JALANDHAR: Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, Jalandhar, Folklore Research Academy Amritsar , Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy and Punjab Jagriti Manch Jalandhar, which are working for peace in Asia and particularly between India and Pakistan, in a joint statement on Wednesday condemned BJP and others for targeting Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on his Pakistan visit.

The leaders of these organisations said that Sidhu had done no wrong by participating in the swearing in ceremony of newly sworn in Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan . “He has given the message of peace and cooperation to the people of Pakistan from the Indian people. The people of Pakistan and a considerable section of media there have taken the effort of Sidhu for restoration of peace and cooperation in the region positively and reported it prominently. As far as hugging the Pakistani Army General Kamar Javed Bajwa is concerned during the ceremony, it was a spontaneous and emotional reaction,” said Ramesh Yadav, president, Folklore Research Academy and Satnam Singh Manak, general secretary of Hind-Pak Dosti Manch in the joint statement.

“Sidhu also has a deep devotion for Sikh gurus and knows it very well how passionately the Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular are demanding for passage to the Gurdwara at Kartarpur Sahib for many years and had been going there to say prayers in the leadership of the late Akali leader Jathedar Kuldip Singh Wadala at Dera Baba Nanak. When General Bajwa told them that they were considering giving a passage to pilgrims to visit the Gurdwara at Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of 550th birthday of Sri guru Nanak Dev, Sidhu became emotional and hugged General Bajwa." they said.

“National leadership of BJP is creating an atmosphere of fear and terror in the region by targeting Sidhu so that the political leaders and intellectuals holding different views on the national, regional and international issues or working for peace in the region may be discouraged,” the peace seekers added.

