Chandigarh: Jalandhar Congress MP and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi has described the altercation between Brinder Singh Dhillon and Ranjit Singh Tarkhan Majra at the Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh as a dispute between two party workers.
Channi said other political parties were trying to turn the incident into a political issue and maintained that the Congress as an organisation had nothing to do with the dispute.
He said one side had accused the other of using caste-based slurs. Dhillon later visited Gurdwara Sri Katlagarh Sahib in Sri Chamkaur Sahib and offered prayers before the Guru Granth Sahib.
According to Channi, Dhillon prayed that if he had used casteist remarks, nothing should remain for him. Channi also referred to Dhillon’s denial of the allegations.
Channi suggests face-to-face meeting
Referring to the physical altercation, Channi said Dhillon was alone when the confrontation took place. Commenting on the people on the other side, he said they were not so weak that they should simply have kept crying, adding that Dhillon could have retaliated with a couple of slaps or punches.
Channi appealed to the Punjab Congress president to call both Dhillon and Tarkhan Majra for a face-to-face meeting. He said both sides should be heard and the dispute resolved through dialogue so that the truth could emerge.
SC community forms committee in Ropar
Meanwhile, representatives of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community held a meeting in Ropar on Wednesday and formed a committee to decide the next course of action against Dhillon.
During the meeting, Rajinder Kumar Bindi alleged that Dhillon had misbehaved with Ranjit Singh Tarkhan Majra at Congress Bhawan and made casteist remarks. He said members of the community were upset after a video of the incident surfaced.
Bindi also alleged that members of the community had been mistreated at another meeting in the Nurpur Bedi area. He said several representatives from towns and villages attended Wednesday’s gathering.
According to Bindi, the committee was formed unanimously and would decide the future course of protest. He warned that if Dhillon attended any programme or meeting in Ropar, members of the SC community would protest by showing him black flags.
Ajay Bhatti also assured the committee of his support, saying that, in accordance with the community’s decision, Dhillon’s meetings and programmes in Ropar would be opposed.
