Now, it’s Sidhu vs Badals on Kartarpur Sahib corridor
CHANDIGARH: A fresh storm brewed on Tuesday over Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s trip to Islamabad last month with Union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal accusing him of lying to people over the Kartarpur gurdwara corridor and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal terming him an ISI agent. Sidhu, however, kept on suggesting that it was up to the Centre to take measures to have the pilgrimage route opened.
The BJP, an ally of the Akali Dal, accused Sidhu of acting like a “Pakistani agent”.
Sidhu landed in a controversy after his Islamabad visit on a personal invitation to attend cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s swearing-in as Prime Minister on August 18. A month on, his hug with Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa at the event continued to kick up a political storm, both in his home state and in the national capital.
Sidhu, at a press conference in Chandigarh on Tuesday, claimed that he had met external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday in New Delhi and she assured him that a draft was being prepared and she would write to Pakistan government for opening of the passage.
His letter dated September 17 to Swaraj, a follow-up of his September 8 letter to her, reads: “Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has held consultative meetings with all stakeholders and Pakistan information minister Fawad Chaudhary has through his tweet and interview stated that Pakistan is willing to open the corridor and is waiting for formal affirmation from India. Kindly send a formal request from the ministry of external affairs to the government of Pakistan seeking an early agreement and opening of the corridor. This initiative should be taken at the earliest keeping in mind the sentiments of 10 crore Sikhs, Punjabis and Sindhis of the country as we are already in the celebration year of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.”
Swaraj’s assurance was in response to his letter, Sidhu claimed.
In New Delhi, Harsimrat accused Sidhu of “inventing an excuse” — the emotive issue of opening the passage to Kartarpur Sahib, where the first Sikh master, Guru Nanak, spent 17 years of his life until his death in 1539.
She said, Swaraj in a letter to her, has said the Pakistani government has so far neither agreed to include visits to Kartarpur Sahib under bilateral protocol nor has sent any official communication for establishing the corridor.
Swaraj too had on Tuesday issued a clarification saying that there has been no official communication from the Pakistani government for establishing the corridor. Harsimrat said Sidhu “betrayed” lakhs of soldiers deployed on the borders by hugging Pakistan’s army chief. “He kept his friendship above the country. Our people were outraged by his actions, when he returned, he was shown black flags. But instead of apologising, he played with the people’s sentiments,” she said.
Sidhu refused to react to Harsimrat’s statement saying: “Guru de ghar di gal ae, mooh da swaad kharab na karo (the issue concerns our Guru. Let’s not make it bitter by war of words).
Back in Punjab, Harsimrat’s husband and Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal called Sidhu the “biggest traitor” of the country and demanded the Congress leader’s call details be investigated “as he is in constant touch with Pakistanis”.