Chandigarh, Jul 10 (PTI) Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the issue of bringing a bill against sacrilege acts in the state assembly, calling it as “yet another propaganda” and questioned its seriousness and intention to bring perpetrators of desecration of religious texts to justice.
He asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government to clarify whether it consulted religious institutions and why the draft bill has not been shared with legislators.
Addressing the media here, Jakhar, who was flanked by newly appointed state unit working president Ashwani Sharma, hit out at the Mann government over the sacrilege issue and said the AAP neither has any “seriousness” nor any “intention” and they just want to create an “illusion” among the public that they are taking action in the sacrilege incidents.
As far as the sacrilege issue is concerned, the BJP takes it seriously, he said.
Taking a dig at the AAP, Jakhar said that action speaks louder than words, but in the case of the ruling party in Punjab inaction speaks louder than its propaganda.
The BJP leader said that the AAP had before the 2022 assembly polls claimed to take action against perpetrators of the sacrilege incidents.
He said that over 300 sacrilege incidents occurred in Punjab since 2015 and asked the AAP government how many culprits have been convicted under the existing law, which allows for a two-year sentence.
Jakhar pointed out that the bill’s draft has neither been made public nor shared with legislators or religious institutions.
Targeting the Punjab government over its land pooling policy, he accused it of acquiring vast tracts of land without public necessity to “benefit cronies” of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who he claimed is “running the government from behind the scenes”.
The BJP leader alleged that land acquisition powers were transferred from the chief minister to the chief secretary and officials are amending land acquisition laws without the Cabinet’s approval.
He claimed that the objection period for land acquisition was quietly reduced from 30 to 15 days without public notification.
Asserting the BJP is examining all legal aspects of this issue, Jakhar said that his party would take the matter to the court to prevent this “loot” of farmers’ land.
He said that no farmer’s land would be allowed to be acquired without their consent.
Expressing concern over Punjab’s alleged deteriorating law and order situation, Jakhar claimed that ordinary citizens feel unsafe and fear prevails across all sections of the society.
Responding to a question, he asked why the AAP leaders are silent on who facilitated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s interviews when he was in custody of Punjab Police. PTI CHS AS AS
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