Cong tried to gain mileage from tragedy: Dalip faction
As the war of succession between Namdhari sect head Satguru Uday Singh and his estranged brother, Thakur Dalip Singh, has turned bitter after the murder of their aunt, Chand Kaur, the supporters of Thakur Dalip Singh seem to have leaned towards the Akali government
As the war of succession between Namdhari sect head Satguru Uday Singh and his estranged brother, Thakur Dalip Singh, has turned bitter after the murder of their aunt, Chand Kaur, the supporters of Thakur Dalip Singh seem to have leaned towards the Akali government.
On Thursday, they accused Congress leaders, including Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu and former Punjab Congress president HS Hanspal, of trying to get political mileage from the media statements at the cremation of Chand Kaur on Tuesday (April 5). International Namdhari Sangat, a body of the supporters of Thakur Dalip Singh (rival faction of current Namdhari sect head Satguru Uday Singh), said “the attempt to exploit a tragedy for political gains was unfortunate”.
“We read in the newspapers what Hanspal had told the media at the funeral in the presence of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. People were mourning the demise of Chand Kaur but the politicians were busy playing their own game,” said International Namdhari Sangat president Navtej Singh Namdhari. “Bittu asked for the dissolution of the assembly and the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as state home minister. It was shocking to us were they were doing on a sombre occasion,” he further said.
Navtej asked Hanspal to remember 2003, when Thakur Dalip Singh had come to seek the blessings of then sect head Satguru Jagjit Singh and his car had come under attack. “Then at Katani village, 2 kilometres from Bhaini Sahib, his supporters were beaten up and Dalip Singh was made the accused. That time, Hanspal did not utter a word against the-then Amarinder government, which was in his favour,” he added.
The International Namdhari Sangat president went on to say that Hanspal’s name had cropped up in the Ludhiana city centre scam also but Namdhari sect’s influence had secured him a clean chit. Asked to react, Hanspal declined to make any comment.