Noting that more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered in the 1971 Indo-Pak War, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted if he had been in power he would have taken Kartapur Sahib from Pakistan before freeing their troops.
Addressing a rally at Patiala, his first in the state for the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls on June 1, Modi said Punjab and the Sikh community have always been at the forefront of national-building efforts, even as he lambasted the current AAP government over issues of corruption and drugs trade. He called Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann only a ‘kagazi CM’ — chief minister only on paper.
PM Modi began his address by paying rich tributes to the land of ‘Guru Tegh Bahadur.’ Modi brought up the emotive issue of the gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib, a place sacred to Sikhs as Guru Nanak Dev spent the last years of his life there, and blamed the Congress for country’s partition, saying they did it for sake of power.
The partition left Kartar Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab, just a few kilometers away from the border with India. “For 70 years, we could have a ‘darshan’ of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara only with binoculars,” Modi said.
He said opportunity presented itself to take back the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in 1971 when more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered before the Indian Army and “we had the trump card in our hands”.
“Had Modi been there at that time, I would have taken Kartapur Sahib from them (made it part of Indian territory) and then freed their troops,” he said.
“They (Congress) did not do that, but I did as much I could,” Modi added, referring to the opening of the Kartapur Sahib Corridor in 2019 that made it easier for Sikh pilgrims to travel to the shrine.
Campaigning for Preneet Kaur, the wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, who is BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Patiala, Modi said he had come to seek the blessings in the land of Gurus “by bowing my head”.
Other BJP candidates — Parampal Kaur Sidhu from Bathinda, Arvind Khanna from Sangrur, Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot and Gejja Ram Valmiki from the Fatehgarh Sahib seat — were also present on the stage as Modi spoke, donning the traditional Sikh turban.
Punjab has given leadership to the country in various sectors, from agriculture to industry, Modi said. But, the current “fiercely corrupt” Bhagwant Mann government has changed all that, he added.
“Trade and industry are leaving Punjab while the drug trade is growing. The entire state government is running on debt.”
Highlighting how Congress-AAP has trampled upon the spirit of Punjab, PM Modi said, “Rampant corruption and dampened industrial prospects have destroyed the state of Punjab.” He added, “Today, resource mafia, drugs mafia, and shooter gangs rule the roost in Punjab.” He criticized the state government, saying, “The state government of Punjab is debt-ridden, and its CM is only CM on paper.” PM Modi added, “Corrupt Congress and AAP are two sides of the same coin,” aiming to plunder Punjab and deprive it of any development.
Keeping up the attack on the INDIA bloc, he said “they neither have a leader, nor intent” and their biggest aim is the appeasement of their vote bank while the BJP’s mantra is ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’.
Slamming the Congress for opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Modi said Sikh families were persecuted in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and his government decided to give them citizenship. “It is not for vote bank,” he stated.
He said the INDIA bloc lies to farmers. “They made a promise with farmers but did not fulfill it. It is the BJP which gives priority to the welfare of farmers.”
In the last 10 years, there was a record purchase of wheat and paddy from Punjab, he said. “We raised MSP two-and-a-half times in the last 10 years,” he added.
Security was beefed up in view of the call given by farmer bodies to hold a demonstration against Modi.