Akali Dal sarpanch slaps woman in MPs function

The incident took place in Daula village of the district on Sunday at a function attended by Bhatinda member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal at Muktasar district.

A scuffle broke out between a delegation of teachers and Akali workers when a team of teachers, who wanted to submit a memorandum to Badal, refused the instructions of Akali workers to leave the place.

The Education Guarantee Scheme teachers, who have been on a protest demonstration demanding permanent jobs, wanted to submit their demands to the MP when the incident took place.

Following this, Balwinder Singh, sarpanch of Daula allegedly caught hold of a woman teacher Varinder Kaur and allegedly slapped her many times, EGS teachers President Pritpal Singh said, adding that he also roughed her up and pulled her hair.

"Balwinder Singh manhandled me and beat me up," Kaur said alleging that EGS Jalandhar unit chief Jarnail Singh was also slapped and picked up by police. The police also locked up the teachers in a house to ensure a smooth ongoing of the programme, sources said, adding that teachers have lodged a complaint against Balwinder seeking his arrest.

Meanwhile, the police has said it is probing into the matter and a case has been registered against members of both the parties.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal in a statement here strongly condemned the incident. She said that the assault of a woman by anybody was not acceptable, whatever may be the provocation for that.

Kaur asked the administration to probe the whole incident and take necessary action against the guilty and expressed regret for this unpleasant incident.

Meanwhile, opposition Congress demanded registration of criminal case against Balwinder Singh alias Toti and demanded a public apology from Kaur, who is the wife of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

"In what can rightly be termed a perfect example of jungle raj a woman EGS teacher Varinder Kaur was publicly slapped, pulled by her hair and humiliated at a Sangat-Darshan programme of Harsimrat Kaur MP, by an arrogant Akali sarpanch," Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said.

"It was a matter of great shame that Harsimrat Kaur who otherwise claims to be the champion of women rights (Nanhi Chaan) failed to prevent insult and humiliation of a woman teacher at the hands of an 'goonda' Akali sarpanch," he said.

The present political scene reminds us of Mughal despots and the arrogant British 'Raj' where even peaceful protests were completely banned, he said.