Welcoming the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision for redeeming the honour of  Shaheed Bakhshish Singh — an associate of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha — after 72 long years, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said that it was a tight slap on the faces of the Congress party and Akali Dal.

AAP MP from Sangrur and Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann said that the court, in its landmark judgment, had redeemed the honour of the great martyr by allowing compensation of Rs 25 lakh for 33 acres of land reported to have been confiscated by the then British Government — a rare instance of honour accorded to a martyr who fought against the tyranny of the alien dispensation.

“The historic court order has not only unearthed the hollow claims of the preceding governments which have been laying tall claims in favour of the martyrs but did nothing on the ground when it came to redeeming their honour. The injustice meted out to the members of Bakhshish’s family for more than 33 years is a fit case of highhandedness on the part of the subsequent governments,” he said.

Mann demanded that the preceding governments should tender their unconditional apologies to the aggrieved families for denigrating the honour of the martyrs and humiliating their families.

“Some of the martyrs of 1965, 1971 battles and others, whose families had been allotted land around the riverbeds, have been fighting for justice for a pretty long time now. The Capt Amarinder Singh government should immediately intervene and secure them justice without further loss of time thus restoring their honour,” he said.

He added that the Punjab Government should take a cue from the Delhi Government led by Arvind Kejriwal which delivers a cheque for Rs one crore at homes of those from Army,  paramilitary or police force on attaining martyrdom.