PATIALA, Punjab—As a fresh row has erupted over Operation Bluestar, former Punjab DGP (prisons) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Shashi Kant on Wednesday termed [Sant] Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a “social reformer” and dared Akali, Congress and BJP leaders to clear their position about the personality and role of the [martyred] Sikh commander.
“Bhindranwale was a social reformer and his movement was social activism for change. There was no culture of drugs or corruption during his time. Even people had begun solemnizing their marriages in a simple way then. I won’t comment on the events that transpired after his death. But beginning of his movement was meant to bring good social change,” Kant told TOI on the sidelines of a seminar organized by B N Khalsa Education Trust in Patiala.
“I am raising this issue because you (journalists) only ask the viewpoint of AAP on Bhindranwale. Why you ask such questions only to Yogendra Yadav. Why nobody ever asked the same from Parkash Badal, Partap Singh Bajwa, Narendra Modi or Kamal Sharma. Let all major political parties make clear what they think of Bhindranwale and his role,” he said, when asked about the relevance of raising the point.
Kant added that the Punjab government should hand over the inquiry of the alleged drug racket to CBI to clear “confusion” about who were the masterminds behind the same in the state.
Speaking about Akalis’ reaction to the fresh row around Operation Bluestar, Kant said he was serving as a junior officer in the intelligence bureau during that period and claimed that some Akali leaders were already in loop about the attack. “But I am not privy to any such discussion or documentation. However, there is nothing new in it. Akalis’ role during the operation has already been discussed numerous times in several books, newspapers and other publications,” Kant added.
