Apex court turns down Punjab’s contention for political solution to issue, says the state has to follow orders and complete the project on its side
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court told the Punjab government on Wednesday that the SutlejYamuna Link Canal (SYL) has to be constructed and declined to accept the state’s contention that there should be a political solution of the problem.
“We are at a stage where the decree has to be executed,” a bench headed by Justice PC Ghose told senior counsel Ram Jethmalani who argued for Punjab. The court asked governments of Punjab and Haryana to maintain law and order in their respective states. The status quo, restraining Punjab from returning land meant for the canal to its owners was also reiterated.
The Centre was directed to maintain surveillance in view of the impending march by INLD activists, which could trigger a law and order problem.
During the hearing, Centre rebutted Punjab’s charges that it did not take a proactive approach to resolve the dispute over water-sharing of Ravi-Beas rivers. “I (Centre) can’t sit in judgment over the decree…If both the states approach us only then we can mediate…” solicitor general Ranjit Kumar said.
Jethmalani urged the Centre to act as an arbitrator. He said the water sharing agreement was signed in 1981 and the water flow has significantly decreased in the rivers. He added it was not possible to execute the agreement now.
He informed the bench about the INLD protest and said over a lakh people planned to march into Punjab with spades to start digging at the SYL canal construction site. He blamed the Haryana government for granting permission for the march.
“Let’s hope good sense will prevail. Violence will not take place…” Jethmalani said.
The senior counsel’s apprehension was addressed by Haryana government counsel, senior advocate Shyam Diwan. He said his client was committed to maintaining law and order.
Once again the bench declined Jethmalani’s request to fix the next hearing on March 11, after the poll results, and listed the matter for a hearing on March 2.
The court took on record Punjab’s affidavit expressing its inability to recover land that has already been returned.
Centre intervenes as tension builds up over INLD’s threat
Home ministry official rushes to Chandigarh and meets DGPs of Punjab, Haryana
From page 01 As tension mounted between Punjab and Haryana over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in the wake of the threat by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to dig the canal, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Wednesday sent an official to Chandigarh who held meetings with the top cops of the two states.
Meanwhile, leader of Opposition in Haryana assembly and INLD MLA Abhay Chautala is sticking to the party’s plan of digging the canal in Punjab territory on Thursday.
MHA joint secretary Dalip Kumar held meetings with director general of police (DGPs) of Haryana and Punjab in Chandigarh. Sources said he asked both the DGPs to ensure law and order “at any cost”.
It was Kumar who had prepared the status report of MHA on the SYL issue, which was submitted in the Supreme Court after the Punjab assembly passed the controversial bill to return land to farmers. The apex court had then ordered to maintain status quo on the issue.
TAKING NO CHANCES
Meanwhile, a wary Punjab is taking no chances and fortified its borders with Haryana to stop the INLD from entering the state.
The state government has deployed more than 5,000 security men, besides 10 battalions of the paramilitary forces, on various entry points of Punjab in Patiala district.
CCTV cameras have been installed, steel walls erected, barbed-wired fencing put up in the fields alongside the Haryana border. A helicopter is being used to conduct aerial surveillance. A mock drill was also conducted to check the preparedness.
Police sources said the GT Road entry point will be sealed on Thursday morning, while heavy police deployment has already been made at Kapuri village in Patiala — the place where the foundation stone of the SYL canal was laid in 1982 — and other embankments of the canal.
Punjab DGP Suresh Arora, who is personally monitoring the security arrangements, said, “All possible measures have been taken. Forces have been deployed to tackle any situation.”
DGP (law and order) Hardeep Dhillon and IG (Patiala range) B Chander Sekhar are camping in the transit control room set up at Shambhu.
The police have also decided not to allow All India Sikh Students Federation activists to reach at Kapuri or Shambhu. The AISSF had announced to stop INLD workers from entering Punjab.
After his meeting with MHA official, Haryana DGP KP Singh visited the Shambhu barrier, the main entry point of Punjab from Haryana. He took stock of the situation and assured all assistance to Punjab in maintaining law and order.
Haryana has also increased its police strength at Shambhu in the wake of MHA’s intervention.
The DGP also visited the vegetable market at Ambala, where INLD workers will converge on Thursday before moving towards Punjab for digging of SYL. The site is around two km from the Punjab border.
PUNJAB POLICE NOT RELYING ON HARYANA
Punjab Police sources said the political compulsions of the BJP government in Haryana won’t allow it to stop INLD as any action against the party over the SYL issue can cause political damage to the saffron party. Therefore, Punjab is taking extra precautions. Police officials have been directed to use heavy force if INLD workers try to cross into the Punjab territory.
A senior Punjab police official said, “Even as the Haryana Police have assured full support, Punjab cant’ bank upon them. We are preparing as per our own plan as we know even a single incident will have dangerous cascading effect on Punjab’s law and order, as SYL is an emotive issue in Punjab
Pushed to the margins, INLD falls back on SYL to stay relevant
Being a state player, INLD has more wiggle room than rivals Cong and ruling BJP
CHANDIGARH : Barricaded roads, brick-walled bridges, drones in the air and phalanxes of Punjab Police and paramilitary personnel to guard the state’s border.
All of these are precautionary measures taken by the Punjab government to stop supporters of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) from carrying out their threat of digging up the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal — a part of which was filled up by local farmers last year — in Patiala on Thursday.
While the re-digging plan will not alter the status of the contentious canal on the ground in any way, the call is a political ploy of the INLD to stay relevant. The strategy has already alarmed the authorities in Punjab and Haryana and brought the SYL canal and the party, which has been mobilising support for the show of strength, to the centre stage.
The extent of response of party supporters to the call will be known only on February 23. However, its rivals, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have dubbed the exercise a “political gimmick” with one BJP leader calling it a drama being staged by the INLD leaders just to get “photographed and make headlines”.
The party has been in dire straits due to dips and dives in its fortunes in the past one decade. A string of losses in six straight assembly and parliamentary elections and the crisis of leadership with two of its top leaders, former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and former MP Ajay Singh Chautala, in jail in a recruitment scam, have left the cadres in disarray
In recent months, the Jat agenda – a community in which it has traditional pockets of strong support – in the state is also being set by the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) chief Yashpal Malik. The UP realtor-turned-caste warrior, spearheading the 25-day-long stir for quota for Jats in government jobs and educational institutions, has emerged as the rallying point for the community, upstaging the local leaders for now.
Prof Ranbir Sigh, former dean, social sciences, Kurukshetra University, says there is a paradox in the party, as its cadre is intact, but it faces a leadership crisis. “The INLD needs to get its act together. The river waters issue has presented it with an opportunity. And there is a historical context. When his support base was dwindling, Devi Lal used the Punjab accord to raise the issue of injustice with Haryana and bounced back in 1987,” he says.
Being a state player, the INLD has more wiggle room than its two rivals and hopes to galvanise its cadres.
Both the BJP and Congress have stakes at the national level and in Punjab. They have their limitations and contradictions in their stance from time to time as a result.
