Congress let go Kartarpur Sahib to Pak: PM
GURDASPUR:HOLDING the Congress responsible for Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib — the last resting place of Guru Nanak — going to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he wonder why the party leaders didn’t press for making the Sikh shrine a part of India.
Addressing the ‘Dhanwad’ rally, organised by the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), at PUDA ground here, Modi said the then government could not keep the shrine within Indian territory even though it is located just 3 km from the international border. “We were deprived of the sacred place in the Partition. We had the right on the place because the distance was very small,” he said.
“Thanks to the failure of the then government, the Indian Sikhs are forced to watch the holy place through binoculars. The then government failed to keep the shrine with India. However, keeping in view the sentiments of crores of Sikhs, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government decided to build a corridor to give a visa-free access to the Indian pilgrims,” he said.
“For the groundbreaking ceremony in Pakistan, we sent our two ministers (Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri) keeping in mind the importance of the event. The entire country witnessed how Congress leaders gave Pakistan an opportunity to talk against India,” he said.
In a veiled attack on Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, the PM Said, “I wonder the Congress leaders even ignored the sincere advice of their chief minister against going to Pakistan.” Appointment of Kamal Nath as chief minister of Madhya Pardesh is the latest example of how the party patronises those accused of orchestrating antisikh riots in 1984,” he said.
Claiming credit for bringing the anti-sikh riots culprits, including Sajjan Kumar, to justice, PM Modi alleged that under the patronage of Gandhi family, the files related to anti-sikh riots cases were gathering dust during the Congress regime. “These files were reopened by the NDA government to ensure that the culprits don’t go unpunished,” he said. “With the cooperation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), we are working for prosperity of Punjab under the guidance of Parkash Singh Badal,” said Modi.
State BJP president Shwait Malik said, “Since Congress is back, the state which is lying on the ventilator and danger of terrorism is looming again.”
Addressing the rally, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal gave credit to Modi for resolving Sikh issues in the recent years. He also demanded removal of the names of Gandhi family members from Delhi airport and other government-owned institutions, terming the family “real culprits” of Sikh massacre.
Prominent among the BJP leaders present were Avinash Rai Khanna, Captain Abhimanyu, Tarun Chugh, Parbhat Jha, Kamal Sharma, Ashwani Sharma and BK Mittal.