Three days after 61 persons were killed by a speeding train in Amritsar, political parties on Monday intensified the blame game over the incident with the ruling Congress alleging laxity on the part of Indian Railways and the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party blaming Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Under fire over his closeness to the organiser of the Dussehra celebration near railway track which led to the tragedy, on his part, Sidhu questioned the clean chit given to the loco-pilot of the train within one day of the tragic incident.
Defending himself, Sidhu said that the Centre is the custodian of the engine of train, police, guards, and tracks. He asked what sort of commission was set up by the government that gave a clean chit within a few hours.
“FIR also has been lodged by the Centre. Driver was given clean chit within six hours. Why his name hasn’t been revealed? Is it possible when a train is approaching guards can’t see it,” Sidhu, who is a lawmaker from Amritsar East constituency where the incident took place, questioned.
Backing him, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, who visited Amritsar on Monday, said the hurry shown in giving a clean chit to the train driver points to a possible conspiracy by the BJP to implicate Sidhu in the case as he left the saffron party to join the Congress. He demanded the Railways to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident than jump to a conclusion in a hurry.
Jakhar’s remark comes in the wake of Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha ruling out any action against the driver. Sinha said that there was no negligence on the part of the railways because it was not at fault. He had even said that the railways had no information about the Dussehra celebrations near the tracks.
The SAD president Sukhbir Badal, however, said the state government is not doing justice with the victims and has instead launched a cover-up operation to save its minister, Sidhu, for his role in the incident.
“SAD-BJP doesn’t want to play politics in this case but we want to ensure justice to the victims. We will not allow cover-up operations. All these dramas will be exposed. We will meet governor in the matter on Tuesday,” Badal said while addressing a press conference.
Demanding a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the High Court, the Akali leader said the inquiry by the commissioner, as ordered by the state government, can’t bring out the justice as it is bound to save the minister in the government. “The minister (Sidhu) is involved in this case,” he said adding that First Information Report should be filed on the basis of statements of the victims who want justice and have named Sidhus.