A man sailing on two boats never reaches his destination. Similar is the situation of Congress leaders in the state as the party is vertically split in two groups led by heavy-weight leaders — Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu —heading the rival groups. The duo want to lead Congress during the 2022 Assembly elections. Its a known fact that both have differed on various issues a many times. Members of Pardeep Singh sit on a hunger strike in Tarn Taran. Former MLA Ashwani Shekhri a senior Congress leader from Gurdaspur who is known for his alliance with Capt Amarinder Singh expressed satisfaction. Shekhri who is a chairman of Punjab Health Systems Corporation was in Patti to lay a foundation stone of a Mother-Child Ward at the Civil Hospital recently. Harminder Singh Gill who represents the Patti constituency managed the event. While addressing the gathering Gill said we (Congressmen) we are a train with two engines. “Ours win is sure in the 2022 Assembly elections and we need not worry” said Shekhri. A person in the gathering said what if the two engines pull the train in diffirent direction which is the actual ground situation. Gill had faced this type of situation during the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections when he contested from Khadoor Sahib.In 2013 the AICC had appointed Partap Singh Bajwa as chief of the PPCC and Capt Amarinder had opposed him. Gill left the Capts camp and joined Bajwa. In 2014 the Congress had appointed Capt Amarinder as PPCC president who decided to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar. He assured Gill to accompany his cavalcade at the time of filing his nomination papers. Gill waited for hours with his supportes for Capt Amarinder but he never showed up. At the end Gill went on to file his nomination with a handful of supporters. This happens with a person who sails in two boats and similar is the situation this time for Congress MLAs. A man of rare qualities Dr SS Lauhuka is among a few persons who is known across the region due to his public welfare activities. He has been elected as a councillor thrice in Tarn Taran. He is a parton of the Citizen Council Tarn Taran. This social organisation has been solemnising mass marriages since 1990 every year. He is district chief of the All India Tonkkashtrya Sabha and also of the District Consumers Welfare Forum which protects the interests of consumers. Dr SS Lauhuka The district administration had nominated him as the member of certain committees with the police welfare. All these activities are his hobby. He is closely associated with LIC and was recently honoured with gold medal by the the latter for his social services. He always remain ready to help the needy especially school students and provides them stationery. Endless wait for justice The custodial death of Pardeep Singh may be considered to be the rare of the rarest cases in the history of Indian judiciary. Pardeep Singh a student of Class IX was beaten to death by Goindwal Sahib police in the custody on December 22 2001. The police alleged that he was arrested with intoxicanting tablets and he died during interrogation. After facing resentment from residents the police registered a case against cops for custodial death. Later the case was cancelled for lack of evidence and other loopholes. Joginder Kaur mother of Pardeep who has no source of income came out on the road and filed a complaint in the court challenging the police theory. A social organisation Pardeep Katal Kand Action Committee was formed with efforts of a Tarn Taran-based social worker which helped Joginder. After years of hearings the court had awarded 10-year jail term to Assistant Sub-Inspector Harbhajan Singh. Despite being declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) Harbhajan not just went on performing his police duty but was also promoted as a Sub-Inspector by the Police Department. He retired with all the pension benefits. The voice of the Pardeep Katal Kand Action Committee went unheard. The committee had been demanding compensation for the family of the victim as per the orders of the court and locate the policemen who had been helping the PO all this while. The committee had written to the Deputy Commissioner regarding the same and the latter asked the Khadoor Sahib SDM Khadoor to take necessary action on June 12 2019. The SDM prepared a report after more than one year and replied to the DC on July 10 2020 expressing their inability to take action against the erring official. Its yet to be seen how much more time it will take to deliver the justice to aggrieved family. Contributed by Gurbaxpuri

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