Chandigarh, Nov 4 (IANS) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday slammed state Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring’s derogatory remarks targeting the late senior Congress leader Buta Singh, calling the incident a “crime born of caste arrogance” rather than a mere mistake.

He dismissed Raja Warring’s subsequent apology, made after being confronted by the public, as an attempt to simply “bury the issue”. Cheema emphasised that Warring, given his vast political experience as a former All India Youth Congress President, three-time MLA, Cabinet Minister, and current Member of Parliament, should know better.

Cheema stressed that targeting a notable political figure based on his caste by an individual with such deep experience is not an error but a “crime born of caste arrogance that has wounded the hearts of countless people and warrants legal punishment”. The Finance Minister highlighted the stature of the late Buta Singh, noting he was not an ordinary individual but a highly educated and prominent leader within Raja Warring’s own Congress party.

Cheema told the media here that Buta Singh served as a teacher and journalist before becoming renowned as a powerful Union Home Minister for the country. He described it as “extremely unfortunate” that such a great personality was subjected to caste-based insults by a self-professed caste-arrogant leader from his own party.

Cheema referenced previous casteist statements by leaders like Pratap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jakhar against another party leader. He called on the Congress to immediately expel Raja Warring, warning that failure to do so would only reaffirm the party’s longstanding anti-Dalit policies. He affirmed that the land of Punjab, guided by the message of its Gurus and Saints, will never permit defamation in the name of caste.

The minister said the state government is engaged in propagating the message of human equality delivered by Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur during the 350th martyrdom anniversary events. Furthermore, the government is honouring the history of figures like Baba Jiwan Singh (Bhai Jaita-ji), who was given the title ‘Ranghreta Guru Ka Beta’ (Guru’s son) by the tenth Guru Sahib, and is actively working to transmit their legacy of respect to the next generation.

Cheema described the Congress party’s behaviour as showing its “true mentality”, which he found to be extremely unfortunate when the AAP government is honouring the descendants of these revered personalities.

–IANS

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