Harsimrat urges Pak PM to take action against Qureshi over 'googly' remark

Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Sunday asked Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against the country's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for his remarks at the Kartarpur corridor last month where he said that Pakistan trapped India by "bowling a googly" on opening the route, thereby hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community.

Calling the remarks as "disgusting", Harsimrat wrote on her Twitter handle, "I urge Pakistan PM @ImranKhanPTI to take action against his minister for hurting sentiments of Sikhs and peace efforts by equating attendance at a function at Sri Kartarpur Sahib with trapping India by bowling a googly. Nothing can be more disgusting than this."

She underlined that no politician should be allowed to "play with religious sentiments" while reiterating Prime Minister Khan's commitment to peace with India, which should not be a "hollow promise."

"@ImranKhanPTI ji no one should be allowed to play with religious sentiments. Your commitment to peace shouldn't be a hollow promise. Please walk the talk & take action against Mehmood Qureshi immediately for politicising religious issue to assuage hurt feelings of Sikhs," the Union Minister wrote on her micro-blogging site.

Qureshi earlier claimed that Prime Minister Khan "bowled a googly at India by opening the Kartarpur corridor". He made these remarks at a ceremony held in Islamabad to observe the 100-day performance of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.

"Bowling a googly" in cricketing terms means making a deceptive delivery to put the batsman in a difficult position.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra on Friday said that the apparent "googly" played by Pakistan on Kartarpur corridor matter has exposed the Prime Minister Khan-led government.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier remarked that the opening of the Kartarpur corridor should not be taken as the resuming of dialogues between India and Pakistan, as terror and talks cannot go together. She also turned down Pakistan's invitation for the SAARC summit citing that there would be no dialogue until Pakistan ceases terror activities in India.

Swaraj had to decline the invitation due to prior election commitments in Telangana. She had instead sent Harsimrat and Minister of State (MoS) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri as India's representatives to the groundbreaking ceremony of the event in Kartarpur, Pakistan on November 28.