Cong, AAP, SAD take swipes at each other over incidents of sacrilege

In separate press conferences today, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party trained guns on each other on the issue of sacrilege of religious texts in Punjab.

Addressing a public rally here, on the occasion of Rakhar Punia, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar said the Badal family was fooling innocent people in the name of religion.

The Badal family is scared as the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report will be out soon, the Gurdaspur MP said.

Jakhar said there would be more clarity in the sacrilege case after the commission report is tabled in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha tomorrow.

The Justice Ranjit Singh Commission was set up by the Congress government to probe sacrilege incidents and police firing on protesters at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura three years ago.

Jakhar held SAD accountable for not arresting the accused in the incident of Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege.

All major political parties, except BJP, held political conferences at Baba Bakala today.

Speaking to press persons, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged that "parallel jathedars" had colluded with the Congress to weaken the Sikh Panth.

Three years ago, a group of Sikhs had convened Sarbat Khalsa on the outskirts of Amritsar and announced the removal of top Sikh priests including the Akal Takht chief. In place, parallel jathedars had been appointed.

Sukhbir Badal alleged that some Congress ministers were working with the "parallel Jathedars".

He asserted that parallel Jathedars and the Congress were trying to implicate the SAD in incidents of sacrilege.

He said Himmat Singh, brother of Akal Takht head Giani Gurmukh Singh, had retracted the statements he had earlier given to the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission.

Days before the report was to be tabled in the assembly, Himmat said he had been forced to sign the documents mentioning the SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and party chief Sukhbir Badal.

Speaking at a separate conference, Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann claimed the Congress government had "intentionally leaked the commission report so that the Akalis could save themselves by intimidating the witnesses".

Mann alleged the Congress was shielding the Badals. The AAP leader attacked the government for ignoring the promise of loan waiver, among other vows made in the run up to the elections.

Speaking on the removal of Sukhpal Singh Khaira from post of Leader of the Opposition, Mann said, "AAP is a party of volunteers. The aim is to cleanse the administrative and political systems. Anybody violating rules will have to face consequences.