Something dangerous happening on Indo-Pak border: Amarinder
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Oct, 2021 11:28 AM
Chandigarh, Oct 27 (IANS) Slamming the state government for its repeated denial of any serious security issues, former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said there was something wrong and dangerous happening at the borders, which the state could ill-afford to ignore.
He trashed allegations that the Border Security Force (BSF) would take over the state's administration or will be deployed in the Golden Temple, and said such misconceptions were being spread by certain people to score brownie points in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
"The BSF is here for helping maintain national security as we are a border state," he said, calling for full support by the state to the Centre in the interest of national security.
Addressing a press conference here, Amarinder Singh said he was not an alarmist but his experience in the Indian Army and as chief minister of the state told him that "something is going to happen".
"Yet a home minister who has been in his chair for one month claims to know more than me!" he quipped, taking a dig at Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
"Sleeper cells of the Pak ISI and Khalistani forces are creating trouble, technology is becoming more advanced. The capacity and range of drones is increasing, first they came in just 5-6 kms from the border, now they reach 31 kms," he pointed out.
"We have to be very careful of the clandestine war from across the borders," he added.
It was the duty of every responsible government to tackle such threats, Amarinder Singh stressed, countering those who mock his concerns over national security. The state government, he said, should put the facts before the people and take their help in getting information instead of denying the danger.
It should own up and take necessary action to combat the threat, he said, adding that even at the all-party meeting held on the issue, it seems the political parties were not properly briefed.
While Punjab Police was a first class and well-trained force, they were, however, not trained to combat such threats, said the former Chief Minister, asserting they need the help of the BSF and the CRPF to tackle the problem.
He pointed out that even in the days of terrorism, the army was helping out and nobody took over the state government's job. The BSF's assistance was essential to maintaining peace in Punjab, he said, adding the state has been through tough times and nobody wants it to suffer again.
Demanding the MSP of wheat to be fixed at Rs 2,830 per quintal (as against present Rs 2,015 per quintal), Amarinder Singh said the farmers should not be forced to subsidise the consumers, which they have been doing since long.
Amarinder Singh said MP Pratap Bajwa had already demanded a district status for Batala, in his letter dated August 11 and had cited Batala's historic importance and its connection with Guru Nanak Dev, who had married Mata Sulakhni in Batala in 1487.
A source in the security set up said that Srinagar alone recorded 16 terror-related incidents, 21 per cent of the total of 75 incidents reported from across the Valley till so far this year, leaving behind the traditional hotbed of terrorism of Pulwama, Anantnag and Shopian.
Congress chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala said in a statement, "The Khattar government has lost the confidence and the mandate of the people and it should leave. When your party can talk to the Taliban, why not farmers."
Researchers from National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, under the Ministry of Health; CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, and University of Cambridge in the UK examined how the Delta variant was able to evade the immune response.
Senior Superintendent of Police Swapan Sharma told the media that Babbi was in touch with the members of the Ajaib Khan gang lodged in a Sangrur jail with whom he had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate rival gangsters Mani Sheron and Feteh Nagri.
