Patiala: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that the recent book published by Congress party vindicated Akali Dal's stand that leaders of the ruling party at the Centre was responsible for the 1980s crisis in the state.
He, however, refused to comment on the allegation that militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala was planted by former President Gyani Zail Singh and Congress general secretary Sanjay Gandhi as mentioned in the book.
"Nobody has been admitting so far that the Congress was responsible for the Punjab problem which claimed more than 25,000 lives. Now the party itself has come out with a book which vindicates our stand," Badal told reporters in Patiala.
The fifth volume of the series 'A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress' makes critical observations on "dirty politics" in the name of religion in Punjab which, it concluded, was one of the factors for terrorism and the Khalistan agitation in the state.
The book says Zail Singh, in complete collaboration with Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi, picked up a relatively obscure young and fundamentalist lay preacher named Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale with a view to build him up as a rival to the Akali leadership.
"It is inconceivable that they could have done so without Indira Gandhi's consent. Sanjay and Zail Singh believed that by advocating extremist causes, the young preacher could embarrass the Akali Dal," says the book.
The book says just the reverse happened. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, originally planted by Giani Zail Singh to weaken the Akalis, had outgrown his shoes and became a terrorist.
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