M A I N   N E W S

‘‘No early assembly poll in Punjab’’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 17 — There is no move to hold early assembly elections to the Punjab Assembly.

This was stated here today by Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, the newly appointed general secretary of the SAD. In a chat with presspersons, he said the SAD-BJP government would complete its full five-year term. Reports from the field indicated that the people were by and large satisfied with the performance of the government. In sharp contrast to the positive impact of the Badal government, he claimed, the goings-on in the Congress, which constituted the main opposition party in Punjab, did not go down well with the people. The Congress, therefore, was in no position to pose a serious challenge or offer a credible alternative to the ruling alliance. Hence, there was no need to go in for an early poll.

Commenting on the election of Capt Amarinder Singh as the president of the Punjab Congress, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said the former Maharaja of Patiala would be more ‘‘helpful’’ to the SAD than the Congress in the elections.

Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal’s remarks should set at rest persistent speculation in the Press and political circles that the ruling alliance might go in for an early assembly poll because it finds the ground situation in the state quite favourable, mainly because the state Congress continued to be a house divided against itself.

Meanwhile, the SAD has decided to activise its rank and file in preparation for the elections to the assembly, due towards the close of next year.

Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said he had begun a constituencywise tour of all 117 constituencies in the state. In each constituency, he met nearly 100 party workers who were given a comprehensive talk on the policies and programmes of the party and the challenges ahead in the political field.

He had so far covered about 10 constituencies. He planned to cover all constituencies by March 31 in the first round. The second, more intensive, round would be undertaken after that. 

Memo seeks amendment to Art. 25
Wants word ‘Sikh’ deleted
From Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

AMRITSAR, Dec 17 — Activists of Akal Purkh Ki Fauj led by Mr Jaswinder Singh Advocate, member of the SGPC, today presented a memorandum to Justice M.N. Venkatachalliah, former Chief Justice and Chairman, National Commission to Review Constitution (NCRC), during his visit to the Golden Temple here, urging him to delete the word “Sikh” from Article 25 which equates the Sikhs with Hindus, Jains and Buddhists.

The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal had already submitted proposals to the commission on this issue. It is pertinent to mention here that during the ‘dharm yudh morcha’ by the SAD in the early eighties, Akali activists led by Mr Badal had torn copies of Article 25.

The proposals presented by the ruling SAD to Justice Venkatachalliah reads: “Under Explanation II to Article 25, the Sikhs have been clubbed with Hindus, Jains and Buddhists for the purpose of Clause (two) (B). This gives a wrong impression regarding the independent identity of the Sikhs and the nature of their institutions. The sovereign doctrinal identity of Sikhs which distinguishes them from Hinduism, has been affected by this provision and a question mark has been put on its independent status as a religion in the comity of religions of the world.

The Akal Purkh Ki Fauj has pleaded that Sikhism has been wrongly categorised in Article 25.

After the Sikh conclave at Akal Takht on May 14, Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti had directed the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal to represent the case of the Panth in the NCRC. The Jathedar, Akal Takht, had categorically stated that the Sikhs had a distinct identity.

However, the memorandum of the Akal Purkh Ki Fauj presented to Justice Venkatachalliah states that the Sikhs are “culturally wedded to secular thinking and universal brotherhood.” However, the Sikhs have been raising a minor objection to Article 25, but their long-standing demand has not been accepted so far.