UPA govt failed to protect Sikhs in foreign countries: Sukhbir

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government for failing to check hate crimes against Sikhs residing in foreign countries, particularly Philippines.
Speaking to reporters after administering oath of office to newly elected 344 sarpanches and 2,457 panches of Moga district here, he said it was unfortunate that every third day, a Sikh was being murdered in Manila and the Centre has failed to seriously address the issue.
"It is a matter of shame that the Centre has not even written a single letter to the government in Philippines against this, even though the Union Minister of State for External Affairs is from Punjab," he said.

Responding to a question on Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa's comments on IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, Sukhbir said Congress has lost its moral right to say anything on illegal sand mining as only yesterday, the mining mafia tried to kill the SDM of Nalagarh in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh.
"The mining lobby, whether in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab or in Karnataka, has direct patronage of Congress politicians who have been controlling the supply and demand of mining products to keep their prices artificially high," he said.