snatched the crown of crime from states like Bihar. Now, we compare our place with places like Nigeria or Botswana.”

Bathinda Tribune, when tried to enquire about the matter from the police chowki, the policemen there gave a standard reply, “The matter is under investigation and efforts are on to nab the robbers.”

“We have paraded some criminals in front of the victim but he didn’t recognise any of them,” they said.

Instead, the policemen said the victim even failed to note down the registration number of the three-wheeler and didn’t know where they had gone after the incident.

Farmers to continue their stir, adamant on demands

Members of the BKU Ekta Ugrahan stage a protest in Bathinda on Saturday. Tribune photo; Pawan sharma

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 11

Keeping in view their long protest, farmers are continuing their struggle to get their demands fulfilled. They have been agitating since May 24.

To long last their agitation, farmers are preparing food and tea at the protest venue while a few farmers are spending night at the protest site.

In the morning, farmers from various districts reach at the site to take part in the protest with full energy. They reach in the protest according to their as the turn.

Today farmers extended their support to the ongoing nearby protest of IEV teachers who were cane charged by the police. Many IEV women protestors jumped into the ongoing farmers protest site to save from the police canes. Farmers however immediately came forward to save them from the police action.

The agitating farmers are demanding the waiver of the debt of farmers and farm labourers, who are unable to pay their loans; paying of compensation to the tune of Rs 5 lakh each immediately to the families of suicide victims; survey of suicides from 1990 onwards; release of motor connections to farmers; full compensation of Rs 40,000 to farmers who faced damage to the cotton crop following the whitefly attack and making laws in favour of farmers instead of corporate houses or arhtiyas.

Besides, the farmers are also demanding a solution to the problem of stray cattle. They are also demanding Rs 40,000 as compensation for the damaged wheat crop due to fire following a short-circuit as some farmers whose crop was burnt had reportedly committed suicide. The farmers are also demanding round- the-clock electricity supply ahead of the paddy season; quashing of false cases against the protesting farmers and compensation to those injured or dead during the agitation.

Shingara Singh Mann, state president of the BKU Ekta Ugrahan, said, “We know that our protest will go long but the battle will not die until our demands will meet by the state government. At any moment our protest can be intensified.”

Members of the Powercom and Transco Contract Workers Union stage a protest march in Bathinda on Saturday. Tribune photo: Pawan sharma

UDTA PUNJAB’ CONTROVERSY

First worry about Cong prospects in state, Chandumajra to Capt

Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 11

With Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh announcing to release an uncut version of the movie, “Udta Punjab” in Amritsar, the ruling party asked him to worry about “Udta Congress” instead.

The issue has gained significance in the backdrop of the allegations that Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was acting out at the behest of the state government and forcing markers of the movie to remove all references to Punjab.

Capt Amarinder Singh had on Thursday announced that he would release the uncensored version of the movie in Majitha of Amritsar on June 17. 

Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said the Congress had already faced a political rout across the nation and stood no ground in Punjab. “The movie is politically motivated and damaged prospects of the Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections,” the MP said.

He further said, “The movie is presenting Punjabis in a bad light. It gives the impression that all youngsters in the state are addicts. The SAD is only trying to protect the state’s image while the other parties are busy tarnishing it. It shows that they have no respect for the Punjabis.”

He said nor real issue against the ruling alliance and it was trying to mislead the people

Special probe team to reopen 75 cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riots

NEW DELHI: The Centre’s special investigation team (SIT) is set to reopen and reinvestigate around 75 closed cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the national capital, a move that could ring political resonance in poll-bound Punjab.

The riots that killed more than 3,000 people were in retaliation against the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths and most of those killed were Sikhs, the leading community in Punjab where assembly polls are due in 2017.

“Delhi had 237 anti-Sikh riot cases that were closed because of non-availability of victims or lack of evidence. After reviewing their documents, the SIT has decided to reopen about 75 cases so far,” a government official involved in the review process said.

The SIT will issue advertisements regarding these cases and ask victims and witnesses to join the probe.

