Taking exception to the so-called ‘warning’ by Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on recent arrests under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he will do everything under the law to protect the security and integrity of Punjab and of the nation, and the SAD president’s threats could not deter him from ensuring the safety of his people.
“If there are any specific instances of wrongful arrest or registration of case by the Punjab police under the UAPA, as he has claimed, Mr. Badal should send me a list of the same instead of making unnecessary noise,” said the Chief Minister. There was no question of falsely implicating anyone, he said.
Pointing out that UAPA had been in existence for long, the Chief Minister reminded Mr. Badal that under the SAD-BJP regime, more than 60 cases under UAPA had been registered in Punjab, of which 19 were in 2010 alone and 12 in 2017.
Of the 225 individuals arrested in these cases, 120 were acquitted or discharged, indicating that indiscriminate application of UAPA had in fact been done by the Akalis during their tenure, he said.
Hitting out at the SAD chief, the Chief Minister said Mr. Badal was trying to compromise the interests of Punjab with his politically motivated propaganda against the Punjab police.
“It was shocking that Mr. Badal, who was leading a party that claimed to be the custodians of Sikhism, was in fact protesting against the Punjab police’s fight against separatist and terrorist activities designed to divide the Sikhs on communal lines,” he said.
ISI’s infiltration bids
Pointing to the increasing attempts by Pakistan’s ISI to infiltrate terrorist modules and smuggle weapons into Punjab from across the border, the Chief Minister said his government was committed to taking whatever steps necessary, as per the law, to protect not just the State but India from these elements.
“There were forces bent on destabilising the nation by fomenting trouble and promoting the separatist ideology,” he said, citing the Sikhs for Justice’s Khalistani agenda.
