Bargari sacrilege: Justice denied, says AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay
AAP MLA from Amritsar North and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on Sunday raked up the 2015 Bargari sacrilege and also raised questions over the integrity of his own party's government on delivering justice. In a Facebook post, he shared a poster marking the sacrilege incident that took place at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in Faridkot on June 1 and titled it 'Justice Denied'.
'Today marks 10 years since the beadbi (sacrilege) incident. Till now, it has not been decided which court will hear the case — whether the district court of Faridkot or that of Chandigarh. The investigation by the relevant SIT also remains incomplete,' he mentioned.
He said, 'Similarly, the sacrilege incident in Bargari in September and October 2015 shook all of Punjab. The situation in that case is no different. The Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police firing cases, which occurred on October 14, were also shelved.'
'Whenever I had the opportunity, I made every effort to raise this issue in the Punjab assembly. On October 9, 2021, after the high court's order regarding the Kotkapura firing, I resigned from my IPS position,' he said.
According to Kunwar Vijay, 'Three months later, after Kejriwal assured me of justice, I joined the Aam Aadmi Party. If AAP's 92 MLAs were elected, the issue of sacrilege had big contribution to it. But today, I feel both ashamed and disheartened. In fact, I have faced constant oppression from the government machinery politically and if I am still alive today, it is only by God's grace.'
'There is, however, some solace for me and for the people of Punjab that the main accused admitted his guilt before the Akal Takht on December 2, 2024', he said.
A former IPS officer who headed the SIT probing post-sacrilege police firing incidents that killed two Sikh protesters in 2015, Kunwar Vijay is known for his dissenting voice and raised questions over the AAP government publicly in past.
He never misses an opportunity to take potshots at his party's government in Punjab, particularly targeting chief minister Bhagwant Mann. Recently, Singh questioned the arrest of Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora in a graft case, alleging the legislator was often seen hosting members of Mann's family. Prior to this, he had also criticised the state government over the deaths of 27 people due to the consumption of spurious liquor in the Majitha sub-division of Amritsar.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
31 minutes ago
- Indian Express
High drama, ruckus mars meet as AAP-BJP councillors clash over water crisis, terminated staff
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) House meeting held on Tuesday turned chaotic as intense arguments broke out between the councillors of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The meeting remained entangled in disruptions and protests, with major issues like the city's water crisis, the termination of 664 tube well operators, and the alleged Rs 100-crore community centre scam dominating discussions. The session, which started with noise and slogan-shouting, got derailed early, with the approval of previous minutes and the Zero Hour session overlapping amid continuous disruptions. Post-lunch, discussions turned even more heated when Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla directly brought forth a proposal to grant temporary water connections to residents outside the Lal Dora (revenue) limits of 22 villages. This move drew strong objections from AAP councillors, who accused the Mayor of skipping the agenda order, leading to a noisy altercation with the BJP members. The discussion in the House largely revolved around water scarcity, poor quality supply, and the controversial dismissal of 664 tube well operators. AAP councillor Suman Sharma from Mauli Jagran raised concerns about the supply of contaminated water in her ward, even bringing a visibly dirty water bottle to the House as evidence. She faced counter arguments from BJP councillors including Sarbjit Kaur and nominated councillor Geeta Chauhan, who questioned the number of water tankers sent to Sharma's ward. During the same debate, Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi questioned Rs 30 crore consultancy fee paid under the city's ambitious 24×7 water supply project, terming it 'a gross misuse of public money' and demanded the project be scrapped and investigated by vigilance authorities. Gabi also lashed out at the civic body for terminating tube well operators, stating that these employees were not just workers but custodians of clean water for over 14 lakh residents. 'If one operator is responsible for starting three tube wells, and something is mixed into the water during that time, who will be held accountable — the Mayor or the officials,' he asked. Banner protests, cheque controversy, and ignored allegations At the start of the session, tensions escalated further when Congress and AAP councillors brandished photocopies of cheques worth Rs 92 crore and Rs 238 crore, respectively, which they alleged were promised grants that have yet to be received by the MC. This was in stark contrast to the last session, when BJP councillors had distributed sweets to celebrate the UT Administrator's announcement of fund approvals. While the Congress raised the funding issue, the AAP councillors held up banners demanding action on the alleged scam in free community centre bookings, a matter they had previously highlighted in a press conference on June 1. However, the topic saw no substantial discussion beyond morning protests, despite anticipation of major revelations. Commissioner's dissent on reinstating tube well operators During the confirmation of previous meeting minutes, BJP councillor Kanwarjit Singh Rana raised the issue of reinstating the 664 terminated tube well operators. Many councillors supported the demand, including the Mayor. However, Municipal Commissioner Amit Kumar formally recorded his dissent note, citing the MC's current financial crisis and stating that the final decision rests with the administration, not the elected body. 'No one is above the law,' he said. Clashes within and between parties The already tense atmosphere worsened when BJP councillors Kanwarjit Singh Rana and Dilip Sharma got into a heated argument on the House floor over the timing of discussions related to the tube well operator documents. The scuffle forced the Mayor to call a five-minute break just before 1 pm to avoid further embarrassment. Later, another confrontation occurred between AAP councillor Ramchandra Yadav and BJP's Kanwarjit Rana over the RFP for community centres. The verbal spat nearly turned physical, but fellow councillors intervened to de-escalate the situation. AAP stages walkout AAP councillor Yogesh Dhingra staged a walkout in protest, claiming that AAP members were intentionally denied a chance to speak during the proceedings. The AAP's Chandigarh unit president Vijaypal Singh issued a strong statement, alleging that the BJP was running the House like a 'dictatorship,' deliberately suppressing public interest issues and shielding a Rs 100 crore scam related to community center bookings. 'This is not just about documents or procedures. This is about transparency, accountability, and the voice of the people,' he said, asserting that AAP will continue to raise issues affecting the poor and marginalized. Agenda on community centre prices deferred The agenda on the policy guidelines for management of the community centres and dharamshalas in Chandigarh, was deferred. The Mayor stated that a survey of the facilities across all community centres in Chandigarh will be done, after which the prices of these facilities and other policy guidelines shall be decided. The matter is now expected to come up in the next House meeting.
