Shiromani Akali Dal president Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said the incidents of violence and a communal flare-up in Patiala were the direct outcomes of “the utter administrative incompetence and reckless political opportunism” which have become the hallmarks of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) regime in the state.
“In a matter of just a few weeks, they (AAP) have undone the fruit of decades of sacrifices of Punjabis for peace and communal harmony and brought the state to the edge of a dangerous communal precipice. This is the direct outcome of the politics of confrontation and communal hatred that AAP has been practicing in Punjab in recent years,” said Badal in a statement here this afternoon.
The Akali president asked the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to understand the gravity of the situation and shun the politics of mindless sensationalism, and cheap theatrics, and address the issues of the state and its people with a sober and responsible approach to governance.
Badal reminded Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann that the Punjab tragedy of the 1980s and 90s had been caused by the reckless opportunism of some “non-Punjabi politicians trying to control Punjab from Delhi.
“You must be watchful that history does not repeat itself here,” Badal said adding the AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and his team should understand that a sensitive border state like Punjab cannot afford their “ambitious opportunism and adventurism.”
Badal appealed to all Punjabis to resist divisive ideologies and political opportunists who are out to keep them divided to be able to rule over their destinies.
The SAD chief, however, said that his party will ‘wholeheartedly and unhesitatingly welcome and support any meaningful initiative which Mann or his govt took for the restoration of Punjabi unity, peace, and communal harmony.
Badal came down heavily against the Chief Minister for his “mindless utterances” blaming the Opposition political parties for the incident.
“Mr. Mann needs to realise that there is a difference between the theatre of cheap entertainment on the one hand and the serious business of governance involving the destiny of crores of people on the other,” he said.
Badal said while blaming the Opposition for the Patiala incidents, the CM completely forgot that only hours before that statement, he had himself blamed his own administration and even “punished” the officers for their “responsibility” in the matter.