Pb CM flays Akalis over 'politicisation' of attacks on Sikhs in Pakistan

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday lambasted the Akalis for their alleged "shameless politicisation" of the recent attacks on Sikhs and their religious institutions in Pakistan.

The chief minister, in a statement here, came down heavily on the Akalis, particularly Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal's alleged "abominable" bid to "shamelessly politicise" the killing of a Sikh youth and the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan "to carry out her political battle against the Congress".

He was referring to Harsimrat's tweets in which she had sought to promote the Citizenship Amendment Act in the context of the persecution of minorities in Pakistan, and has attacked him (Amarinder Singh) and the Congress leadership over their criticism of the CAA.

"This is the height of ignorance and stupidity," the chief minister said, reacting to Harsimrat's tweets.

"The CAA, coupled with the National Register for Citizens (NCR), is the kind of tool with which minorities in India will be persecuted even more than those in Pakistan are," he said, adding that it was apparent that the Union minister had no clue about the implications of CAA or the "damage" it will cause to India's secular character, particularly in conjunction with the NRC.

Amarinder Singh said the brazen attacks on minorities, including Sikhs, in Pakistan were so appalling as to be indefensible. "As if these attacks were not shocking enough, Harsimrat and the rest of the Akali leadership had stooped to a shocking low by using them to defend the CAA and target the Congress party," he added.

The chief minister also lashed out at the "double-speak" of the Shiromani Akali Dal on the issue of CAA/NRC, pointing out that just a few days ago, Akali chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had asked for minorities to be included in the purview of the CAA.

"Don't they have any clear stand on the issue?" he asked, adding that these kinds of conflicting statements expos the double standards of the Akalis on this grave issue of national importance.

Making it clear that neither he nor the Congress were against granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, etc. being persecuted in other countries, the chief minister reiterated his stand against isolation of Muslims and other religions from the CAA cover.

"There should be no discrimination on religious grounds," he said, adding that nor just Sikhs but other minorities facing persecution elsewhere should be welcomed.

"The SAD was clearly playing to the gallery, and hoping to leverage the Pakistani Sikhs issue, to promote their political interests, as was evident from their representation to the external affairs minister on Monday," the chief minister said.

Considering that SAD is part of the NDA government at the Centre, it would be more apt for it to put pressure on its alliance partner, the BJP, to be more proactive in handling the situation arising out of the anti-Sikh attacks in Pakistan, Amarinder Singh stressed.

"It would be more in order for the SAD and its alliance partners at the Centre to take steps to ensure the safety and security of the minorities within India," he added.