February 22, 2025

One thinks this time Navjot Singh Sidhu has crossed the line. By saying that Pakistan cannot be blamed for the terrorist attack in Pulwama, Sidhu has displayed a sick mentality which is the result of total ignorance of facts and the style of operation of the ISI and the Pakistani army.

When Sidhu was invited by his good friend Imran Khan to attend his swearing-in and he went, one thought that there was nothing wrong in that as friendships usually transcend boundaries. But once there, when he hugged the chief of the Pakistani army, Gen. Bajwa, one was shocked. Here was a people’s representative from India hugging someone whose aim in life is to plot India’s downfall through his agency ISI. Sidhu has a penchant for being flashy, both with gestures and words. His gesture of hugging Bajwa then was as revolting as his words of support for Pakistan are now.

In an interview after his immature comments, Sidhu took pains to point out that we should strike at the intentions behind the acts of terrorism. Despite being in politics for so long, doesn’t the man know what the intentions are and who fans the flames? Mr Sidhu needs a refresher course in the history of terror attacks on India. He would then find out that the army chief of his good friend Imran Khan runs an agency called the ISI which funds, trains and provides logistical support to most terrorists active in India. Their intention: to carry out a proxy war against the nation and spread disharmony between the two dominant communities as far as the whole nation is concerned and to try and break Kashmir away from India in their activities in that state. If we need to strike at the intentions behind terrorism, as Sidhu says, he must recognize that we have to strike at Pakistan and its agents in India.

But what is Sidhu doing? He is attending his good friends’ swearing-in, hugging the most despised man in India and then supporting a country whose role in the martyrdom of our valiant jawans is not in doubt. One thinks that the time has come for the Congress party to sack him as a minister in Punjab’s cabinet and if it has even an iota of respect for our martyred jawans, kick him out of the party.