Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has condemned Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh for saying that Punjab has the right to self-determination. The Indian politician had earlier this year refused to meet Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan by dubbing him a Khalistani sympathizer.
The chief minister’s office issued a statement after Jagmeet Singh said in an interview to CBC this month that places like Punjab, Catalonia and Quebec have the right to self-determination. Amarinder Singh further accused Jagmeet, who was recently called on to condemn the veneration of Talwinder Parmar, the 1985 Air India blasts accused, of trying to “whip up negative passions among the Sikh community”. Jagmeet had said that whoever was responsible for the Air India bombings in 1985 should be condemned and penalized, but refused to admit that Parmar was responsible for them.
Amarinder said that Jagmeet was “obviously totally disconnected from the ground realities in India, where Sikhs hold a place of pride with their excellent achievements in every field”. The Congress politician also accused the Canadian Prime Ministerial contender of sowing strife to destabilize Punjab with his “ill-conceived and confrontational remarks”.
He asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make sure that his country was not used for assaults on India’s integrity and security.
The statement said: “Jagmeet’s statement that he considers self-determination to be a ‘basic right’ in places such as Punjab, Catalonia or Quebec was clearly designed to spread trouble in Punjab.” Taking a strong stance he said that the state government would not allow such an attempt at fracturing the unity of the country to succeed.
Amarinder’s statement expressed pride at the Sikh community’s contribution to the regions where they are settled.
“A handful of destructive elements could not undermine the achievements of the Sikhs,” he said. He added that the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had failed to trigger unrest in Punjab through its recent “Khalistan 2020 Referendum”, which was reiterated by Jagmeet.