Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has termed the incident of tearing of pages of holy Quran and subsequent tension occurred in Malerkotla township last evening extremely unfortunate and criticised Parkash Singh Badal led Punjab government for its failure to protect the holy books of all faiths in the state.Sangrur MP and senior leader AAP, Bhagwant Mann while demanding a judicial probe into all sacrilege incidents occurred in the recent times in Punjab said those responsible for attempting to create a communal wedge between various communities by resorting to desecration could must be brought to book. Mann said prior to Malerkotla incident desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and holy book Geeta was also engineered by certain anti social elements to divide and create communal divisions between the Punjabis on caste and religious lines. However despite such highly provocative incidents people of Punjab maintained peace and harmony.
Mann said Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal who also controls Punjab police by virtue of being the home minister, has completely failed in putting an end to such sacrilege incidents which have been occurring at regular intervals for the past many months. "There have been series of incidents ocured in Punjab of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib but the Punjab police have completely failed to identify and nab the culprits. On the other hand two Sikh men who were protesting against the sacrilege were killed in police firing in Bargadi village last year. Instead of registering an FIR against the police for killing two innocent Sikhs the same was registered against unidentified persons to protect the erring cops", said Mann.Mann said it appeared as if no holy Granth of any faith was safe in Punjab and the criminals have been able desecrate them at will. Mann said only a judicial probe by a sitting Punjab & Haryana High Court Judge could ascertain the truth behind such sacrilege incidents in which Badal government has miserably failed.
Sangrur MP and senior AAP leader Bhagwant Mann has also lambasted Punjab Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh for accusing him of insulting the teaching community." I have very high regards for the teaching community as I consider them to be the nation builders. On the other hand it was Capt Amarinder who was most insulting and repressive against the teaching community during his tenure from 2002 to 2007", said Mann.The entire teaching fraternity in Punjab has still not forgotten how under Capt Amarinder's regime unemployed teachers demanding jobs were frequently cane charged, beaten blue and black by the Punjab Police. How the members of the protesting teaching community were shoved in jails and how they were brought under Rural development and Panchayat department on meagre salaries, said Mann while adding that Amarinder should not shed crocodile tears now for the teaching community just when the assembly polls were around the corner.