Patiala: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal on Sunday said that the recent book published by Congress
party vindicated Akali Dal`s stand that leaders of the ruling
party at the Centre was responsible for the 1980s crisis in
the state.
He, however, refused to comment on the allegation that
militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala was planted by former
President Gyani Zail Singh and Congress general secretary
Sanjay Gandhi as mentioned in the book.
"Nobody has been admitting so far that the Congress was
responsible for the Punjab problem which claimed more than
25,000 lives. Now the party itself has come out with a book
which vindicates our stand," Badal told reporters here.
The fifth volume of the series `A Centenary History of
the Indian National Congress` makes critical observations on
"dirty politics" in the name of religion in Punjab which, it
concluded, was one of the factors for terrorism and the
Khalistan agitation in the state.
The book says Zail Singh, in complete collaboration with
Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi, picked up a relatively obscure
young and fundamentalist lay preacher named Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale with a view to build him up as a rival to the
Akali leadership.
"It is inconceivable that they could have done so without
Indira Gandhi`s consent. Sanjay and Zail Singh believed that
by advocating extremist causes, the young preacher could
embarrass the Akali Dal," says the book.
The book says just the reverse happened. Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale, originally planted by Giani Zail Singh to weaken
the Akalis, had outgrown his shoes and became a terrorist.
PTI
