Cong MLAs protest in House, SAD slams invoking NSA
- March 23, 2023
- Updated: 02:52 am
category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh Punjab Assembly witnessed noisy scenes on Wednesday as Congress MLAs stormed the well of the House after being denied a discussion on law and order and the SAD condemned the invoking of the National Security Act against pro-Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh. As the Question Hour began, Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa asked Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan about the adjournment motion on law and order moved by his party. The speaker told Bajwa it has been disallowed, angering Congress legislators who rushed to the well and shouted slogans. Later, during the Zero Hour, Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali said an atmosphere of terror has been created in the state, referring to the police action against Amritpal Singh and members of his outfit Waris Punjab De . The radical preacher is on the run after police launched a crackdown against his outfit on Saturday and arrested a number of his aides. He fled the police net in his Mercedes vehicle but later switched to a Brezza SUV, officials said. A viral photo and a CCTV footage later showed him riding pillion on a bike wearing a pink turban and black goggles. On Wednesday, police said they have recovered the bike on which Amritpal Singh fled near a canal in Jalandhar. The bike has been recovered. Further investigations are on, a police official said in Jalandhar. A police team, including two deputy superintendent of police rank officers, meanwhile reached Jallupur Khera, Amritpal Singh s native village in Amritsar district, and met some of his family members. A police official who spoke to reporters did not share the details of the visit. Inside the assembly, Congress leader Bajwa termed as wrong the speaker s decision to disallow the adjournment motion on law and order in the state. Bajwa asked the chair to give Congress members some time to speak on the matter, but the speaker retorted, I want to say to you that Question Hour is sacrosanct... People of Punjab will not tolerate this. People are watching you. SAD s Ayali alleged that many Sikh youths are being implicated in false cases . The NSA which has been invoked I understand is completely wrong, he said. If anybody, be it Amritpal Singh or any other person, has done wrong, action should have been taken under other laws, he said. On Tuesday, the state government informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that NSA has been invoked against Amritpal Singh. Ayali also condemned the suspension of mobile internet services in parts of the state in the wake of the police crackdown. The government has extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, Ajnala sub-division in Amritsar and a few areas in Mohali till Thursday noon, though curbs were gradually lifted from the rest of the state from Tuesday noon. The SAD legislator said Sikhs in the country and abroad are concerned over the current situation in Punjab. Several innocent Sikh youths, including from in his Dakha assembly, were nabbed in the past few days, Ayali claimed, demanding that innocent Sikhs be released. State BJP president Ashwani Sharma objected to the use of the word Sikh by Ayali, saying Sikhs are a brave community. However, he agreed that there should not be any action against innocent persons. Slamming Amritpal Singh, Sharma said the radical preacher had said he was not a resident of India and does not believe in the country s Constitution and law. The BJP legislator from Pathankot also sought information on the action taken so far by the government in this matter. Whatever action the state government is taking, it should be strong, he said. Police said efforts are on to trace Amritpal Singh. A lookout circular and a non-bailable warrant has been issued against the preacher. Our efforts are on to arrest him, said a police officer on Wednesday. Punjab Police arrested four people on Tuesday for allegedly helping the Khalistani sympathiser escape their net and released his seven photographs, including some in which he is not wearing a turban. Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill has said 154 people have been arrested as part of the crackdown. He said the four people arrested for helping Amritpal Singh escape in an SUV have revealed that the fugitive had gone to a gurdwara in Nangal Ambian village in Jalandhar. There he changed clothes, wore a shirt and pant and escaped along with three others on two bikes, Gill said. (editor dailyworld.in)