Former DGP, Mohammad Izhar Alam’s SAD (B) candidature from Malerkotla for the 2012 Assembly elections has brought not only the officer back into the limelight but also the dark times of Punjab.
The officer, interestingly, evokes extreme reactions. For the radicals his so called ‘Alam Sena’ worked beyond the purview of law and indulged in human rights atrocities in Punjab, but for others it was he who helped stem the exodus of Hindus from Punjab specially from the Amritsar, Taran Taran and Batala. He is also considered an officer who fought the separatists from the front there by ensuring that peace returned to Punjab after almost two decades.
Yet his candidature as an Akali candidate is nothing less than a shock even for his die hard fans.
Activist and a journalist, Jatinder Pannu, who has been a one time close aide of Alam says, “He is controversial figure. His personal requirements and compulsions have probably forced him to join the a party he was dead against.”
News Source: Indian Express
