Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is under fire from state Opposition for his silence on the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in the House of Commons linking “agents of Indian government” to the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June. India has called the allegations “absurd”.
While the issue has made national and international headlines, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership has largely remained silent — be it CM Mann or party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. The state unit issued a statement Monday, calling for a solution to the stand-off.
Lashing out at Mann in a post on X, Leader of Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa, pointed out Tuesday that the AAP had not “said a word” on the issue.
Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, too, questioned the CM’s silence. “Mann says that he represents the three crore people of Punjab then why has he not spoken a single word over an issue that has a direct impact on lacs of Punjabis living in Canada, especially the youngsters? Why has he not spoken out when the electronic media all over the country is trying to paint the Sikhs as Khalistanis?” he said in a video message on Facebook last Saturday.
“…I am not a supporter of Khalistan but why are Sikhs being painted that colour?…Bhagwant Mann makes all kinds of loose statements, hitting Opposition leaders below the belt, but on this grave issue, not a word has come from him. Even on the issue of estoppel of visas, Mann has not spoken a word,” added Khaira.
AAP’s Punjab spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang issued a statement Monday that the two countries should resolve the issue amicably so that Punjabis in both countries don’t suffer. Responding to ThePrint on the party’s alleged silence over the issue, he said, “We are not silent on the issue…we have already clarified our stand. My statement has been widely published.”
Professor Harjeshwar Singh of the department of history, Khalsa College, Amritsar, said to ThePrint that AAP has consistently refused to take any stand on Punjab-specific and Sikh-specific issues.
“[AAP] has a reputation of being an opportunist, non-ideological party which follows public opinion as manifested in social media and then takes a position instead of following any fundamental principles…it has probably weighed the pros and cons of speaking out on this matter. If it criticises the Modi government, it fears popular backlash against it outside Punjab where it hopes to expand. And if it sides with the government, it fears a backlash from vocal sections of NRIs and radical Sikhs who dominate the social media,” Prof Singh said.
Dr Pramod Kumar, head of the Institute for Development and Communications (IDC), a research and academic institute in Chandigarh, said it was not strange that AAP leaders had decided to take the safe approach of keeping quiet over such a contentious issue. “AAP has a pragmatic and practical approach to such issues and they believe that it would suit their purpose to keep quiet over it,” he said.
However, he said it was equally strange that nobody was even asking the party about their stand. “This can be the result of either the party having control over the media or because nobody considers them significant enough to say anything on international matters,” Dr Kumar added.
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State opposition
The Congress has supported the Government of India’s stand over the issue. Speaking in the Lok Sabha last week, Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu said Nijjar was a terrorist and was involved with those who had killed his grandfather. Bittu’s grandfather, the then chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, was assassinated in 1995.
Intelligence agencies said Nijjar provided logistics support and funds to Jagtar Singh Tara, one of the accused while he was on the run. “People like Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun collect money in gurdwaras and give it as funding to Trudeau and his party’s colleagues. Nijjar’s killing was an inter-gang affair but Trudeau is blaming India for it,” Bittu said in Parliament.
State Congress head Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the party opposes the idea of Khalistan, condemning what he termed as a “propaganda” being pushed by certain forces against Punjabis to undermine them. “Malicious attempts to tarnish our youngsters must be repulsed,” Warring wrote in a post on X on 22 September, adding that, “We Punjabis don’t need to give any proofs about our nationalism.”
Speaking to the media outside Parliament last week, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and MP Sukhbir Singh Badal called for an amicable solution to the emerging problems between the two countries while objecting to what he termed as a move to “defame Sikhs as terrorists”.
“You can never question the patriotism of a Sikh. We are living in a state that faces the enemies first before anyone else in the country and Sikhs have sacrificed more lives for the nation than any other community in the country,” said Badal.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Sunil Jakhar said to PTI Monday, “I think Trudeau is a mere pawn. He is in a minority government and he is depending on the parties that are vocal about separatism and are supporting terrorists openly.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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