Badal’s claim of spending 17 years in jail a lie: Khaira
Friday, 14/02/2014
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CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Khaira on Thursday ridiculed chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s claim of spending 17 years in jail for the sake of people of Punjab and their rights, challenging Badal to prove this assertion.
“Akali leaders like Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Simranjit Singh Mann had spent much more time in prison than Badal, who actually did not spend more than four years,” Khaira said at a press conference here.
“I ask Badal to prove the total period of 17 years in jail as claimed by him. Most of his jail term was in comfort zones when leaders like Tohra, Mann and my father (Sukhjinder Singh) were kept in isolated cells for months together,” Khaira said.
He said he had sought details about the total number of days Badal had spent in jail on different occasions under the RTI Act, but the state home department had replied that there was no such record available.
‘MORE AKALIS SUPPORTED ACTION’
Khaira added that not only Badal but also other Akali leaders, like Balwant Singh, who had supported Operation Bluestar.
Khaira produced a letter from slain Akali minister Balwant Singh, dated June 9, 1984, addressed to Indira Gandhi, in which he justified the army action.
DITHERING ON PARTY STAND
When asked why the Congress leaders in Punjab were blaming Badal for Operation Bluestar instead of conveying the party’s firm standing on the military action to flush out the militants, Khaira said, “I am a small leader and my personal opinion is that the army action could have been avoided, but I am not saying it as a Congress spokesperson.”
