JALANDHAR
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday alleged that the ruling party’s MLAs are involved in corrupt practices like sand mining, illegal lottery stall operations, and dealing with drug nexus money. It is an open secret that AAP MLA family members are demanding money from Police stations as DIWALI JABRANA.
Addressing a press conference here SAD Jalandhar unit president and ex-MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala said a very serious incident has happened in the last few days which is related to drugs. AAP MLA has been found accepting money from drug dealers and their cronies to help them with police and government protection. A sum of RS 40 lakhs has exchanged hands amongst the drug dealers and AAP MLA. If this is the working of AAP MLA who is taking money from drug dealers without caring about its effect on society, what can we expect from the MLAs and government?
The SAD leader said that Punjab is passing through an uncertain phase of social and political upheavals. People of the state are facing a sense of insecurity for a variety of reasons. Punjabis brought the AAP government with lots of hope and expectations for bringing change towards a new political approach and a different administrative and bureaucratic setup. All the people’s aspirations seem to be lost with the type of governance and attitude of elected representatives. Whatever the government says or portrays itself to be, the reality gives an impression of nondirectional working that is bereft of an agenda for Punjab’s future. Looking at the law-and-order situation Punjab is going through, drugs and crime related to drugs have gone up.
The government seems incapable of controlling the spread of drugs despite its efforts to involve school children and offer ARDAS at Harimandar Sahib. The government approach should be of zero tolerance towards drugs and with a long-term plan involving communities, nonprofit organizations, and religious bodies to combat the drug menace. Wadala said the government must take strong action against all persons who are involved in smuggling or helping smugglers in their dangerous activities. We request the Chief Minister of Punjab to hold an investigation into this drug-related incident and bring the truth in front of Punjab. If this does not happen then the government propaganda and claims about controlling the flow of drugs will all be seen as hollow and false.
Wadala said that the Punjab has been fighting for its rightful share of river waters. Shiromani Akali Dal launched a Morcha to safeguard the interests of Punjab on water issues and against the SYL canal. Shiromani Akali Dal has always stood by the time-tested riparian principle of River waters. Water is a very precious commodity and is becoming scarce day by day. The issue of sharing waters should have been settled a long time ago by the concerned governments. The delay in doing so has proven to be a setback for Punjab. Now again after so many years, it is becoming a sensitive issue. Farmers of Punjab have adopted a high-intensity form of agriculture sowing high-yielding crops for which water usage has increased manifold
The Supreme Court judgment has put Punjab on the back foot once again. The AAP leadership has given conflicting statements which have been interpreted as going against the interests of Punjab. Despite AAP government in Punjab its Rajya Sabha MP and leaders sitting in Delhi are not standing up for the genuine rights of Punjab. This is harming the future of agriculture sustainability. The issue regarding the sharing of waters amongst different states should have been taken up during the Kisan Morcha so that it could have been settled amicably once and for all. That opportunity was lost by all the stakeholders due to lack of political foresight.
AAP government in Punjab should have taken the other political parties along and put up a very strong united face to fight for the waters of Punjab. Instead of bringing all political parties on one platform, the government started indulging in political brinkmanship and blame game. Holding a debate also proved to be a futile exercise as no party took part in it. The debate was seen as AAP government propaganda, due to which its legitimacy was lost. The run-up to the debate which called for serious thought and in-depth research for preparing a strong case by all parties was not taken up as the AAP government chose to score brownie points and accusations against other political parties.
The Punjab government instead of indulging in blaming the past governments for SYL imbroglio must focus on what they can achieve for Punjab, keeping in mind the present water scenario. The time that has passed and opportunities that were missed are not significant now, in helping to build a proper and justified case of Punjab.
The Central Govt. which had taken a decision to stop issuing visas and scaling down Canadian consular services has badly affected the people of Punjab although some visa services have been started people of Indian origin & especially Punjabis are facing hardships. The NDA Govt. should not target the Sikh Community and its leaders by tarnishing their image and alienating them from the national mainstream. Any action or decision that creates division amongst Sikhs the world over will be counter-productive and harmful to the community and nation in the long run.
The Sikh community by and large has been waiting for a long time for pending issues to be settled.