Chandigarh: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu summoned both his advisers Malwinder Singh Mali and Pyare Lal Garg to his residence to discuss their recent comments on Pakistan and Kashmir.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had warned against “atrocious and ill-conceived comments that were potentially dangerous to the peace and stability of the state and the country”, referring to the recent statements made by the two advisers on sensitive national issues like Kashmir and Pakistan.
A press release issued from the Chief Minister’s Office had said that Amarinder urged Sidhu’s advisers to stick to giving advice to the PPCC president and “not speak on matters of which they clearly had little or no knowledge, and had no understanding of the implications of their comments”.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Manish Tewari has urged the party to introspect on whether those who do not consider Jammu and Kashmir as a part of India and have pro-Pakistan leanings should be part of the Punjab Congress. He said such people mocked all those who have shed blood for India.
"I urge Harish Rawat, AICC Gen Secy in-charge Punjab to seriously introspect that those who do not consider J&K to be a part of India and others who have ostensibly Pro-Pakistan leanings should be a part of Punjab Congress," he said on Twitter.
Avoid ill-conceived remarks
Amarinder said, “Kashmir was and is an inalienable part of India,” adding that with his proclamation to the contrary, Mali had effectively and inexplicably toed Islamabad’s line. “This is totally anti-national,” he said, also slamming Mali for failing to withdraw his statement despite the widespread condemnation it had evoked not only from other parties but also from within the Congress.
Ridiculing Garg’s statement that criticism of Pakistan by him (Captain Amarinder) was not in the interest of Punjab, the Chief Minister said Sidhu’s adviser was clearly disconnected from the ground reality. “The fact, which every Punjabi and in fact every Indian knows, is that Pakistan’s threat to us is real. Every day they are pushing weapons and drugs into Punjab via drones in a brazen attempt to destabilise our state, and our nation. Punjabi soldiers are dying at the borders at the hands of Pak-backed forces,” pointed out the Chief Minister, dubbing Garg’s remarks as irrational and unjustified?
“Garg may have forgotten the thousands of Punjabi lives lost in the fire of Pak-backed terrorism of the 1980s and 1990s, but I have not. Nor have the people of Punjab. And we will continue to do everything in our power to fight off Pakistan’s dangerous games,” asserted Capt Amarinder.