Chandigarh, Oct 13 (IANS) Slamming the Centre for amending Section 139 of the BSF Act to give the border and guarding force wider jurisdiction and terming it tantamount to an attack on federalism, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa on Wednesday asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to withdraw the decision.
Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) described the decision as Central rule in the state through the back door.
In a statement, Randhawa, who also holds the Home portfolio, said "this illogical decision was absolutely against the spirit of the raising the border guarding forces, which were required to focus on the international border and act as the first line of defence".
He said policing in the hinterland is not the role of a border guarding force, rather it would weaken the capacity of the Border Security Force (BSF) in discharging its primary duty of guarding the international border.
He said that he would personally call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister to resolve this issue.
Meanwhile, the SAD described the move to hand over almost half of the state to the BSF as "the imposition of the President's rule through the back door in nearly half of Punjab".
"This virtually turns the state into a de facto Union territory. This devious attempt to place the state directly under the Central rule must and will be opposed," senior Akali leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said in a statement.
He said this was at the same time, "a frontal assault on the federal principle through highly questionable misuse of constitutional provisions".
Cheema said it was shocking the BSF has been given sweeping powers divesting the state police of even the normal policing duties.
"As per the Constitution, only the state government can call out the Central forces to aid and assist the state administration. The Centre cannot thrust these forces on the state without a formal request from the state government," he said.
The Akali leader also called upon Chief Minister Charanjit Channi to come clean on the state government's stand on the sensitive issue.
According to Indian officials, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese forces in a disputed Himalayan border area. The incident follows rising tensions, and is the first deadly clash in the border area in at least over 4 decades. The Indian army initially said three of its soldiers had been killed, adding that both sides suffered casualties.
India and Australia penned a landmark agreement for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support besides firming up six more pacts to further broaden ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart PM Scott Morrison held an online summit.
Siddharta Vashishtha, also known as Manu Sharma, the convict in the Jessica Lal murder case was released from Tihar Jail on Tuesday. Sandeep Goel, Director-General of Tihar Jail, said: “He was released on the recommendations of the Sentence Reviewing Board meeting. The entire process has been carried out.”
A swarm of locusts on Wednesday and Thursday devastated crops in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadhra district, which shares borders with Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. The pest has damaged crops in six states, leading to the Centre issuing a locust warning to 16 states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 1,500 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and Odisha, and assured the states of more support after conducting separate aerial surveys with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik on Friday.