“The SIT plans to hold public hearings as well in the next couple months in order to enable people, connected to these cases, to provide information,” the official said. Delhi Police registered 587 cases in connection with the riots. Later, it closed 241 cases but four were reopened in 2006 and one in 2013, which led to the conviction of 35 people. The rest of the 237 cases remained closed. The SIT’s decision comes a week after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a status report of the probe. His Aam Aadmi Party is locked in a triangular electoral battle with the ruling Shiromani Akali DalBJP combine and the Congress in Punjab, where the 1984 riots are a sensitive issue.“We will have to wait and see the details of the cases being reopened by the SIT. The point is whether they are against the organisers of the riots or just eyewash like previous probes,” said AAP leader HS Phoolka, who works for the riot victims and survivors. “Another point is why they waited so long to decide on reopening the cases. They should have opened the cases one by one rather than wait till now.” Congress leaders have reacted positively to the move.“I welcome the move because I have always stood for justice to the riot victims. The SIT must look into all aspects, including the involvement of several RSS workers in the riots against whom cases are registered in police stations,” said Captain Amarinder Singh, the party’s state unit president and former chief minister.

Former Union minister and chief of the Congress in Delhi, Ajay Maken, said the party wouldn’t mind another probe into the riots as long as it’s fair and based on fact. “Probes have been conducted in the past and we are not against any probe ... But should not be backed by political motives and vendetta.”

SIT chief and senior IPS officer Pramod Asthana refused comments when contacted by Hindustan Times.The SIT was set up in February 12, 2015, for six months following a recommendation by a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) GP Mathur. After its term ended, the Union home ministry extended it for a year.

“In many cases, the SIT had to get the documents laminated as they were in a fragile state as they are more than 30 years old. Many documents were scanned to preserve them digitally,” an official said.

Indira Gandhi’s assassination was carried out in revenge for her decision to send the army to flush Sikh militants out of the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, in Amritsar in June 1984. The operation damaged the shrine, enraging Sikhs who make up around 2% of India’s population.

what they say

All old cases which were closed deliberately by the then Congress government to shield the accused should be reopened and reinvestigated. This is a welcome step and in line with our demand. DALJIT SINGH CHEEMA, SAD spokesperson

The SIT had been sitting over the matter for over a year. Reopening 237 cases should not have taken more than a couple of months. Also, it now remains to be seen which of these cases the SIT is reopening. HS PHOOLKA, AAP leader and SC lawyer

I welcome the move as I have always stood for justice to the riot victims. The SIT must look into all aspects, including the involvement of several RSS workers in the riots against whom cases are registered. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, Punjab Congress chief

Politics behind state’s flip-flop on battle against narcotics

POWER STRUGGLE Ahead of 2017 assembly polls, Punjab’s drug problem takes centrestage. The Akali-BJP govt’s battle against it has been inconsistent, giving ammunition to the AAP

Akalis are identified with drugs. Now they have added the synthetic feather, the ‘chitta’, on their blue turbans... Akalis know what will be the fate of the drug peddlers once I form the government. Congress government will adopt zero tolerance towards drugs... CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, Punjab Congress president

CHANDIGARH: Much before its stunning return to power in 2012, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) declared a war on drugs. Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s promise to rid the state of the menace, and the taint associated with narcotics abuse, put the Akalis back in the saddle.

HT FILE/GURMINDER SINGHRecovered drugs kept in bags to be destroyed in a Punjab village. Soon after chief minister Parkash Singh Badal took charge, police went all out against drug smugglers along the 553-km border with Pakistan.

Soon after chief minister Parkash Singh Badal took charge, police went all out against drug smugglers along the 553-km border with Pakistan, besides cracking down on the supply chain in Punjab. Most of the drugs trafficked in Punjab originate from Afghanistan and are processed in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Ironically, the crackdown backfired for the Akalis in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The drug issue dominated the campaign and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the perception battle, bagging four of the 13 Lok Sabha seats. The Akalis were alarmed. “The opposition directed public anger against us and we paid the price,” Badal Senior conceded.

Cut to 2016. The controversy surrounding filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s Udta Punjab has pitch-forked the drug issue back to the spotlight as Punjab heads for another election. This time, the AAP sniffs an opportunity as wary Akalis look to revive the steam in their campaign against drugs, while a confused Congress hopes for a comeback from a decade in the wilderness.Its offensive against drugs has ended up as a double-edged sword for the Akali government. The campaign has reinforced the view that drugs are indeed rampant in Punjab. At the core of this blame game is the 2017 elections. The AAP is using the issue as ammunition to taste power in the state.

The government, in a knee-jerk reaction, has not only slowed down its drive but is also in denial about the problem. It says the issue is not as serious as is being made out to be. Rather, it sees an attempt to malign Punjab and Punjabis.

