After accusing Army chief General Bipin Rawat of orchestrating the attack on a religious congregation in Amritsar on Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief today sought to clarify his remarks and said that he was misunderstood.
"My statement has been totally misunderstood. Please see the full video, the whole statement was actually against the Congress, and not against the respected Army Chief. Still, it was an inadvertent comment and I regret it," Mr Phoolka told news agency ANI.
Stirring a controversy on Sunday, the AAP leader had said: "Army Chief came and made a statement. To prove his statement, he could have orchestrated the attack. This matter should be looked into. Did the government do it (attack)? Did the earlier government do it now? It is wrong to repeatedly say that Punjab's atmosphere is not good. We must get to the root of it. Government must get to the root of it. Those who made false statements about Maur blast, what action has been taken against them? Punjab is a sensitive state. One must not make statements without facts. One must not make accusations. Get to the root of it - who did it? "
Realising the extent of damage done by his remarks, Phoolka later took to Twitter and clarified: "Please see whole video. An inadvertent statement made standing on the road is being blown out of proportion. I have stated that history is evidence of that fact that governments in the past have caused violence to further their interest. Like in last year's Maur blast, no one should reach a conclusion without detailed impartial investigation. Even a moderate person like me who has always been against Khalistan thinks so. I regret statement that may have purported to be against the Army Chief."
Three people and over 20 injured when two motorcycle-borne men threw grenade on a religious congregation on city outskirts here on Sunday, an incident which the police are treating as a "terrorist act".
The incident took place inside the Nirankari Bhavan's prayer hall at Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi, police said. A congregation of the Nirankari followers was being held inside at the time.
The Sant Nirankari Mission is a spiritual organisation and the Bhavan is located close to the international airport and Indo-Pak border.
The grenade was lobbed by one of the two people who had their faces covered. One person pointed a gun at the volunteers manning the gate, while the other one hurled the bomb after which they escaped.
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