Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
CHANDIGARH, November 22: Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to tender an unconditional apology to the tens of thousands of people who had attended the Sarbat Khalsa and whom he had earlier termed as “anti-national” and has now retracted saying they were not. “By one mindless utterance borne out of frustration you have tried to brand any entire community as anti-national for which you must apologise”, he told Sukhbir.
“What about the damage you have caused to Punjab and Punjabis’ pride and prestige nationally and internationally by terming a religious gathering as anti-national, just because they showed anger and resentment against you and your failures?” he asked.
Asserting that Sukhbir and his Chief Minister father Parkash Singh Badal owed an unconditional apology to the people of Punjab, he pointed towards Sukhbir’s U turn and frank admission in the statement issued today where he said, the Sarbat Khalsa “gathering was definitely not anti national”.
“I wonder what is going on in your mind”, he told Sukhbir while pointing out, “only yesterday you cried hoarse terming the Sarbat Khalsa gathering to be an anti national event and accused Congress of supporting the anti national forces and now you have realised it was not anti national gathering”.
About Sukhbir’s claims that he was redefining the meaning of “anti-national”, Capt Amarinder told him, “not me, you and your father are trying to redefine the meaning of anti national by terming a mass protest against your government as anti national to deflect public attention”. He said, Sukhbir and his father did precisely that even now.
“As far as what anti national means, let me explain to you; it means tearing away the pages of the country’s constitution and setting them on fire as your father did; it means submitting memorandum to the United Nations demanding Khalistan as your father did; it means proudly claiming in the Vidhan Sabha that ‘I am a militant’ as one of your MLAs did; it means opposing the democratic process and running away from the elections as your father did in 1992…” he told Sukhbir, adding, “if you still have any doubts you are free to ask”.
About his visit to Dixie Gurdwara in Canada, Capt Amarinder said, “yes I had the courage, conviction and confidence to visit that Gurdwara and put forth my point of view which people there listened to attentively”. He dared Sukhbir and his father to show same courage and visit the same Gurdwara to present their point of view. Moreover, he added to ask, “I visited Dixie Gurdwara ten years ago, why did you wake up now?”
The former Chief Minister advised Sukhbir to get rid of his congenital obsessions he seems to have inherited from his father of seeing Congress hand in everything. “I can understand your state of mind as the Congress hand is definitely going to be your worst nightmare in the days to come”, he told Sukhbir while referring to the party symbol which, he said, will throw out the Akali government.
