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Punjab govt team says Sikhs in MP targeted by officers who support BJP
The houses 11 Sikh community members were razed and crops around the houses levelled with tractors in last week of December as a part of the state government’s anti-land mafia drive.
A fact-finding team sent by Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to Madhya Pradesh to meet the affected Sikh families whose houses were razed during an anti-encroachment drive in Sheopur district last month, accused the government officers ‘having allegiance to BJP’ of persecuting the community deliberately.
The houses 11 Sikh community members were razed and crops around the houses levelled with tractors in last week of December as a part of the state government’s anti-land mafia drive.
Punjab’s revenue minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar heading the eight-member team said, “After our meeting the affected families it’s clear that the Sikhs were singled out to persecute them with cruelty by razing their houses despite the fact they all have legal ownership of the land.”
He said, “The officers responsible for such cruelty are working for the BJP.”
The minister said Kamal Nath government was not to blame for the action. The officers did this to defame the government in the eyes of the Sikh community.
He said the cruelty was unprecedented with which the houses were demolished ignoring the human rights and leaving the families including women and children out in the open in the winter.
Kangar said the houses and other properties damaged were worth at least ₹4 to ₹5 crore, “I will submit my report to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh who will then decide the next course of action.”
The team had an interaction with the district collector Pratibha Pal and superintendent of police Nagendra Singh and asked them why the houses were razed without following the principles of natural justice and why only Sikhs were singled out under the drive.
BJP leader and local MLA Seetaram Adivasi offered a garland to the revenue minister while welcoming the team and said, “My request is the poor tribals’ land be freed from the encroachment of people from Punjab and Haryana.”
The MLA said, “Thousands of acres of land of Saharia tribals were illegally occupied by people from Punjab and Haryana. I appreciate the action taken by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath who has launched the drive to free land encroached upon illegally.”
Another team of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) also visited the area and met the affected Sikh families on Tuesday.
Talking to the media, SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said, “This was all done at the instructions of Kamal Nath government as Kamal Nath is anti-Sikh. If action was not taken against guilty officers and compensation not given to the affected families SAD will launch an agitation in this regard.”
Sheopur collector Pratibha Pal said, “The teams assessed the situation at their own level. We apprised them of the ground and facts based on which the action was taken. Our action is absolutely correct and we apprised the teams of the facts relating to the each and every case.”
State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “The Sikhs were victimised at the instance of Kamal Nath government. The BJP has already been raising the issue since the state government launched the drive that the real mafia is being shielded and innocents are being victimised. There are also reports about extortion by the government personnel in the name of anti-mafia drive.”
State Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja said, “The state government has already taken action against certain government officials. The Opposition leaders are politicising the issue as people have rejected them and they are frustrated with Kamal Nath government having completed more than a year in office. Chief Minister Kamal Nath has assured all the Sikh families that no injustice would be done to them.”
