India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.
In Parliament, former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress MP from Jalandhar Charanjit Singh Channi has put his party in a lot of trouble by supporting Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh, shocking everyone. Channi said that keeping Amritpal Singh in jail, trying to ban his speech, is against the Constitution. Channi said that there are conditions like undeclared emergency in the country, Amritpal Singh is being kept in jail even after winning the Lok Sabha elections, he is being prevented from coming to Parliament, this is an insult to the mandate. Amritpal Singh has been lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam for the last one year because he tried to wage war against the country, attacked Ajnala police station, raised the demand for a separate Khalistan, attacked the police force with weapons. More than 12 cases are registered against Amritpal Singh under various serious sections including the National Security Act (NSA). He openly talks about Khalistan, instigates people. Even after this, Channi stood up in Parliament and supported Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh. On this, BJP asked questions to Congress and it became difficult for the Congress leaders to answer it. In the evening, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh issued a one-sentence statement that whatever Channi has said about Amritpal Singh is his personal opinion and this is not the stand of the Congress party.
Channi raised not one but several controversies. He alleged that the government had put the farmers in jail by imposing NSA against them, but when he was asked to name the farmers, Channi did not have an answer. After this, Channi had a heated argument with Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu. Actually, the budget was being discussed in the Lok Sabha. Channi was calling the budget anti-poor, anti-farmer, anti-Punjab. Till here it was fine but after this Channi went astray. First he said that the government has put the agencies behind the leaders of the opposition parties, there is an undeclared emergency like situation in the country and to prove his point, Channi mentioned Amritpal Singh. Channi said that this is also an emergency that the person who was elected by four lakh people was put in jail by imposing NSA, his freedom of speech was taken away. As soon as Channi supported Khalistani Amritpal Singh, the Congress leaders kept staring at him but Channi did not stop. Channi made a wrong comment about former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. Beant Singh was assassinated by Khalistani terrorists in 1995 when he was the Chief Minister of Punjab. Beant Singh’s grandson Ravneet Singh Bittu was earlier in the Congress, but joined the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections, lost the election, but is now a minister in the central government. When Channi compared the Modi government to the British rule, Bittu opposed it. Angered by this, Channi made objectionable remarks on Bittu regarding the martyrdom of his grandfather Beant Singh, after which there was an uproar in the House and the proceedings had to be adjourned. Bittu did not delay in responding. Bittu also called Channi the most corrupt leader of Punjab.
BJP made support for Khalistani Amritpal a big issue. Union Minister Giriraj Singh asked, have Congress leaders forgotten that Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Khalistanis? Has Congress’s stand on Khalistanis changed now? Congress leaders are avoiding Charanjit Singh Channi’s statement, some are dismissing his statement by calling it his personal opinion, while some are saying that they did not even listen to Channi. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that Channi has said what he had to say, but the question is whether this is Congress’s stand? Congress party should clarify this matter.
The question is why did Charanjit Singh Channi support Amritpal? To understand this, it is important to understand the background of both of them. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Amritpal Singh won from Khadoor Sahib by a margin of about two lakh votes. He defeated the Congress and pushed the Aam Aadmi Party and Akali candidates to the third and fourth positions. This victory shocked the people of Punjab because he had come to India from abroad a year ago and suddenly he took up arms in Punjab. The whole country saw on TV that on March 18 last year, Amritpal openly attacked Ajnala police station with his supporters, armed with weapons. 7 cases were registered against Amritpal under sections of the Arms Act in Punjab. Then he openly supported the demand for Khalistan. He was charged with treason, the entire police force of Punjab kept searching for him, after a month’s search he was caught. At that time, he was supported by Khalistanis sitting abroad, he released threatening videos against the Government of India. Amritpal has been lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam for the last one year. NSA has been imposed against him. Due to this background, no mainstream political party in Punjab supports Amritpal and no one raised any questions on his arrest. That is why when Channi expressed sympathy for Amritpal in Parliament, everyone was shocked.
Now understand the background of Channi. Channi is a confidant of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in Congress. Sonia Gandhi had removed Captain Amarinder Singh and made Channi the Chief Minister of Punjab. Under the leadership of Channi, the Congress lost the assembly elections badly. Even after this, Rahul Gandhi gave Channi a ticket from Jalandhar despite the opposition of the party leaders. He became a member of the Lok Sabha by winning the election for the first time. That is why now the question is being raised whether the stand of Congress has changed regarding Khalistanis? I have seen the orgy of terrorists in Punjab. I have covered the terrorism of Punjab as a reporter. That is why I was surprised how Channi forgot that period of terrorism? How did he forget that the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the result of terrorism in Punjab. Sardar Beant Singh was also killed by terrorists. Thousands of soldiers of our armed forces sacrificed their lives to get Punjab out of the era of terrorism. That is why if anyone tries to take Punjab to that dangerous period, the whole country will oppose him together. I think Congress will not agree with what Channi said. This cannot be the thinking of Congress. However, today it seemed that Channi had come with the determination that he has to curse the government at any cost, by saying anything. That is why he took the name of Khalistan and said something on the issue of farmers which was absolutely wrong. (Rajat Sharma)
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