Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
A major disaster was averted in Amritsar. An attempt was made to kill former Deputy CM of Punjab Sukhbir Badal, but due to the alertness of the security personnel, Badal narrowly escaped. Sukhbir Badal was guarding the gate of the Golden Temple as per the orders of Shri Akal Takht Sahib. Since Badal has a fracture in his leg, he was doing doorman duty sitting on a wheelchair. Meanwhile, a person came to the gate of the Golden Temple in the guise of a devotee. He came close to Sukhbir Badal and tried to shoot by taking out his pistol, but ASI Jasbir Singh, a security guard in plain clothes, pounced on him as soon as he saw the attacker taking out his pistol. The security personnel caught the attacker there.
The attacker fired a bullet from a pistol, the bullet did not hit anyone, it hit the wall of the Golden Temple. Meanwhile, many other policemen posted nearby together caught the attacker. Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the attacker Narayan Singh Chaudhary had come to the Golden Temple a day before and had done recce of the entire area. Narayan Singh Chauda is a resident of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district. He has old relations with Khalistani organizations. Narayan Singh Chauda was associated with Khalistan Liberation Force and Akal Federation.
There are 21 cases registered against Narayan Singh in Amritsar, Ropar, Ludhiana and Tarn Taran districts. He was arrested in 2013 and a large cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered on his trail. Narayan Singh Chauda also went to Pakistan in 1984 to take training. He was also involved in the 2004 Budail jailbreak incident. At that time, the murderers of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh had escaped from Chandigarh jail by digging a tunnel. Narayan Singh Chaudhary has also written a book named “Conspiracy Against Khalistan”. He was released from jail on bail in 2018.
The amount of condemnation for the attack on Sukhbir Badal is less. Firing at a person serving in Darbar Sahib, in the house of God, is a serious crime, a sin. The attacker only took advantage of the fact that as per the norms of Darbar Sahib, the people going there are not checked. If Sukhbir’s security men had not been careful, a major accident could have happened.
As far as politics is concerned in this matter, it was expected that Akali Dal leaders would blame CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and also blame Congress. The same was expected from Congress that it would hold the Punjab government responsible. But Akali Dal leader Vikramjit Singh Majithia accused Congress of being behind the attack and said that the attacker is close to Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. BJP blamed Khalistanis for being behind this incident.
Now it is the responsibility of the Punjab Police to get to the bottom of this matter, find out who is behind the culprit and till the investigation is completed, it would be better if the other parties do not make statements here and there. (Rajat Sharma)
Watch: ‘Aaj Ki Baat, Rajat Sharma Sath’ full episode of December 04, 2024
