Amarinder Singh promises memorial for Behbal Kalan firing victims

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced a memorial in or around Bargari for those who lost their lives in the police firing in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura in 2015.

Ridiculing BJP leader Parkash Singh Badal's claim of Bargari and other sacrilege cases being bygones, the Chief Minister said people never have, and never will forget the desecration of their holy scriptures, and the Shiromani Akali Dal supremo should be ashamed of even suggesting the same.

"How can anyone forget what happened during the rule of the Badal's? Not one or two but 58 Sri Guru Grant Sahibs were desecrated, not to count the Gutka Sahibs. Bhagwad Geeta, the Bible and the Quran were burnt or torn," he said at an election rally here.

"What happened in those months, including at Bargari, and the incidents of police firing on those protesting peacefully against sacrilege, right under the nose of Badal is not something that Punjab can ever forget," he said.

The Chief Minister was addressing a public rally here, along with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in support of Congress' Faridkot candidate Mohammad Sadique. He was referring to a series of desecration incidents of the Sikh Guru Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent protests that took place in Punjab in October 2015. The first incident of desecration was reported from Bargari, Faridkot district, and many people lost their lives in the police firing during the protests.

"Badal, and the rest of the Akalis, know what had happened was wrong and that the people had neither forgotten nor forgiven them for the same, this is why they are now running around desperately for votes," Singh said.

Punjab will see polling for all 13 Lok Sabha seats on May 19 in the seventh and final phase of the elections. The counting of votes will begin on May 23.