Three-and-a-half months after he threw a shoe at chief minister Parkash Singh Badal during a public function, Vikram Singh claims that he has undergone a change and from now he will be a ‘man with a mission’.
The first visible change in him came at the Golden Temple here as he paid obeisance on Sunday and then got baptised as a Sikh by partaking ‘Amrit’ from the ‘Panj Payaras’ (five beloved ones of the guru) at the Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar.
Expressing regret over his shoe-throwing act, Vikram maintained before the media that his intention had never been to cause any physical harm to the chief minister.
“I just intended to awaken him to the numerous problems that the youth of this state are facing”, he said while claiming that unemployment and drug addiction are the major issues in Punjab. He made it clear that notwithstanding his arrest by the police after the shoe-throwing incident, he would continue to demonstrate his opposition to the government policies in public. However, the mode of protest will be different, he added.
“I will continue to protest against unemployment and other problems confronting society. However, the protests will not be violent but peaceful”, he added.
Vikram, who hails from Dhanaula in Sangrur district, was arrested after he threw a shoe at the chief minister during a public function at Issru village in Ludhiana on August 15. He was then a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which he quit later. “Party or no political party, I will continue with my mission to highlight public issues”, he said.
Vikram intended to meet Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh but could not do so as the latter was away in Muktsar.