BSP asks centre to send NIA to Wisconsin
Wednesday, 22/08/2012
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Jalandhar: Linking the shootout in a Gurudwara in Austria in 2009 to the recent attack in a Sikh temple in United States, BSP asked the Centre to probe both the strikes in order to prevent such incidents in the future here, on Tuesday. They also demanded National Investigating Agency (NIA) to be sent in the US.
“The Vienna Gurdwara shootout of May 24, 2009 had resulted in Oak Creek, Wisconsin Gurdwara shootout of August 5 this year. It was high time for the Central and state governments to make amends for their mistakes committed by taking the first incident lightly,” this observation was made here on Tuesday by BSP state president and MP, Avtar Singh Karimpuri.
Elaborating further, Karimpuri said, “The Central government had conveniently ignored my suggestion made in Rajya Sabha for sending a NIA team to Austria for probing into the conspiracy behind Vienna shootout in which Sant Rama Nand of Dera Sach Khand Ballan was killed.”
“Who funded the attack, provided weapons to the assailants and hatched the conspiracy; should have been probed,” argued Karimpuri, ruing it was not done. “Had Vienna conspiracy been unravelled, Oak Creek incident could have been averted,” claimed Karimpuri.
He said it was high time for the Central government to rectify its error by sending NIA team to probe both Vienna and Wisconsin Gurdwara shootouts so that such despicable incidents of desecrating ‘gurughars’ do not recur. He also expressed sympathies with the families of Oak Creek shootout victims.
It may be mentioned here that while killing of Sant Rama Nand in Vienna had triggered off large scale violence in Punjab, the Oak Creek gurdwara tragedy had left six Sikh worshippers dead, sending shockwaves among the community the world over.
Karimpuri also flayed Punjab government for harassing Dalit youths who had protested against Vienna shootout. “The post-Vienna incidents happened out of emotional outbursts, not out of any conspiracy,” he remarked.
He alleged that taking advantage of the ruling of Punjab and Haryana High Court for appointing a Commission to enquire into the post-Vienna happenings, the state government was victimising Dalits. He asked Punjab Chief Minister not to take it lightly as the harassment of Dalits would boomerang. “The CM should present state’s viewpoint in High Court and apprise it of state situation,” remarked Karimpuri.
“If CM does not do so, then he should also tell who was responsible for the dark decade of destruction during militancy and state’s indebtedness and insolvency,” demanded Karimpuri.
Accusing both Central and state governments of intentionally keeping the pot of price rise boiling, Karimpuri alleged that checking spiralling prices was not on their agenda.
He said, “Both governments use price rise as a stick to beat each other. If Punjab government whipped Centre for inflation, it was itself adding fuel to the fire by hiking VAT on sugar and power tariff.”
Karimpuri declared that BSP will launch a state-wide stir in the form of district-level dharnas and rallies, in September, in protest against growing price rise, corruption, unemployment and other burning issues.
