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“Govt
saving killers and looters, we will form self-defence groups”
Gian Inder Singh
 PHAGWARA: “They looted, they harassed, and they burnt property.
Their faces are known. Police and media have videos that show them
doing all this. We know their names and their addresses. And they
are very much around. Where is the problem? And what is the
confusion? Why the hell should they not be behind bars?”.
“And next time, we will take on such elements directly without
expecting any help or protection from the government,” the people
decided. The deliberations were open, conducted in full view of the
media and vociferous.
Unfortunately, the meetings also underlined a deeply perceived caste
rift. Meetings of people in Jalandhar and Phagwara last Sunday
resolved to oppose withdrawal of the cases against the men who
carried out violence. Even as the meetings strongly criticized the
killing of Sant Ramanand in Vienna, the anger seething against the
government was palpable.
“We
are getting together because we only have each other. There was no
police and no government out on the roads when we were cowering and
fearing for our lives. And now the CM’s first priority is to keep
the arsonists, the looters, the killers out of jail,” said a group
of sarpanches in Paragpur village.
The
village witnessed a meeting at the Gurdwara and a thousand
representatives attended. What was interesting was the fact that the
participants were from both sides of the political divide and had
affiliations with Akali Dal and Congress. People from over two dozen
villages participated. There was lot of talk about rising above the
party lines but no one talked about rising above caste divide,
something that did not augur very well for the social fabric of
Punjab. Some jatt Sikhs connected to village Talhan, which had seen
violence in 2002 between Dalits and higher caste villagers, were
playing a prominent part.
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* Citizen meetings decide to
self-defence groups
* Threaten agitation if govt
withdrew cases against arsonists
* Ask why govt is paying Rs 5 lakh
to those who died while committing violence
* Akali Dal, Congress, BJP activists
openly take names of arsonists
* Meetings clearly along caste lines
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Virtually every speaker at the meeting expressed dismay and strongly
opposed any move of the state government to withdraw cases against
those who indulged in violence. “In fact, more and more evidence is
coming up, more witnesses are there. Police should be arresting the
rest also, and should be busy filing new cases, pressing new
charges,” said a leader, drawing instant cheers. The gathering
passed a resolution demanding CBI probe to identify culprits and fix
responsibility for the violence.
Meanwhile, the state government announced Rs 5 lakh for those killed
in police firing, even though the dead were indulging in violence
when they became a target of firing. “Parkash Singh
Badal is announcing Rs 5 lakh for those who were burning our
property. Thank you very much. It is government of some people for
some people, certainly not for all the people,” said a journalist
well versed with the way things went.
 The
meeting resolved that if the government withdrew cases, they would
launch an agitation. An action committee was formed and the next
meeting was scheduled at Gurdwara Singh Sabha Model Town, Jalandhar.
The speakers also said that next time they would confront the
rioters directly as this time the official machinery adopted a soft
approach towards the violent mobs that even abused the women and
looted.
At
a meeting held at the initiative of the General Samaj Manch, various
organizations of Phagwara and Jalandhar participated. Again, leaders
and activists of Congress, Akali Dal and BJP participated in the
meetings and addressed the gathering. The meeting passed a
resolution to oppose any move to withdraw any cases against the
“violent protestors” and threatened that any such move would be
opposed with protests as well as by filing a PIL in the High court.
It
was also decided to form self defense committees of the youths in
various areas as the speakers alleged that police failed to protect
them.
They demanded that the political leaders who led the violent mob and
incited them should also be brought to book and announced that these
leaders would be exposed and would be socially boycotted. Speakers
openly named a senior Congress leader and a kin of a Chief
Parliamentary Secretary of Akali Dal.
3
June 2009
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