All NRI Sikhs not anti-national: Cong to Sukhbir
Thursday, 23/07/2015
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AMRITSAR: The Amritsar (rural) District Congress Committee (DCC-rural) president Gurjeet Singh Aujla has taken strong exception to Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badals’ remark — dubbing the Sikhs of Canada and the United States (US) as “antinational” — following their protests against a visiting delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
District Congress Committee (rural) president Gurjeet Singh Aujla addressing a press conference in Amritsar on Wednesday.
Showing videos downloaded from a social media site to the media here on Wednesday, Aujla claimed that no “anti-India” slogans were raised during the visit of the Akali delegation to Richmond (New York) and Abbotsford and Toronto, both in Canada.
The Akali delegation was comprised cabinet ministers Tota Singh, Surjit Singh Rakhra and Daljit Singh Cheema and several others.
“I have talked to several Punjabis settled in the two countries, and they said that the protests there were not against the Government of India, but against the Punjab government, particularly against the SAD. So how can Sukhbir dub the protesters as anti-national,” he questioned.
Pointing to the videos, Aujla said both Sikhs and non-Sikhs took part in the protests and in giving the Akali delegation a hostile reception.
He claimed that many NRIs were angry as their properties back home in India had been occupied by the land mafia and the Akalis had done nothing to help them.
“None of the tall promises made by the SAD-BJP government for helping the Punjabi NRIs had been fulfilled. So there was anger and they gave vent to their resentment by protesting,” he added.
The Congress leader said NRIs were equally concerned about their home state and they were blaming the Akalis for the drug addiction among the youth here.
Issues like unemployment and corruption in Punjab was affecting the progress of the state and this was another cause of worry for the Punjabis settled abroad, he added.
