Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to tender an “unconditional apology” to the tens of thousands of people who had attended the Sarbat Khalsa and whom he had earlier termed as “anti-national” and has now retracted saying that they were not.
“By one mindless utterance borne out of frustration you have tried to brand an entire community as anti-national for which you must apologise,” Capt Amarinder told Sukhbir. “What about the damage you have caused to Punjab and Punjabis’ pride and prestige nationally and internationally by terming a religious gathering as anti-national, just because they showed anger and resentment against you and your failuresIJ” he asked.
Asserting that Sukhbir and his Chief Minister father Parkash Singh Badal owed an unconditional apology to the people of Punjab, he pointed towards Sukhbir’s U-turn and frank admission in his statement, issued on Sunday, where he said that the Sarbat Khalsa “gathering was definitely not anti-national”. “I wonder what is going on in your mind,” he told Sukhbir while pointing out that only a day before, “you cried hoarse terming the Sarbat Khalsa gathering to be an anti-national event and accused Congress of supporting the anti-national forces and now you have realised it was not anti-national gathering”.
About Sukhbir’s claims that he was redefining the meaning of “anti-national”, Capt Amarinder told him, “Not me, you and your father are trying to redefine the meaning of anti-national by terming a mass protest against your government as anti-national to deflect public attention”. He said that Sukhbir and his father did precisely that even now.
About his visit to Dixie Gurdwara in Canada, Capt Amarinder said: “Yes I had the courage, conviction and confidence to visit that Gurdwara and put forth my point of view which people there listened to attentively.” He dared Sukhbir and his father to show same courage and visit the same Gurdwara to present their point of view. Moreover, he added to ask, “I visited Dixie Gurdwara ten years ago, why did you wake up nowIJ”