Why state honour for Sarabjit, asks Dal Khalsa

Hoshiarpur (

), May 5: The Dal Khalsa has asked the Punjab government to explain to the people about the role of deceased

in the state's functioning and the rationale behind cremating him with full state honour and also that of announcing Rs 1 crore from state exchequer for his kin.

The party leadership criticised the government for announcing Sarabjit a national martyr and three-day mourning and asked if the man was not sent to Pakistan on official duty, then why was he cremated with state honour?

The party said the fatal attack on Singh in a Pakistani jail was unfortunate and offered condolences with Singh's family, but also said that it was not convinced that Singh was as innocent as had been projected by the state and the mainstream media.

Party chief H S Dhami and general secretary Manjinder Singh said Singh was convicted by the judicial process of Pakistan for carrying out subversive activities on that country's soil. They said by giving him a hero's stand-off and giving his family financial support for his death, the Indian state proved that he was indeed backed by it to accomplish certain mission.

[Read: Sarabjit was sent to Pakistan]

The Dal Khalsa leadership accused t Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal of calling Sarabjit a national martyr without explaining the nature of his sacrifice in the assembly.

The Siromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership had recently drawn flak over honouring the assassin of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Beant Singh. The government had also found itself in a zone of discomfort over the naming of a memorial raised in the Golden Temple complex after Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

The Dal Khalsa asked whether the Badals had named any soldier died on duty had ever been given Rs 1 crore from the state exchequor.

It also took a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , who called Sarabjhit a"brave son of India" to tell the countryman about the bravery that was put up by him. It asked whether the Badals and Singh were considering Sarabjit's crossingthe international border in drunk state (as claimed by his family members) as an "act of braver". It also mocked the theory of mistaken identity floated by Singh's kin, saying it was made to save his face.

OneIndia News