Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said on Tuesday that deliberate attempts are being made to paint turban-wearing as terrorism in the country only to get votes through polarisation of votes.
Addressing a gathering at Kadian (Gurdaspur), Majithia said it was a cause of concern that efforts are being made to paint Sikhs as terrorists whereas Sikh community is the biggest contributor to the country.
He said a 26-year-old Sikh Singer Shubhneet Singh has been painted as a terrorist even without verifying facts about him.
The SAD leader said a confrontation between India and Canada has affected Punjabis the most. He said that 60 per cent of the Indian students taking admissions in Canada are Punjabis and apart from them, Punjabis who have got PRs (permanent residency) and citizenship in Canada have roots in Punjab.
Majithia said stopping of Visas for Canadian citizens was proving too costly for members of Punjabi fraternity settled there as well as for Punjab because a large number of Punjabi families were being forced to cancel their trips to Punjab in the absence of visas.
