Addressing a press conference after appearing before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Chandigarh in connection with the Behbal Kalan firing case, former Union Minister and former Bharatiya Janata Party Punjab President Vijay Sampla accused the Punjab Government of politically exploiting the sensitive issue to divert public attention from its failures.
Sampla said the Aam Aadmi Party government had promised justice in the Behbal Kalan firing case before coming to power, but after over four-and-a-half years, it had failed to deliver. He alleged that with elections approaching, the government was once again attempting to revive the issue for political gain by exploiting the emotions of the Sikh community.
He stated that the BJP has consistently maintained that every person responsible for the Behbal Kalan incident must be identified through a fair, impartial and transparent investigation and be awarded the strictest punishment in accordance with law. "This has always been the stand of the Bharatiya Janata Party and it remains unchanged," he said.
Referring to his appearance before the SIT, Sampla said this was the fourth summons issued to him. He recalled that he had earlier appeared before the SIT in Jalandhar as well and had then requested certified copies of the relevant documents on which his comments were being sought.
"I have repeatedly requested the SIT to provide certified copies of the documents, indicate the specific record they want me to respond to, and explain my alleged connection with the matter. Without examining the documents, it would be improper and irresponsible to make any comments," he said.
Sampla pointed out that the document shown to him during the latest questioning was a memorandum submitted to the Governor on January 12, 2018. He questioned why an SIT inquiry was being initiated over a memorandum that was neither confidential nor secret and had been publicly shared with the media at that time.
He further alleged that despite spending nearly three hours before the SIT on Tuesday, he was only shown the document and was not provided a certified copy despite repeated requests from him and his legal team."I even pointed out that in today's age of artificial intelligence and digital technology, documents can easily be manipulated.
Therefore, only a certified copy can be relied upon. Despite this reasonable request, the SIT refused to provide one," Sampla said.The former Union Minister alleged that the repeated summons appeared to be aimed at prolonging the inquiry until elections and keeping the issue alive for political purposes rather than sincerely pursuing justice.
He also claimed that the renewed focus on the Behbal Kalan case was intended to divert attention from the criticism faced by the Punjab Government over recent developments concerning decisions of the Akal Takht and other religious issues.
Sampla maintained that neither he nor the BJP had any direct role in the Behbal Kalan incident. While acknowledging that the BJP was part of the alliance government at the time, he asserted that no BJP leader had any direct involvement in the matter.
Expressing concern over the state's current situation, Sampla said Punjab today was facing far more pressing challenges, including the menace of drugs, rising crime, extortion, frequent incidents of violence, deteriorating law and order, pending dearness allowance for government employees despite court observations, and overall administrative failure.
"The government has failed administratively, socially and even on sensitive religious matters. Instead of addressing these issues, it is trying to create political distractions by dragging the BJP into matters where it has no direct role," he alleged.Reiterating his commitment to cooperate fully with the investigation, Sampla said the BJP has nothing to hide.
"We have clearly informed the SIT that we are ready to cooperate fully with every stage of the investigation. We will appear whenever called and extend every possible assistance. However, the investigation must be conducted fairly, transparently and without political vendetta. We only seek certified documents so that we can provide informed and legally sound responses," he said.
Sampla concluded by alleging that unless the investigation is conducted with complete fairness and sincerity, repeated summons without supplying relevant documents would only amount to harassment and a waste of time rather than a genuine effort to secure justice.