Sukhbir Badal Attacked: Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Saturday suggested that the man who tried to kill Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal At Golden Temple this week should be honoured with the title of “Qaum Da Heera” (gem of the community).
Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in 1995, said, “If my grandfather’s killer, Balwant Singh Rajoana, is being termed Quam Da Heera, Chaura should be given the same treatment by Akali Dal and SGPC”. He also asked Akali Dal and SGPC to install Chaura’s portrait in the Golden Temple museum and extend legal support to him.
“When Beant Singh ji was assassinated, 17 others lost their lives, leaving families orphaned. The SAD honoured the individuals in such cases at the Golden Temple. Now it is their turn to reciprocate by supporting Chaura with the same magnanimity,” Bittu told media persons.
SAD Says Attack On Badal A Deep State ConspiracyÂ
SAD spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kaler reacted to Bittu’s statement and said it was enough to understand that the assassination bid on Sukhbir was part of a “deep state conspiracy”. “The deep state wants to finish all the moderate Akali leaders who are vocal for the communal harmony and unity of Punjabis,” said Kaler.
Badal escaped the attack when Chaura fired at him from a close range at the Golden Temple’s entrance in Amritsar on Wednesday. He was overpowered by plainclothes policemen. A 9mm pistol used for the attack was seized by the police.
The attack happened when Badal was performing the duty of ‘sewadar’ at the main gate of the Sikh shrine as religious penance for “mistakes” committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.Â
