Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday took a swipe at Navjot Singh Sidhu a day after a furore in the Punjab assembly over the Minister’s remarks on the 14 February Pulwama attack.
Singh, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, posted two tweets directed at Sidhu telling the cricketer-turned-politician to put some sense into his “friend”, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Navjot Singh Sidhu ji apne Dost Imran Bhai ko samjhaiye. Uski vajah se aap ko Gali padh rahi hai (Please make your friend Imran Bhai understand things. You are being abused because of him),” read the tweets posted by Singh.
Sidhu was the only Indian politician who attended Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony in Islamabad in August 2018. The Punjab minister has on many occasions called Khan a “dear friend”.
The Punjab Assembly witnessed unruly scenes on Monday as the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) sought the dismissal of Sidhu for his “utterances” in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.
Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia and Sidhu exchanged barbs in the House with the former accusing latter of being a traitor and the cricketer-turned-politician accusing the Akali leader of being a drug smuggler.
In the aftermath of the terror attack on Pulwama, Sidhu had said that “for a handful people, you cannot blame an entire nation”. After he was slammed for his remarks, Sidhu took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that “those who are branding me as anti-national should tell the people as to who had handed him (Massod) over to Pakistan”.
Following the row in Punjab assembly, Amarinder Singh said that Sidhu was a cricketer while he himself was a soldier, and both had different viewpoints on things. He added that the minister must have realised that he had gone overboard with his Pakistan visit.
“Sidhu does not understand defence intricacies and had possibly reacted out of friendly motive,” said the CM. He said that Sidhu’s intentions were surely not anti-national and he must have got the message.
Digvijay Singh challenges Imran Khan to show guts
Singh’s tweets on Sidhu came after he attacked Imran Khan for failing to end terrorism in Pakistan and said that the Pak PM cannot take on the Muslim fundamentalists in his country.
“Imran Khan a Cricketer who I admire, can’t take on these Muslim Fundamentalists and ISI sponsored Terrorist Groups I can’t believe,” he said.
Singh challenged Khan to show “guts” and hand over Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-E-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar to India.
“Come on Hon Prime Minister of Pakistan show Guts and hand over Hafiz Sayeed and Masood Azhar the Self Confessed perpetrators of Terror, to India. You would not only bail out Pakistan out of Financial Crisis and also be the Front Runner for Nobel Peace Prize,” he said.
Singh also called on all Indian political parties to keep aside political differences for the sake of Kashmir.
“We are all to be blamed,” he said referring to the ongoing strife in Kashmir.
“Can’t we for sometime sweep our Political differences under the Carpet and come together to bring back the Communal Harmony and Kashmiri Muslim and Kashmiri Hindu brotherhood back in J&K which was the Hall Mark of J&K?” Singh asked, adding, “We can! Would Leadership of Congress BJP NC PDP and other Political Parties relevant in J&K draw out a Road Map for next 10 years to achieve this?”
Singh also urged the people to stop the “unnecessary persecution of innocent Kashmiri students and traders in rest of the country” and said that as a nation we have to decide whether we want Kashmir “with the Kashmiris or without Kashmiris”.