New Delhi, December 7 (P2P):
Even as he defended the right of the police to fire back to counter an attack, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday came out against extra constitutional executions as being against the nation’s Constitutional spirit, while also opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which he said would not be allowed to be passed in his state Assembly.
Speaking at a summit , along with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Captain Amarinder said, with reference to the Telangana killing of the rape accused, that “if the men had fired at the cops then the action was justified.” He, however, made it clear that there was no such thing as encounter. In his state, the police were very clear on this issue, and terrorists and goondas/gangsters had been asked to lay down their arms or face the consequences, he added.
The two Congress chief ministers, who had the upset BJP’s dream of a Congress Mukt Bharat, fielded a host of questions on a range of issues during the session, which saw them in agreement on all the key subjects, including the Telangana shootout. Baghel said the people of the country were tired of delayed justice and the process needed to be expedited.
In his usual candid style, the Punjab Chief Minister came out strongly against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as being against the democratic spirit of India, which is a “free country.” “Let the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill be passed by Parliament and come to our Assembly, where we have 2/3rd majority…it will not be passed in my state,” he asserted, when asked how Punjab would tackle the problem if the Centre makes it a law.
With reference to the allegations of Punjab being responsible for Delhi’s air pollution, Captain Amarinder pointed out that he did not get permission to fly by chopper from Chandigarh due to the smog in Delhi this morning even though his state was bright and sunny. “So where is the pollution in Delhi coming from, now that stubble burning has ended in Punjab,” he asked. The Punjab Chief Minister reiterated his demand for Central support to farmers for stubble management till a long-term solution is found through crop diversification and other measures.
