{"id":89400,"date":"2022-12-16T07:12:53","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T01:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/?p=89400"},"modified":"2022-12-16T07:12:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T01:42:55","slug":"violence-is-returning-to-punjab-and-india-cant-afford-it-aap-cant-forget-poll-promise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/violence-is-returning-to-punjab-and-india-cant-afford-it-aap-cant-forget-poll-promise\/","title":{"rendered":"Violence is returning to Punjab and India can\u2019t afford it. AAP can\u2019t forget poll promise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thomas Sowell, noted American economist had once said, \u201cDeception is one of the quickest ways to gain little things and lose big things\u201d \u2014 this aptly sums up the reality of the Aam Aadmi Party\u2019s Punjab governance so far. AAP fought the 2022 Punjab assembly election with the promise to transform the winter of discontent into a glorious summer but instead the state is witnessing a naked dance of lawlessness, terror attacks, crime and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent \u2018rocket <\/a>attack\u2019 on Sarhali Police station in the Tarn Taran district and the brazenness with which a declared radical outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is claiming responsibility, cocking a snook at administrators, has posed a valid question in the mind of every Punjabi \u2014 is Punjab headed for dark times again<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violence making a comeback<\/strong>
The first 21 days of AAP\u2019s rule witnessed 19 murders, including two famous kabbadi players (Sandeep Singh \u2018Nangal Ambian\u2019 and Dharminder Singh). The state also saw a violent takeover of truck unions that involved leaders associated with the new government. Recovery of explosive device near the Burail jail in Chandigarh; clashes in Patiala among two groups; RPG attack on Punjab intelligence headquarters; recovery of RDX in Tarn Taran; and brutal gunning down of Sidhu Moose Wala have all happened since the AAP took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ebullient Punjabi spirit has been dampened by signs of revival of extremist elements, a matter of grave concern as neither Punjab nor India can afford resurgence of terror in another border state. These events clearly show that the AAP government has butter fingers when it comes to law and order situation in the state. Crime is rampant because of the loose command control and misplaced priorities of the decision makers, particularly Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand Punjab<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the sake of peace and prosperity of Punjab, immediate course correction is required. To begin with, Mann should realise that he is the chief minister of the state and not some \u2018Prachar Mantr<\/em>i (\u2018campaign minister\u2019)\u2019 of Kejriwal. The well-founded perception that Punjab is being run by Delhi is hurting the Punjabi pride and shaking the faith of the electorate. Instead of dodging accountability, the AAP government needs to come out of its propaganda cocoon of \u2018accusing others of what you are guilty of\u2019 and face the reality and deliver the governance it promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than focusing on generating headlines by withdrawing\/curtailing security of 424 people (whether on basis of political audit or threat audit remains unknown) and deputing police personnel with AAP brigade, the administrators must concentrate on managing Punjab with the understanding of its geography, history, politics, culture and not superimpose the failed \u2018Delhi Model\u2019. Most importantly, Mann should not allow the resources of Punjab to be\u00a0diverted\u00a0to achieve the political dreams of Arvind Kejriwal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from concerns and welfare of three crore people of the state, one must not forget that Punjab is also key to India\u2019s security strategy vis a vis Pakistan. The state shares a 425-km-long border with Pakistan. There have been consistent efforts from the other side of the border to create disturbances by infiltrating terrorists, sending weapons by drones and targeting the youth through\u00a0narco-terrorism. The changing political dynamics in Pakistan (coupled with the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan) and its economic turmoil are also notes of caution for the government of Punjab to strengthen institutions of security and establish trust in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Sowell, noted American economist had once said, \u201cDeception is one of the quickest ways to gain little things and lose big things\u201d \u2014 this aptly sums up the reality of the Aam Aadmi Party\u2019s Punjab governance so far. AAP fought the 2022 Punjab assembly election with the promise to transform the winter of discontent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-punjab-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89402,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89400\/revisions\/89402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailypunjabtimes.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}