Punjab: CM Amarinder Singh reacts on Navjot Singh Sidhu’s comment on Pulwama; says, ‘he was cricketer, I was...’
The day after Pulwama attack Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh reacted to his cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s remark on Pakistan after the terrorist attack on security personnel, saying that he didn’t understand the "intricacies" of the defence sector.
Singh, who also holds a difference of opinion with Navjot Singh over Pakistan, said he had served in the Army whereas the minister was a cricketer.
Notably, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been hitting the headlines over his controversial remarks, and calls himself a friend of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, was slammed by the opposition after he said that an entire nation cannot be blamed for the act committed by terrorists.
Amarinder Singh said Mr Sidhu's intentions were not "anti-national". "Sidhu was a cricketer while I was a soldier, and both have different viewpoints on things," Punjab CM said. "Sidhu does not understand defence intricacies and had possibly reacted out of friendly motive," he added.
CM Capt Amarinder Singh and Sidhu’s opinions differed when he had gone to Pakistan for the inauguration of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor though Singh refuted the invitation. "Sidhu told me he had already committed himself to go. When I informed him of the stand I had taken on the issue, he said it was his personal visit but he would get back to me. But I did not hear from him," Mr Singh had said.
Where Sidhu defended his comments, Singh took a more aggressive step on Pulwama attack and said for every soldier killed, security forces must kill two terrorists. "We should get 82 of them since 41 of our men have been killed," said Captain Singh, who was an army officer before joining politics. He demanded an "eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".
Meanwhile, Congress has also reacted to Sidhu's statement, saying nobody had the freedom to cross the limits. "There is, of course, complete freedom of speech in this country, but everybody especially in public life, a ''karyakarta'' or otherwise, owes it to himself and to the nation to speak, act, express, totally in sync with and in keeping with the public sentiment," party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi was quoted by PTI as saying.
"I don't think anyone of us has that freedom to cross the limits of that sentiment and that is a matter of self-imposed discipline and maturity which I am sure each one of us must and will practice," he added.
In Pulwama attack over 40 CRPF jawans were martyred last Thursday. Following which on Monday, in an encounter 3 terrorists were gunned down by security personnel.
First published: 19 February 2019, 10:10 IST