In soup over the issue of ‘Referendum 2020’ — a campaign led by Sikh hardliners based abroad to “liberate Punjab from India’s occupation”, Aam Aadmi Party MlA and the leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sukhpal Khaira on Sunday categorically denied that he had ever supported the demand.
Khaira, interacting with the mediapersons at Jalandhar, said that he was being targeted by the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and SAD president Sukhbir Badal for his vocal utterances against both the leaders.
He alleged that the Congress and the SAD leaders are trying to frame him as an anti-national and that is why the Punjab Congress chief and MP Sunil Jakhar had demanded even his arrest.
Khaira said that if he was being framed as anti-national, then what action should be taken against Capt Amarinder Singh who read the resolution at Sri Durbar Sahib demanding autonomous status for Punjab in 1992 in which the former Chief Ministers — Parkash Singh Badal and Surjit Singh Barnala — were also present.
He said that Badal should also be booked for his being anti-national as he had burnt the copies of the Indian Constitution in Delhi in 1988.
Dejecting the statement of AAP’s Punjab unit co-president Balbir Singh, Khaira said that he had fallen in the trap of Congress and SAD leaders and had issued a statement against him.
“Dr Balbir Singh should have contacted me before issuing such a statement which would have hit the image of the party in the state,” said Khaira adding that his own party leaders reacted without knowing his viewpoint.
He said that the efforts of both the Congress and SAD leaders are like a second big storm like that of the drug episode, the Fazilka police tried to trap him in.
Khaira, while expressing his views on referendum on Thursday, said that its organisers were “within their rights” to carry it out. He had stated, “If people living in independent nations choose to do such a referendum, they are doing it within their rights...And they are doing all this because the justice system in India is so flawed that it has led to such emotions.”
His statement attracted criticism from all the political parties, including his own AAP, accusing him of backing a separatist referendum, with Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh slamming him for milking the separatist agenda for political purposes without any knowledge of Punjab’s history and the consequences of such an action.
Denying backing the referendum and reaffirmed his allegiance to the Indian Constitution, Khaira said that the government must look into why there was a rise in demand for such a referendum.
“Why is there a demand for the ReferendumIJ It is because the government of India always held an anti-Sikh attitude. Demands are in response to a policy of discrimination. I request the government to work on their mistakes and ensure that the Sikh community feels secure in the country,” he said.