Amritsar, November 26 (KNO) : Denouncing the Badal family and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘not being humble and indulging in shameless rhetoric to take credit for the historic stone-lying foundation ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor’, Dal Khalsa on Monday said that in case the credit goes to someone, it is the Pakistan government led by Imran Khan.
“The cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has been touching the real issues of the people in his country as well as making the right noises to bring about thaw in Indo-Pak relationship,” Dal Khalsa said in a statement issued to KNO, adding that Khan’s government and Pakistani establishment has beaten their Indian counterparts in the race of accepting the demands of the Sikh community pending since the last two decades.
“It is on record that on many occasions in the past, Pakistan has expressed its willingness to build the corridor in case India agrees. So the ball was in India’s court and the Modi dispensation knew that if it didn’t agree at this point of time, the popular perception will be strengthened that Pakistan is more generous to the Sikh demand than India,” Dal Khalsa said.
Dal Khalsa said that the Badal family is indulging in sycophancy. “They are patting their own backs while riding piggyback on the shoulders of Indian PM Narendra Modi, said party Spokesman Kanwar Pal Singh after visiting Dera Baba Nanak with party members to have the glimpse of Gurdwara Sahib situated on Pakistani soil near the international border,” Dal Khalsa added. Captain Amarinder Singh supported the move but chastised Navjot Singh Sidhu. He too was caught unawares by the announcement of the government of India.
“We believe that Sikh prayers have been answered, said Kanwarpal Singh, the spokesperson of the party. The community offers gratitude to late Kuldeep Singh Wadala and their team of selfless volunteers who spearheaded the campaign for this since 2001,” Dal Khalsa said.
Dal Khalsa leader also acknowledged the role of Diaspora Sikh leaders late Gurmeet Singh Aulakh, late Manmohan Singh UK and Dr Pritpal Singh USA for initiating the move in 2008 and diligently following it up to its logical conclusion.
“General Bajwa while murmuring the corridor idea in the ears of Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu during his famous hug set the ball rolling in the current scenario which witnessed heightened Sikh interest in the Kartarpur Sahib corridor in view of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Sahib,” he said.
“We feel that General Bajwa’s masterstroke has touched the right chords and it looks that the dream will become reality by November 2019 when the community will observe 550th Parkash day of Guru Nanak,” said Kanwarpal Singh. “Nevertheless, acceptance of the long standing desire of Guru Nanak nam leva by both India and Pakistan is a win-win situation for the tiny Sikh nation sandwiched between the two nuclear-power countries. Left to India alone, he said, the New Delhi would never have fulfilled the Sikh desire for the visa-free passage to have free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur,” Dal Khalsa added.(KNO)