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalini expressed a similar opinion, saying Udta Punjab defames the state’s people by wrongly depicting 70% of them consume drugs. But the all-out offensive seems an abandoned cause, a pale shadow of the Akalis’ war cry against drugs in their poll manifesto in 2011.

The Punjab government has blamed the Border Security Force for failing to check the supply chain from Pakistan. “We are fighting the nation’s war,” Badal told the Vidhan Sabha recently, asking the Centre to seal the border.

Police personnel have covered 2,900 villages under the feedback campaign launched by the government, inspector general of police Ishwar Singh, who is the director of the state narcotics control bureau, said. “We are very serious in every respect. The institutional response has been prompt (against drugs). There is no question of slowing down.”

The 181 toll-free helpline has led to the registration of 85 FIRs in drug-related cases. The financial investigation of such cases is being handled by DIG-rank officers, Singh said.

The shift in the Akali strategy in the fight against drugs came when arrested lynchpin Jagdish Singh Bhola, an Arjuna award-winning wrestler-turned-dismissed cop, told the press on January 6, 2014, that cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia was the “real kingpin of the drug racket”.

Majithia is the younger brother of Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the wife of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He has dismissed the allegation, calling them “wild imagination”. But Bhola’s bombshell triggered a political earthquake, the tremors of which continue to rattle political discourse two years on. This damning disclosure, closely investigated by the enforcement directorate, led to Majithia appearing before the ED. It was enough to put the once-on-the-offensive Akalis on the defensive. The Congress’s Lok Sabha MP for Jalandhar, Santokh Chaudhary, too had to appear before the ED but the Akalis bore the maximum political damage. An Akali chief parliamentary secretary, Avinash Chander, is also embroiled in the case.

Such weak spots in the Akalis’ fight have derailed Punjab’s war on drugs. The flip-flop has given the opposition, particularly the AAP, ammo to target Akalis and make drug menace the central plank of their election campaign in the border state.

Mann lambasts Rahul for shielding Manmohan, Capt

While Manmohan Singh maintained a stony silence even after being informed by ex-CEC about the drug menace in Punjab in 2012, Amarinder chose to side with Majithia by opposing the CBI probe. BHAGWANT MANN, AAP’s Sangrur MP

CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday lambasted Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for shielding former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh for their failure to check the drug menace in Punjab during the Congress regime.

“While Manmohan Singh maintained a stony silence even after being informed by former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi about the enormity of drug menace in Punjab during the 2012 assembly polls, Amarinder chose to side with Akali cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia by opposing the CBI probe,” said AAP MP from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann.Mann said Quraishi had written a two-page letter to the then PM lamenting the staggering scale of drugs seized during the election campaign in Punjab in 2012. Quraishi had also informed Manmohan that “every conceivable drug is being abused in Punjab”.

Instead of taking stern action against the spread of drugs in the state, Manmohan chose to keep mum and even kept the twopage letter buried under files.

Capt asks BSP, Left to join hands with Congress, avoid vote split

PATIALA: Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh has invited the Dalit and communist parties into an alliance “to avoid the splitting of anti-incumbency vote” in the 2017 elections.

Addressing a delegate session of the United Communist Party of India, which has extended support to the Congress, he asked the BSP, CPI and CPM on Saturday to do likewise or the vote division would benefit the Akali-BJP alliance. “Your other choices are a communal Akali-BJP alliance and an anarchist AAP that has no ideology, policy, or programme,” he told the Left and Dalit leaders. ‘WILL EXPOSE AKALIS WITH DRUG LINKS’ Commenting on the ‘Udta Punjab’ row, Amarinder said: “People need to know who is behind the drug problem and why the SAD is scared to let the film be released without cuts.”Regarding the slapgate incident and a statement from expelled Congress leader Bir Devinder that Amarinder had double standards, the former CM said: “The case of Sukhjinder Randhawa is different from Bir Devinder’s, as both leaders involved have moved on without malice or blackmailing. Bir Devinder and Jagmeet Brar, however, had challenged the high command, including party president Sonia Gandhi, which was unacceptable. Now again Bir Devinder makes unnecessary statements. There is no question of taking him back.” ‘HOPING TO SEE RAHUL AS CONGRESS CHIEF’.A day before the Punjab visit of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Amarinder said he hoped to see Rahul elevated as party chief in the next AICC session. Amarinder, who had advocated recently that Rahul should take over the party, said the focus of his visit was on law and order, besides drugs.

e 12