Capt questions selective invites
Saturday, 20/06/2015
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CHANDIGARH: Accusing the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of partisan politics, Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday questioned the selective invitation to leaders for the function to mark the 350th anniversary of the foundation of Anandpur Sahib.
He said the entire expenditure incurred on holding the function should be borne by the SAD since the Badals had turned it into a party function instead of the state function by restricting the invites to a select few, who included their own party leaders or the allies.
Amarinder said chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had committed a blunder by not inviting former prime minister Manmohan Singh to the function. “Not that Manmohan Singh is a Sikh, his contribution to Punjab has been immense,” said Amarinder. “His being the prime minister of the largest democracy in the world helped in recognition of the Sikh identity world over when they were being targeted in hate crimes due to mistaken identity,” he added.
Amarinder asked why only Akalis, what about those Sikhs who have made their mark in the world and done the community proud. “Didn’t they deserve to be invited, didn’t they deserve to participate in the function or just because they were not Akalis, they were left out?” he questioned.
