Badal spent 40 months in jail: Cong
Friday, 14/02/2014
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140214/punjab.htm#8
Chandigarh : Sukhpal Khaira, spokesperson, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), has challenged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's claim of having spent 17 years in prison. "Badal hasn't spent more than 40 months in all," he said.
At a press conference, Khaira said that Badal became politically relevant in the late 1960s. In case he courted arrest earlier, those instances were very brief.
"Probably, the longest period Badal suffered was during the Emergency-Save Democracy Morcha that began on July 9, 1975. Badal along with senior Akali leaders, including Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Surjit Singh Barnala, Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi and Sukhjinder Singh, were detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for 19 months."
"The detention under National Security Act (NSA) lasted only for a year as the Rajiv-Longowal accord was signed on July 24, 1985. Badal's statement that he was arrested on June 10, 1984 and released on March 11, 1986 stands nailed as he contested as an Akali candidate from Lambi in the September 1985 Vidhan Sabha elections.
"The claim of Badal of having spent 17 years in jail also falls flat simply because the most troubled period from 1984 to 1997 amounts to only 13 years. I dare Badal and his ill-informed cronies to rebut my claim that Badal spent no more than 3-4 years under detention," he said.
Khaira also advised Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal "not to falsely eulogise his father or unfairly compare him to Nelson Mandela. Sukhbir Badal needs to get his facts right. Nelson Mandela underwent 27 years in prison fighting apartheid and never compromised his ideology for petty personal and family gains like his father."
To show SAD's involvement with the Centre during the days of Operation Bluestar, Khaira quoted a letter written by a party think tank, Balwant Singh, addressed to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that was published in "Chakarvyuh". He wrote, "I have never supported any of the ideas of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and undertake to continue to oppose him."
