Punjab CM question Centre's decision to cancel Sikh pilgrimage to Pakistan

Chandigarh, Sep 15 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday objected to the Centre's decision to cancel the visit of Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan on the occasion of Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev.

"It’s hard to understand whether BJP’s policy is against Pakistan or against its own people," he said, alleging that it "reflects the hostile attitude of the Modi government towards Punjab".

Mann said that "if a Pakistani stars in a Punjabi artiste’s film, the film is banned by the Centre and Punjabis are labelled as traitors" and "it is ultimately the Punjabi artists and our film industry which bears the loss due to the step-motherly treatment of the Centre".

Noting that the film was shot much before the Pahalgam terrorist attack, and banning this movie on this pretext was an injustice, the Chief Minister said that the cricket match between India and Pakistan was allowed. He said the BJP-led troll army termed Punjabi actors and producers as traitors, whereas now everyone was tight-lipped when this match was held.

"Everyone knows what Pakistan does with this money, which it earns from such matches, due to its anti-India stance," he said, adding that, in other words, it is to the benefit of Pakistan.

Mann asked if India can play a cricket match with Pakistan, then why can’t pilgrims visit Sri Kartarpur Sahib and Sri Nankana Sahib to pay obeisance?

"It is unfortunate that when disaster strikes Afghanistan, the BJP-led national government rushes to send aid to them. However, now that Punjab is facing devastating floods, the BJP-led central government didn’t even release the rightful funds owed to Punjab."

The Chief Minister accused the BJP of continuously holding a grudge against Punjab and its people, adding that the Centre has not even released the Rs 1,600 crore announced by the Prime Minister. He said that until yesterday, Punjab BJP leaders were raising baseless questions for the state government, adding he dared its state chief Sunil Jakhar and Union Minister Ravneet Bittu to explain why the Central government is not allowing the jathas to visit Sri Kartarpur Sahib, whereas on the other hand, a cricket match with Pakistan was allowed.

--IANS

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