Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 4: Even as the Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann claimed that the “promptness” of the state police foiled the murderous attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at the gate of the Golden Temple on Wednesday morning, knives are out by the opposition parties to attack the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state.
A political slugfest erupted soon after the incident around 9 am on Wednesday, shortly after Mr Badal had taken the ‘sewadar’s’ place at the Golden Temple gate. The shooter has been identified as Narain Singh from Gurdaspur district, about 75 km from Amritsar. Visuals from the spot show him slowly approaching the gate. Then he quickly brings out a gun. A man standing near Mr Badal, the former deputy chief minister, spots him in time and holds his hand. The gun goes off but misses Mr Badal and others near him and hits the wall. The shooter was arrested and police are investigating the motive behind the shocking attack.
The Opposition leaders attacked the ruling AAP over the law and order situation in Punjab, with Congress demanding increased security for the former Punjab deputy chief minister.
Soon after the incident, Mr Mann said the promptness of the state police foiled a “conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis.” “The police achieved great success by arresting the assailant on the spot with their promptness. I appreciate the promptness of the police, I strongly condemn the attack on Sukhbir Badal ji. I have issued strict instructions to the police to immediately investigate the incident and submit a report,” he said in a post on X.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said alert police officers Rishpal Singh, Jasbir and Parminder Singh managed to foil the attack. “Narain Singh has a criminal record. We have registered a case and the incident is probed from all angles. I appeal to people to maintain peace.”
The police officer said deploying cops at the Golden Temple was a challenging task. “We cannot deploy cops in uniform because of religious feelings. It is difficult to frisk people too. We did what was possible and the result shows how prepared we were. I congratulate the officers for rising to the occasion.”
But notwithstanding the government’s claims, the opposition launched a frontal attack on the AAP administration claiming that law and order situation in Punjab was in shambles since the AAP came to power in the state.
Terming it a “big conspiracy”, SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the incident was an attempt to push Punjab back into the fire. He also attacked Mr Mann over the law and order situation in the state.
“This is a big conspiracy to push Punjab back into the fire… A man, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was serving as sewadar at the entrance of the temple was shot at. I thank God for saving his life… I want to ask (CM) Bhagwant Mann what has he done to the state,” the SAD leader asked.
The Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring strongly condemned the incident, saying that since Badal has been allotted Z security, arrangements should have been made accordingly. “Such kind of incidents should not happen, it is democracy, if somebody hates somebody, then it should not happen that he should fire bullets. I have also said earlier that law and order is not up to mark in Punjab at all. He has Z (security), there should have been arrangements according to it. I condemn it,” the Congress leader said.
Warring further said the shooting incident was “100% failure” of the state government, and demanded the suspension of the ACP and police personnel in charge of security in the area. “I have come to know that the bullet did not hit him, fortunately. The way apology was made, it could be possible that many people would have got hurt. When it is about Guru, everything is behind. But this should not have happened. There should be an action, he should not be let off, nobody is allowed to take law in his hands,” he added.
The BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Mr Mann and the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal were “directly responsible” for the attack on Badal, terming their governance in Punjab as “incompetent.” “The attack on SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal within the premises of Golden Temple is worrying, we condemn it. It says that law and order has crumbled in Punjab. Bhagwant Mann, Arvind Kejriwal, who is the super CM of Punjab, are directly responsible. Is there any conspiracy? Or it is only their failure and incompetence, it will only be clear after impartial investigation. But a criminal, radicalised element reached there, anything could have happened,” Poonawalla said.
Former SAD MP Naresh Gujral said this attack shows criminals were roaming freely in Punjab and that the law and order situation has broken down. “It is very unfortunate that this attack took place, we are thankful to the Almighty that Sukhbir Badal was not harmed. Our party has been saying time and again that the law and order situation in Punjab is deplorable. The government has failed on this front and nothing is being done. You can see an attack at the gate of the Golden Temple,” Mr Gujral said.
BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla has termed the attack unfortunate and said an attack on Golden Temple’s sewadar amounts to an attack on Golden Temple. Congress MP Manish Tewari said Mr Badal was serving his sentence humbly. “This is very sad. It is God’s grace that he is unhurt. This should be probed and the guilty must be punished.”
Aman Arora of the ruling AAP said there was nothing wrong with Punjab’s law and order situation. “This is one particular incident. Punjab police were alert and prepared to deal with this incident. Everything is in the control.” On the Opposition’s criticism, he said, “I don’t want to politicise it, but if they want, I would ask Akalis what they did for 10 years because of which Sukhbir Badal has to perform these duties.”
SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal was sitting on guard duty at the Golden Temple as part of his religious penance when Narain Singh Chaura pulled out a gun and fired at him. Badal did not sustain any injuries, and the accused was nabbed from the site.
Over the past two days, Mr Badal has been sitting at the gate of Golden Temple with a spear in one hand and dressed in blue ‘sewadar’ uniform. The Akali Dal leader’s leg is in a cast and he is in a wheelchair.
According to sources in the security establishment, Narain Singh has links with Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa. He is considered the mastermind of the 2004 Burail jail break case in which four inmates escaped prison after digging a 94-foot tunnel. These four prisoners were Babbar Khalsa chief Jagtar Singh Hawara, former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassins Paramjit Singh Bheora and Jagtar Singh Tara and a murder convict Devi Singh.
