As UK joined the ranks of major countries that have openly rejected the SFJ’s ‘Referendum 2020’, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday called upon SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal to open his eyes to the secessionist threat of anti-Indian forces instead of indulging in political theatrics over the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA, which their own government had used extensively during their tenure.
Welcoming UK’s statement on ‘Referendum 2020’, Amarinder expressed surprise that Sukhbir continues to turn a blind eye to the threat posed by Pakistan-backed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and other terrorist and radical forces working to destabilise India, particularly Punjab. “Can’t he (Sukhbir) see that the arrests under the UAPA, which he is opposing, are part of the state government’s strategy to combat this threat?” he questioned.
“After Canada, the UK has now come out with a categorical statement that “it is not involved in any way in this unofficial and non-binding referendum…and considers Indian Punjab as part of India,” according to a state government release.
Amarinder reminded the SAD chief of his earlier offer to look into any case of misuse of the UAPA and wrongful arrest under the same. “Why don’t you send me the list of cases which you claim the police have registered wrongfully?” he asked SAD chief, while seeking a list of the names of those arrested under UAPA during the SAD-BJP rule.
The CM said the Badal government had registered more than 60 cases under the UAPA during their term. Of the 225 persons arrested in these cases, 120 were either acquitted or discharged. “Should the large number of acquittals/discharges not be construed to mean you had applied the Act indiscriminately?” Captain Amarinder asked Sukhbir, questioning his motives in giving a communal twist to some of the recent arrests made by the Punjab Police under UAPA.
{{/usCountry}}The CM said the Badal government had registered more than 60 cases under the UAPA during their term. Of the 225 persons arrested in these cases, 120 were either acquitted or discharged. “Should the large number of acquittals/discharges not be construed to mean you had applied the Act indiscriminately?” Captain Amarinder asked Sukhbir, questioning his motives in giving a communal twist to some of the recent arrests made by the Punjab Police under UAPA.
{{/usCountry}}Amarinder said that if the Akalis believed the UAPA to be anti-people and divisive, then Sukhbir, as deputy CM and home minister in the erstwhile SAD-BJP government, should not have applied it in so many cases. The Congress, which was in opposition then, had assumed that the UAPA was being used to keep terror in check in the state, he added. He also accused the Akali leader of trying to create a divide between communities with his senseless attack on the state government’s attempts to check the anti-Punjab forces from succeeding in their game plan.