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Chohan wants to meet Vajpayee

Onkar Singh in Chandigarh

Jagjit Singh Chohan, who had once named himself president of 'Khalistan', told rediff.com in an exclusive interview at his residence in Mohali, near Chandigarh, that he would be willing to meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, if the latter invited him.

Chohan landed in India in the early hours of Wednesday.

Chohan lavished praise on the prime minister and said it was not possible to visualise what might happen to the country without him at the helm.

"He is a great politician and a statesman. I cannot foresee what might have been the state of affairs in the country without him. I would go and meet him if he calls me," he remarked.

Chohan, however, said he would not place a request for a meeting with Vajpayee.

He condemned the present leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal as the one that had 'betrayed' him merely to please Indira Gandhi, who was then prime minister of the country.

"The Akalis betrayed me. They first asked me to lead a delegation to Pakistan to meet the Pakistani authorities and negotiate with them the handing over of the keys of the Sikh gurdwaras. The Pakistanis agreed to the suggestion and handed over the keys to me. This was shown on Pakistan Television and since then I became persona non grata," he said.

"I was then general secretary of the Akali Dal and at Mrs Gandhi's instance they threw me out of the party and I lived in exile for seven years. I have been fighting since 1996 to come back to India and only last month the Punjab and Haryana high court allowed me to come back," he said.

Asked why he kept his return to India a secret, Chohan complimented the media for uncovering the truth and telling the world that he had arrived in Delhi.

"The agencies that wanted to talk to me whisked me away from Indira Gandhi International Airport and put me up in a hotel. Next morning they talked to me and then they put me on a train and brought me to Chandigarh. When I arrived here the media was present at Chandigarh raliway station in full strength," he said.

He denied having been picked up by the Punjab police in connection with a pending case. "There was no one from the Punjab police present at the airport. I can challenge them to produce even one case against me," he said.

Charanjit Chohan, wife of Dr Chohan, told rediff.com that she had never faced any problem from the Punjab police or any other force at any point of time. "On the contrary they gave me respect," she said.

Chohan plans to visit the Golden Temple at Amritsar on July 10 to pay his respects on his return to India.

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