A day after Khalistani flags were found hung at Himachal Pradesh’s state assembly, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur has said he has spoken with the central government. The state police on Sunday had sealed the borders as the banned Khalistan group - ‘Sikhs For Justice’ (SFJ) - claimed the responsibility for the incident. Meanwhile, the opposition has been attacking the BJP government as the incident comes months ahead of the state elections, due later this year.
Here are ten points on Khalistani flags row in Himachal Pradesh:
1. Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said the state government has taken the incident “very seriously”. “The state government has taken this incident very seriously. We've spoken with the centre regarding this and all the information is being collected as to who can be behind all of this,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
2. “We've constituted an SIT (special investigation team)... and the investigation process has been taken forward. We've taken up a new step in the state as a security measure, under which surveillance is being increased at the Himachal border so that we can stop such incidents from happening again,” he added.
3. On Sunday, the state police filed a case against the Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun under anti-terror law UAPA . Pannun was booked as the main accused under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and sections 153 A and 153 B of the India Penal Code, besides section 3 of the HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985, HP Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
4. Intensifying the security measures, the state sealed borders. The “sealing” of the border implied strict checks on vehicles and people entering the hilly state, police said.
{{/usCountry}}4. Intensifying the security measures, the state sealed borders. The “sealing” of the border implied strict checks on vehicles and people entering the hilly state, police said.
{{/usCountry}}4. A seven-member SIT was set up to probe the case. Pro-Khalistan slogans were also reported found scrawled on the state assembly walls, which were later painted again.
5. All top police officers were told “to seal all interstate borders and barriers and keep a strict vigil at the places of probable hideouts, that is hotels and inns of criminal elements, Kundu said. “They have been directed to keep the special security units (SSUs), bomb disposal squads and quick reactions teams (QRTs) in position and on high alert and strengthen the security of dams, railway stations, bus stands, towns, government buildings and vital installations,” he was quoted as saying in reports.
6. Soon after the incident was reported on Sunday morning, the chief minister had put out tweets, calling it a “cowardly act”. "I condemn the cowardly incident of raising Khalistan flags at the gate of Dharamshala Assembly Complex in the dark of night. Only the winter session of the assembly is held there, and hence require tighter security arrangements during that time only.”
7. “Taking advantage of this, the cowardly incident was carried out, but the government will not tolerate it. Wherever the culprits are, they will be caught soon. Strict action will be taken against the perpetrators of this incident,” he had said.
8. The opposition meanwhile clinched the opportunity to target the BJP ahead of the state elections. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is making inroads in the poll-bound state, termed the incident a “complete security failure” on the part of the BJP-led government.
9. “The government under whose rule such an incident has happened has no right to be in power,” AAP state spokesperson and retired DGP ID Bhandari said.
10 “It is the government’s failure. This incident has proved that the Jai Ram Thakur-led government is incompetent to run the state,” Congress campaign committee chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)