Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), warned against misgovernance in the “sensitive border state” of Punjab.
Punjab, however, does not appear to be on the verge of another outbreak of militancy, but Dulat stressed the importance of “empathy” for the state as well.
“I believe that neither Punjab nor Kashmir can be governed from Delhi. Former RAW director says people are resentful.
After a break-out of militancy in the border state of Punjab in 1987, the state was placed under President’s rule for nearly five years, while Jammu and Kashmir has been under it since June 2018.
As a result of the Amritpal Singh incident, where pro-Khalistan preachers’ supporters attacked policemen in Ajnala on Thursday, Dulat was responding to a question about Sikh radicalism. As a result of national television footage of the violence, several former senior police officers have advocated putting Punjab under President’s rule.
Punjab had suffered several wars and needed to “be treated with empathy, understood”.
“What the Punjabi wants is his due, whether it’s the farmer or the (division of) river waters or the Chandigarh question (whether the city belongs to Punjab or Haryana),” he said.
