SAD (A) to hold rally to highlight issues concerning Sikhs

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) will hold a rally this month to highlight what it said injustice meted out to Sikhs over the years and burning issues confronting the community.
The "Insaaf(Justice)" rally will be held at Naushehra Pannuan in Taran Taran district on September 28, SAD (A) chief Simranjit Singh Mann told reporters here.
The rally will demand punishment to perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he said.
The rally will highlight "injustice meted out to the Sikhs over the years" and burning issues plaguing them, Mann said.
It will demand opening up of the Indo-Pak border by removing the barbed-wire fence to enable farmers in Punjab, who have land across the border, to move freely, Mann said.

His party will decide on contesting upcoming Lok Sabha polls after the rally, he said.

"At present, we are reluctant to contest the polls as we are starved of funds since Rs 11 crore are required for contesting a single Lok Sabha seat," the Akali leader said.
He demanded a high-level probe into allegations that an intelligence unit, set up during former Army Chief Gen V K Singh's tenure, had attempted to topple the Omar Abdullah government.
On coronation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Mann said the move will polarise the country.
He said Sikhs were a separate "Qaum" (community).

"Punjab is being run by a gang of four -- CM P S Badal, his deputy Sukhbir Badal, Sukhbir's brother-in-law Bikram Majithia and MP wife Harsimrat," the SAD (A) chief said.