India Today
35 minutes ago
- India Today
No odd-even this winter: Delhi Chief Minister chalks out pollution control plan
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday said that there would be no odd-even scheme implemented this year in the winters to curb pollution, as the method had yielded no results in the past. Listing out the state government's plans to curb pollution this time, she said latest innovations and technical measures will be odd-even scheme, allowing vehicles with odd and even registration numbers to ply on alternate days, was implemented by the former AAP-led Delhi government. advertisementAttacking the preceding regime, Rekha Gupta, who launched this year's Air Pollution Mitigation Plan on Tuesday, said that her government believed that the scheme was brought to increase the troubles of the people, but did not have any effect on reducing pollution. Government's pollution control plans listed by the Chief Minister:To promote local transport, 2,300 e-autos will be deployed at metro stations, along with 200 new electric buses that will run starting June 5.A total of 2,080 electric cluster buses will operate in Delhi by year-end and the target is to increase this number to 10,000 by these EVs, 18,000 charging stations will be set up in the private and semi-private Under Control (PUC) centres will be audited in intelligent traffic systems will be implemented to reduce traffic jams.A thousand water sprinklers and 140 air guns will be active throughout the year to reduce dust pollution, barring during monsoon.70 road sweeping machines, 70 electric litter pickers and 30 water tankers will work in tandem to keep check on pollution by particulate matter (dust).Air sprinklers will be installed in commercial buildings larger than 3,000 square cameras will be installed at Delhi's entry points to identify end-of-life elaborating on the measures planned by the Delhi government to contain and mitigate hazardous levels of air pollution during the month of November, Rekha Gupta said that work has started on artificial rain and cloud seeding in collaboration with November 1, 2025, only Bharat Stage VI commercial vehicles will be allowed to enter Delhi. The 'End of Vehicles' data of neighbouring states will also be with the Delhi government and necessary warning messages will be instructions will also be issued for construction and demolition waste, and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will impose fines on violators. As for landfill sites in Delhi, solid waste management efforts are being accelerated in order to reduce mountains of garbage. Currently, four waste-to-energy plants are operational in the city, of which two are new, while work to enhance the capacity of two other plants is underway. The waste processing capacity will be maximised in the next few attention will be given to waste segregation through the Municipal Corporation. At least six new air quality monitoring stations will be installed this year. Apart from this, 70 lakh trees will be planted under the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" campaign from June Watch IN THIS STORY#Delhi
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
‘Convict acted in cold-blooded manner… betrayed trust of eight-year-old girl'
Stating that the convict has acted in the most 'conniving and treacherous manner' and betrayed 'the trust of a minor', a fast track court of District Court Chandigarh on Tuesday awarded death sentence to a 40-year-old man for raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl. The special court presided by Additional Sessions Judge Yashika ordered the death sentence to convict Hira Lal, alias Guddu, under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. 'He shall be hanged by neck till he is dead, subject to the confirmation of the sentence by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana,' the court ordered. The convict can file an appeal before the Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh, within a period of 30 days, as per the Article 115 of The Limitation Act, 1963, according to the order. The court also ordered Rs 17 lakh compensation be granted to the dependents of the victim as a final compensation under the victim compensation scheme. 'In the present case, the convict has acted in a most conniving and treacherous manner. He has betrayed the trust of a minor girl child, aged eight years and 11 months. The convict took all care to commit the barbaric acts of rape and murder of the child, in extreme secrecy, and in a cold-blooded manner. Here, the convict is a mature man aged about 40 years,' Justice Yashika noted. Underscoring that the minor was 'incapable to protest against the convict', the judge observed that Hira Lal made the victim 'prey' of his 'lust'. 'The postmortem report shows various injuries on the body of the victim. These injuries shows the gruesome manner in which she was subjected to rape. The victim of crime is an innocent child who did not provide even an excuse, much less a provocation for murder. Such cruelty towards a young child is appalling. The convict had stooped so low as to unleash his monstrous self on the innocent, helpless and defenceless child. This act no doubt had invited extreme indignation of the community and shocked the collective conscience of the society,' the court held. Further, it observed that the convict is a 'menace to the society' and cannot be reformed, describing the case as 'rarest of the rare'. According to the police, Hira Lal has two wives and is the father of five children, the eldest being 13 years old. The police said he was cheating on both his wives, as neither knew about the other. According to the prosecution, the rape victim's body, with her throat slit and multiple stab wounds, was discovered near a dumping site in Ram Darbar in January 2024, three days after she went missing. An autopsy later confirmed rape. The girl was kidnapped from near her home by Hira Lal, who then took her to his house and committed the crime. After the girl's body was found, the police identified him on the basis of the CCTV footage. His house was found locked. The police broke into the house and found inside the victim's slippers, which then confirmed that the child had been brought there. Aftera seven-day manhunt, the police arrested Hira Lal, a native of Uttar Pradesh, from Bihar. During the trial, the defence counsel argued that Hira Lal had been falsely implicated in the FIR. The court, however, held him guilty.
