Deliberate attempts being made to paint Turban-wearing Sikhs as terrorists to get votes: SAD

Kadian (Gurdaspur), September 26: Shiromani Akali Dal Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia today said that deliberate attempts are being made to paint Turban wearing as terrorists in the country only to get votes by polarisation of votes even as he slammed Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann for complete failure of his government in all fronts including Law and order.

Bikram Singh Majithia at Punjab Youth Milni programme

Addressing a mammoth gathering at the Punjab Youth Milni programme in Kadian organised by Youth Akali Dal President Sarbjit Singh Jhinjer, Bikram Singh Majithia said that it was a cause of concern that efforts are being made to paint Sikhs as terrorists whereas the Sikh community is the biggest contributor for the country. First, they contributed the maximum to the freedom struggle of the country and now Sikh soldiers were guarding the borders of the country so as to ensure that the common Indian could sleep with comfort.

SAD on singer Shubh controversy

He said that he had raised the issue of how only 26-year-old Sikh Singer Shubhneet Singh has been painted as a terrorist even without verifying facts about him. He said that it was most shameful to see that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was busy at the wedding of AAP MP Raghav Chadha but he had no time to tweet in favour of a young Sikh Singer.

Advocating opening trading between India and Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border, Majithia said that the export of Basmati has been banned in the country but was still continuing through ports. He said that this ban has resulted in huge losses to farmers, particularly from Punjab. He said that Centre should immediately revoke this ban so that Punjab farmers too can benefit from the high prices of Basmati rice in the International market.

India-Canada row

Talking about the confrontation between India and Canada, Majithia said that this confrontation has affected Punjabis the most. He said that 60 percent of the Indian students taking admissions in Canada are Punjabis and apart from them Punjabis who have PRs and citizenship in Canada have roots in Punjab. He said that stopping Visas for Canadian citizens is proving too costly for members of this Punjabi fraternity settled there as well as for Punjab because a large number of Punjabi families were being forced to cancel their trips to Punjab in the absence of visas.

Talking about the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Amritsar for the North Zone Council meeting, Majithia said that it was the responsibility of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to tell Centre that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and at no cost Punjabis will allow the Centre government to provide land to Haryana for construction of separate Vidhan Sabha of the state. He said that similarly, Punjab has no surplus water to give to Haryana and more land acquired for SYL has been given back to farmers during his stint as Revenue Minister under former CM S. Parkash Singh Badal. So there is no question of the construction of SYL or giving water to Haryana.

SAD leader also questioned who was making payments for high profile wedding of AAP MP Raghav Chadha when he showed his income at Rs. 2.44 lakh per annum in income tax returns. He said that crores of rupees were spent on this lavish wedding and it was unclear who cleared the bill. He questioned CM Bhagwant Mann if the Punjab Government had paid these bills or if Industrialists of the state were forced to pay the bill. He said that he was proving like a state special guest of Bhagwant Mann as CM is desisting from taking action in cases related to him.

Majithia also slammed Bhagwant Mann for taking a loan of Rs. 50 thousand crores in just One and a half years and said that this amounts to Rs. 100 crore loan per day on Punjabis. He said that it was more shocking that not a single penny was spent on development works in the state out of this amount and more than Rs. 800 crore were spent on advertisements and on ferrying AAP Convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Other prominent leaders present on the occasion included former Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, Guriqbal Singh Mahal halqa incharge, senior leader Sucha Singh Chottepur, Gubarchan Singh Babbehali, Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal and Ravi Karan Singh Kahlon besides others.