Atrocious and ill-conceived; Amarinder Singh slams Navjot Singh's advisors' remarks

Referring to the recent statements made by Navjot Singh's advisors on Kashmir and Pakistan, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh warned against "atrocious and ill-conceived comments that were potentially dangerous to the peace and stability of the state and the country" on Sunday.

He further urged Sidhu to rein in his advisors before they create more damage to India's interests and instructed them to "not speak on matters of which they clearly had little or no knowledge, and had no understanding of the implications of their comments."

While Sidhu's advisor Pyare Lal Garg had questioned Amarinder's criticism of Pakistan, Malwinder Singh Mali had made controversial statements on Kashmir. Singh expressed shock at the extraordinary statements that were, as per him, totally misplaced and antagonistic to the position of India and Congress on Pakistan and Kashmir. "Kashmir was and is an inalienable part of India," asserted the Chief Minister. He added that by declaring the contrary, Mali had effectively and inexplicably toed Islamabad's line. "This is totally anti-national," he said.

He further slammed Mali for failing to withdraw his statement despite the widespread condemnation it had evoked from within and without Congress.

Referring to Garg' statement that his criticism of Pakitan was not in the interest of Punjab, the CM said that Garg was clearly disconnected from ground reality.

"The fact, which every Punjabi and in fact every Indian knows, is that Pakistan's threat to us is real. Every day they are pushing weapons and drugs into Punjab via drones in a brazen attempt to destabilise our state, and our nation. Punjabi soldiers are dying at the borders at the hands of Pak-backed forces," pointed out the Chief Minister, dubbing Garg's remarks as "irrational and unjustified".

"Garg may have forgotten the thousands of Punjabi lives lost in the fire of Pak-backed terrorism of the 1980s and 1990s, but I have not. Nor have the people of Punjab. And we will continue to do everything in our power to fight off Pakistan's dangerous games," asserted Amarinder Singh.