CHANDIGARH: Senior Akali Dal (Taksali) leader Bir Devinder Singh today said Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta's expression of regret after his irresponsible and notorious statements against the Sikh community was not only meaningless but even more troubling since he has already exposed the line of thinking in the top echelons of police in the Government of Capt. Amarinder Singh.
"It is shameful that even after all around condemnation of his remarks, Gupta is not even sure if he did or said anything wrong. He is merely saying that his regret is valid only 'in case his remarks have caused any hurt', " Bir Devinder Singh, Senior Vice President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) said in a statement issued here.
"If one cannot be gracious and honest even in expressing regret or tendering an apology, then one does not know how to be graceful at all. Besides, Mr Dinkar Gupta should now explain if in his view Pakistan will still take six hours to turn a devout Nanak Naam-leva Sikh, into a terrorist, or will it now take longer?" Bir Devinder asked, tongue firmly in cheek.
He said the police chief was still stuck on semantics and thinks it was only his words that had caused harm, while the problem was actually much more serious. "Atrocious as the words were, it is the thought that he holds in his head and propagates downwards to his force which is really problematic. How are we to know if that thought has automatically changed in the last 24 hours?" the former Deputy Speaker of The Punjab Assembly said.
Bir Devinder Singh said the people of Punjab weigh every statement in the context in which it was made.
"Mr Gupta was not responding to some urchin's query hurled at him in a crowded place; he was in a roomful of responsible journalists at the office of a national daily with a pre-appointment and knew everything was being recorded and was liable to be published. So what he said earlier were his considered views, formulated after much consideration. I wish he remains honest and makes it clear as to what his approach is towards the Sikh community, the Punjabis, the Guru Nanak Naamleva sangat and those who fought and prayed for decades to realise their dream of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, " Mr Bir Devinder Singh said.
"The first statement was obnoxious, the clarification which accused the media of misconstruing the remarks depicted a clever by half mind, and the regret proves that beneath the brave facade was a coward officer who buckles outwardly while retaining the same foxy mindset deep inside, " he said, demanding that it was most unfortunate that such a person continues to be in the top police job in Punjab, after profiling an entire Sikh community as potential terrorists.
"I am also shocked at the collective silence of the entire Congress leadership in Punjab. Have they any shame left? I know that they lost their spine long back and have learnt to bow before a Pakistani citizen friend of their chief minister but if they had even a single self-respecting bone left in their body, they should raise questions that are disturbing every Punjabi today, " Bir Devinder Singh said.
He said the DGP was highly mistaken if he thinks that the people of Punjab will forgive him because he visited the Golden Temple last year. "Your faith in Sikhism is not a defence mechanism to wriggle out of a tough spot after you make inane statements. Do not take the name of God in vain. Just do your job properly, and do not harbour ill will towards an entire community. Be a good Hindu, or a good Sikh, or a good Muslim or a good Christian, or even a good non-believer. Then you will not have do 'regret tamashas' on Twitter, " Bir Devinder Singh counselled the DGP.