Khalistani slogans raised by BJP workers near Ludhiana DC’s office

Slogans of ‘Khalistania da yaar Channi murdabad’ (friend of Khalistanis, Channi Murdabad), and ‘Attwadian nu panah den wala Channi murdabad’ (one who host terrorists, Channi murdabad) rang in the air on Monday as the BJP workers made their way to the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Prodded for an explanation, Pushpinder Singal, district president of BJP said, “On January 5, when our workers were going in buses in large numbers to reach Ferozepur, they were stopped at multiple locations by a handful of protesters. At some of these stops, the protesters [allegedly] were raising slogans of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’, and were spotted tearing posters of PM Narendra Modi. These protesters were mostly youngsters and we don’t know under whose influence they were raising these slogans. There were policemen everywhere, yet they did nothing when the slogans were raised. They just watched on as mute spectators. If you are quiet, then you become a party to the wrongdoing. The police were acting under the direction of the Punjab government. Hence, today slogans were raised to condemn those slogans. Today’s slogans mentioned the CM as a friend of Khalistanis and also as someone who acts as a host for terrorists.”

Jeevan Gupta, general secretary of BJP’s Punjab unit said, “All roads leading to Ferozepur were blocked by protesters, who were camping in groups of 40-50. The police could have easily removed them. Instead, they stopped our buses from moving ahead. So, this proves that the police were hand-in-glove with the protesters.”

He added that the police were protecting the goons who blocked the PM’s motorcade on the flyover for 20 minutes, forcing him to ultimately turn back.

Gupta said, “January 5 will be remembered as a day of shame for the Punjab government because that is the day when the PM of a country got stuck on a flyover for 20 minutes and had to turn back as protesters blocked his way. Punjab CM Charanjit Channi has been saying that barely 700 people were present at the rally venue which is a lie. We were in thousands and a large number of us were stuck on roads as well.”

Gupta added, “We will take this issue among the people of Punjab and let them decide which government they want in 2022.”

On Friday, there was a brief moment of panic as well, when a Nihang Sikh had confronted the BJP workers making their way to the mini secretariat. The unidentified Nihang Sikh got into a verbal spat with some of the BJP workers, but was soon whisked away by the police before things got out of hand.

‘Wrong picture of Punjabis being presented’

Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala, vice president of Kirti Kisan Union, on Friday said that a very wrong picture of Punjabis was being presented by the BJP leaders while there was no threat to the PM. He said that viral videos of the incident so far have shown that BJP supporters, chanting slogans in favour of the PM, had gathered near Narendra Modi’s cavalcade. “Some men did protest but there was no threat to the PM at all. Hence leaders like Sukhbir Badal, Bhagwant Mann, Sunil Jakhar, and Capt Amarinder Singh, who were quick to claim that there was a security breach, need to apologise to the Punjabis. They are the ones who have presented a wrong picture of Punjabis along with the BJP.”