Naidu spoke about India & Pakistan’s common culture, while Punjab CM Amarinder Singh issued a barely-veiled threat to Pak Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Chandigarh: Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh took diametrically opposite stands at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur, Monday.
While Naidu reminded Pakistan about the two nations’ common culture, standing by India’s tradition of peaceful coexistence, Singh took a hyper-nationalist line, using the platform to issue a barely-veiled threat to Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying Pakistan should stop sponsoring terror in India. Singh was referring to the grenade explosion at Amritsar’s Nirankari Bhawan last week, which killed three persons and injured 20.
“It (the corridor) is a bridge between the people of the two countries which have so much in common,” said Naidu, after laying the foundation stone for the corridor on the Indian side of the border.
“This is a corridor to the reign of peace, harmony and humanism… A corridor that opens new doors, a path that opens new possibilities. It is a unifier, building bridges across old chasms. It promotes deepest understanding and a new resolve to connect the people of our two countries through love, empathy and invisible threads of common spiritual heritage.”
Singh, on the other hand, said: “Bajwa should not forget that we too have Punjabi blood flowing in us.
“Killing innocents is cowardice. Let the (Pakistani) generals remember that we are ready, we have a bigger army. They should desist from crossing limits. But if you keep repeating (attacks on innocents), India too will be forced to think (about war).”
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Vice-President talks family ties
The role reversal between the Congress government in the state and the BJP-led Central government was sharply visible at the ceremony. After the Modi government’s U-turn on its Pakistan policy made the ceremony possible, Naidu gave credit to the Centre.
“This moment has been made possible by government of India to build this corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to the international border on our side. We urged the government of Pakistan to recognise the sentiment of the Sikh community and develop the corridor… We are happy that Pakistan has accepted our long-pending demand,” he said.
“India has believed that the whole world is one large family and today is a reaffirmation of this conviction….It (the corridor) promises to be in many ways the beginning of a new chapter… to bring two family members even closer.
“India believes that peace is an inexorable prerequisite for progress. We treat all as our friends and associates and we hope others will also reciprocate with a similar approach.
“I am sure that the other side is hearing what I am saying and what Captain Amarinder has said. It is this message of goodwill and willingness to work together this event sends out.”
Amarinder takes harsh stand
Chief Minister Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan for agreeing to build the corridor, but added that Khan needed to rein in his Army.
“The army runs the government (in Pakistan)… I want to tell Chief of Army staff Bajwa that I too have been in the Army. Who taught the Army there to kill innocents? That is cowardice. You should be ashamed,” Singh thundered.
“People ask me why I am not going to the ground-breaking ceremony in Pakistan on 28 November. I am a Sikh. My heart says I should go and bow my head at the gurudwara there. My grandfather did sewa. But I am also the Chief Minister of Punjab, and to protect the state and its citizens is also my religion.
“Those like Bajwa will not be allowed to take the state back to the dark days. Punjab suffered for years of bloodshed. And till I have blood running in my body and have the strength, I will use it against them. We will be harsh and let Bajwa know this.
“Learn to live with love. And this corridor is a result of that. I will be among the first to use the corridor.”
Also read: Why Kartarpur Sikh corridor is a very big deal for India-Pakistan relations