After the Opposition launched a scathing attack targeting Navjot Singh Sidhu for hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony, the Punjab Cabinet Minister has now come under the fire of his Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
The CM, on Sunday, 19 August, ticked off Sidhu for hugging the Pakistan Army Chief, who he said was responsible for the deaths of Indian soldiers on the border, even as the cricketer-turned-politician defended his action.
I think it was wrong of him (Sidhu) to have shown the affection he did for the Pakistan army chief. I am not in its favour... the fact is that the man (Sidhu) should understand that our soldiers are being killed everyday. My own regiment lost one major and two jawans a few months ago.Amarinder Singh, also a retired officer of the Indian Army’s Sikh Regiment
Does He Not Remember Our Soldiers: Sidhu Draws Oppn’s Ire
On Saturday, 18 August, the opposition questioned Sidhu on whether it was necessary to visit Pakistan at a time when India was mourning the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"Sidhu's visit to Pakistan is shameful," said Punjab BJP chief Shwait Malik.
On one side, the Pakistan army was involved in attacking our soldiers at the border and on the other side, Sidhu was hugging the Army chief. Does it mean he was thanking him for killing our jawans?
Malik dubbed Sidhu as an "opportunist" and accused him of putting the nation's dignity at risk.
The BJP leader demanded an apology from him for the "unacceptable act." The Shiromani Akali Dal said Sidhu broke "decorum" by visiting Pakistan.
"The whole nation is observing seven-day mourning in the wake of the death of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. At this point of time, it becomes necessary that no minister should attend ceremonial functions. By visiting Pakistan, Sidhu has broken the decorum," said SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema.
He said that Sidhu's hug with Bajwa – who was sitting next to the president of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) Masood Khan – has sent a "wrong message" to Indian armed forces.
The SAD targeted the ruling Congress, saying that the party which had been criticising the Centre over the deaths of jawans at the border should now explain the "controversial visit" of its own leader.
Sidhu is a Cabinet minister in the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab.
The main opposition party, the Aam Aadmi Party, also condemned Sidhu for hugging the Pakistan Army chief.
"Although it is Sidhu's personal visit to Pakistan – if he hugged the Pakistan Army chief, then it is condemnable," said AAP MLA and Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema.
Haryana Health minister Anil Vij termed Sidhu's participation in the ceremony an "act of disloyalty" towards India which "will not be endorsed by any patriotic citizen" of the country.
Sidhu Defends
Meanwhile Sidhu, who returned from Pakistan via the Wagah-Attari border on Sunday, defended hugging Bajwa by posing a counter-question.
If someone (Pak army chief) comes to me and says that we belong to the same culture and that we’ll open the route to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib (in Pakistan) on first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev’s 550th birth anniversary, what else I could do?
Sidhu was among the special guests present at Khan's oath-taking ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (the President House) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
He had arrived in Pakistan on Friday via the Wagah border.
Talking to the media, Sidhu hoped that his friend Khan's accession to the prime minister's post will be good for the India-Pakistan peace process.
Bajwa, after arriving at the ceremony, hugged Sidhu and both chatted briefly.
Khan, 65, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was administered the oath of office as Pakistan's 22nd Prime Minister by President Mamnoon Hussain.
(With inputs from PTI)
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