Taking strong exception tothe patently anti-national and pro-Pak comments of two of Navjot Sidhu’s aides,a group of Punjab Congress ministers and MLAs on Tuesday called for strongaction under the law against Malwinder Mali and Payre Lal Garg.
The statements of both thesenewly appointed advisors of Punjab Congress president Navjot Sidhu were clearlyagainst India’s interests, and detrimental to national security, said MinistersBrahm Mohindra, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, alongwith MLA Raj Kumar Verka.
Besides stringent legalaction against Mali and Garg, they also urged the Congress national leadershipto direct Sidhu to immediately rein in his aides in the interest of the party,as well as the country.
“The Congress has made many sacrifices for theprotection of the nation’s security and peace, as have our soldiers at theborders. Nobody can or should be allowed to undermine these sacrifices andjeopardise the safety of our country and its people,” they emphasised, citing,in particular, the grave implications such statements could have for the borderstate of Punjab.
The Congress leaders alsoquestioned Sidhu’s failure to put his foot down on such anti-national andpro-Pak diatribe by his close aides, despite the justified uproar it hastriggered across party lines. Sidhu’s omission in this regard had givenammunition to the Opposition parties, which were quick to recall the PPCCpresident’s own bonhomie with the Pakistan Prime Minister and Army chief, theypointed out, warning against the massive damage this could cause to theCongress in the run-up to the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, which are due in lessthan six months.
In a statement, the fourPunjab Congress leaders termed Mali’s statement on Kashmir a dangerous andunacceptable deviation from India’s stated position on J&K. By questioningthe unanimous 1994 resolution of the Parliament of India declaring Jammu &Kashmir as an integral of India (which was reiterated in 2012), Mali had blatantlytoed the line of Pakistan, which had been trying to stake claim to the regionand was in illegal occupation of certain areas, such as PoK, they added.
Even Garg’s statementcountering Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s criticism of Pakistanreflected strong pro-Pak leanings, they further said, adding that anyone notcondemning the continuous efforts from across the border to destabilise Punjaband India was playing into the hands of the enemy.
“Drones from Pakistan are dumping arms anddrugs into Punjab almost every day. Our soldiers are dying at the border. Howcan any patriotic Indian not condemn Pak actions in the circumstances?,” theyasked.
Such comments, if notpunished, had the potential of becoming a deadly precursor to moreanti-national statements, promoted by forces inimical to the interests ofIndia, they warned, citing the continuous threat from across the border toIndia’s peace and integrity.
The Punjab Congress leadersalso condemned Mali for posting a controversial and highly objectionable sketchof late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, terming it another instance of hisanti-party stance.