‘Qureshi’s googly remark has hurt Sikhs’
CHANDIGARH: Union minister for food processing industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Sunday urged Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against his foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for his ‘Kartarpur googly’ remark.
The Pakistan foreign minister had said that Imran Khan’s “Kartarpur googly” had forced India to send two ministers to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kartarpur corridor.
On Sunday Harsimrat tweeted at the Pakistan PM saying: “I urge Pak PM @ImranKhanPTI to take action against his minister for hurting sentiments of Sikhs and peace efforts by equating attendance at function at Sri Kartarpur Sahib with trapping India by bowling a googly. Nothing can be more disgusting than this.”
“No one should be allowed to play with religious sentiments. Your commitment to peace should’nt be a hollow promise. Please walk the talk & take action against Mehmood Qureshi for politicising religious issue to assuage hurt feelings of Sikhs,” she wrote.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday come down hard on Qureshi for his “googly” remark, saying it “exposed” him and that Pakistan had no respect for Sikh sentiments. Qureshi’s remarks came a day after Swaraj categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross-border terror activities against India.
Pakistan on Saturday said the Kartarpur corridor initiative was taken solely to fulfil the longstanding wishes of “our Sikh brethren” and criticised the “negative propaganda campaign” against the historic move.
Defending his controversial remark, Qureshi took to Twitter on Sunday to respond to the criticisms. “Dragging my comment towards ‘Sikh sentiments’ is a deliberate attempt to misrepresent & mislead. What I said was strictly with reference to to bilateral interaction with the Indian Govt,” the Pakistani minister tweeted.