Sidhu bats for dialogue with Pakistan, Cong distances from remark
Friday, 01/03/2019
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: Amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack and subsequent developments, Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday favoured dialogue and diplomatic pressure in seeking a long-term solution to terror outfits operating across the border.
“I stand by my conviction that dialogue and diplomatic pressure will count for a great deal in seeking a long-term solution to the presence and practice of terror outfits that operate within and across the border,” he said in a statement.
Appealing for peace between the two countries, Sidhu said the solution to terror is “peace, development and progress and not unemployment, hatred and fear”.
The cricketer-turned-politician has been facing flak after the Pulwama terror attack for his remark that an entire nation cannot be held responsible for the acts of a few people.
“On both sides of the border, tacticians are planning for the worst,” he said, adding, “They must think the worst of one another, because only in thinking the worst, do they believe that they can protect and defend. But this belief is a mirage”.
The minister said he stands against the managed discourse that stifles dissent and must rely on cyber armies, trolls and goons to silence debate.
“I stand against the fear of those who know that their only power is in fabrication and fakery,” he said. ‘TIME NOT RIGHT FOR DIALOGUE WITH PAK’ The Congress on Thursday said the current atmosphere is not conducive for dialogue with Pakistan and termed the suggestions made in this regard by its leader and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu as “his personal opinion and not that of the party”.
“There is a time to act and there is a time to talk. Dialogue can only take place when the atmosphere is conducive and the current atmosphere is not,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.
On Sidhu’s comments, he said, “If Navjot Singh Sidhu has an opinion and it is not the opinion of the Congress.” Tewari said Pakistan has been sponsoring a proxy war against India and Punjab suffered from the crossborder terror.
