Punjab Turmoil: Capt. Amarinder Asks Badal To Take Responsibility Or Retire

Congress Deputy leader Amarinder Singh urged Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to lead the command from upfront in order to curb the on-going turbulence in Punjab, or simply retire.
 
"The Chief Minister should take responsibility. If he feels he has grown old, let him take retirement and make his son (Sukhbir) the Chief Minister. But it is not fair that you occupy the post and not accept responsibly," Singh said bluntly.

The Senior Congress leader, who has recently launched a new book on the 1965 India-Pakistan war, vehemently urged Badal to act while speaking in the Lok Sabha.
"If Badal thinks that by tendering a verbal apology, without actually meaning it, he will get away with everything then he is badly mistaken," he said.

"Where is the Chief Minister. Why is he silent, why is he not coming out.  It is his job. The Chief Minister should be handling the state, not the Deputy Chief Minister,” the former Chief Minister said on being asked about the continuously worsening law and order situation in Punjab.

Akali leaders have faced a lot of flak from various sections and are also being greeted with black flags and Amarinder Singh feels this was expected.

"There is so much anger among the public with these Akalis that people are not going to garland them. Congress feels that they have destroyed the State."
"The people are forced to take to the streets as they feel this government has failed and cannot stop incidents of repeated desecrations. If the Akali government cannot stop desecrations of the holy Guru Granth Sahib, then what are they there for," Amarinder added.

"To cover up their failures the Akalis find a convenient way to shoot innocent people and point fingers at others," Singh said in a condemning tone. He further added that it was wrong to prosecute the attendees at ‘Sarbat Khalsa.’

Amarinder Singh also said, "I am against anything like arrest. You cannot solve things with these kind of arrests. I have seen a lot. This chap, Sukhbir, was just a school boy then (during dark days of militancy). It is time to set things right, not to vitiate the atmosphere."

According to Singh, although ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ was a Khalistani stage, people gathered there to call for an improvement in the current situation and not to demand Khalistan.