Goa BJYM burns Sidhu's effigy for hugging Pak Army chief

The Goa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of BJP, today burnt an effigy of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for hugging Pakistan Army chief during his recent Islamabad visit.

Sidhu hugged General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the swearing-in ceremony of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan last week.

Around 50 workers from BJYM gathered outside the Congress office in Panaji, raised slogans against the cricketer-turned-politician and burnt his effigy.

"The effigy was burnt to condemn the anti-nationalist act of Sidhu, who hugged Pakistan Army chief," BJYM's Goa unit general secretary Gajanan Tilve told reporters here.

"This is the same Army chief who orders killing of our Indian soldiers along the border. How can any patriotic Indian hug him? Sidhu has clearly showed his anti-national mindset," he added.

Attending Imran Khan's swearing-in ceremony when entire India was mourning the death of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was Sidhu's personal decision, he said.

"But we cannot tolerate his behaviour during the ceremony. If the Congress has even a little bit of patriotism in it, then the party should immediately remove him as Punjab minister," Tilve said.