Badal slams Centre for denying OBC status to Jat Sikhs

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today slammed the Congress-led UPA government, alleging that it has deliberately denied OBC status to Jat Sikhs of the state.

The central government has recently included Jats of the northern region in the OBC list, whereas Jat Sikhs of Punjab have been denied this status, Badal said, adding that it reflected the step-motherly treatment meted out to the state by Congress governments at the Centre.

He said this was another instance of the discrimination against the state, which had been denied its capital, legitimate share in river waters and even control over Punjabi-speaking areas in the past.

Criticising the Congress, the Chief Minister said the party was pursuing politics of divide and rule, which was not in the interest of the nation.

Appealing to the people of the state to uphold the ethos of peace and brotherhood, Badal said some forces inimical to the prosperity of Punjab were trying to disrupt hard-earned peace in the state. "The people have grave responsibility of safeguarding peace and communal harmony to ensure progress of the state," he added.

On a query regarding the ongoing fast by former militant Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa at Mohali seeking release of several Sikh detainees, the Chief Minister said though the state government has hardly any role to play in this matter, it was seriously contemplating to solve this issue.

Badal said his government has already taken up this matter with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.