Punjab: CM urges Centre to direct Google to take down 'anti-India app'

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday urged the Centre to direct Google to immediately take down anti-India app -- 2020 Sikh Referendum.

"Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to direct the company (Google) to take down the controversial app immediately. The state government has taken up the issue with Google," said an official spokesperson from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

Acting on the CM's directives, Director General Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta is also coordinating with the Central security agencies to tackle the threat triggered by the launch of the '2020 Sikh Referendum' app, just ahead of the opening of Kartarpur corridor.

"The App, freely available for download on Google Play, is clearly aimed at pushing the ISI agenda of dividing the Sikh community amid the 550th Parkash Purb celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev," said the Chief Minister.

"How and why Google allowed such an app to be uploaded by a known radical extremist group in the first place is questionable," he said.

He asserted that Google should remove the app from its Play Store without a minute's delay if it did not want to be perceived to be supporting an extremist group.

The Chief Minister said the development raises serious concerns about the security threat to Punjab specifically, and to India as a whole.

"The timing of the launch of the app indicates a patently sinister agenda by the ISI to leverage the opportunity created by Kartarpur corridor to divide Indian Sikh community," said Amarinder, who has been repeatedly cautioning India against the ISI design behind Pakistan's decision to open the corridor.