Don’t damn critics as anti-national: Capt to Sukhbir
Wednesday, 22/07/2015
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CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday asked deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal not to condemn the people protesting against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation in Canada and the US as anti-national.
“This is unbecoming of the president of the Akali Dal, a party that claims to represent and watch Sikh interests, to damn an entire community as anti-national just because they are critical of you and your party,” he told Sukhbir in a statement issued here. Amarinder advised Sukhbir and his father, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, to introspect why there was so much anger and outrage against them and their party, “not only in foreign countries but also back home”.
“They are our own people, not anti-nationals as you are trying to brand them,” he told Sukhbir, even asking him: “Why only the Akalis associated with the Badals are facing so many protests? Why don’t leaders from the other parties who also visit these countries faces such protests?”
Pointing out that the Akalis were facing protests even in Punjab, the Amritsar MP said: “Do you mean that everybody is anti-national just because they are showing you the mirror?” The Congress leader regretted that instead of addressing the protesters’ alienation, Sukhbir had made “a highly irresponsible statement that does no good to anyone and will create more bitterness”. “Better give up your arrogance and learn to respect the sentiments of people,” he advised the deputy CM.
