After drawing flak from Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and the opposition for embracing the Pakistan Army chief, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu said today that he was prepared to give a strong reply to all when needed.
"Whenever the reply has to be given, I will give and I will give it to all... It will be a strong reply," Navjot Singh Sidhu, the only Indian to attend Imran Khan's swearing-in ceremony as Pakistan's prime minister, said in Chandigarh.
His comments come after Amarinder had yesterday ticked off his cabinet colleague for hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. "I think it was wrong for him (Sidhu) to have shown the affection he did for the Pakistan Army chief, I am not in its favour... The fact is that the man (Sidhu) should understand that our soldiers are being killed everyday. My own regiment lost one major and two jawans a few months ago," Amarinder Singh had said.
On his return from Pakistan yesterday, Mr Sidhu had defended his action, asking what was he supposed to do when someone tells him that "we belong to the same culture" and talks of opening the route to the historic Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and ousted Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira today defended Sidhu, saying the minister had done nothing wrong. "@sherryontopp has done nothing wrong by hugging Pak army chief, its d way Pbi's meet! I demand opening of corridor to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib. I also demand of opening of Indo-Pak border that'll immensely boost Pb's economy. There's no ill will between ppl its fight between govt's," Mr Khaira tweeted.
Mr Sidhu was among the special guests present at the oath-taking ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (the President House) in Islamabad on the invitation of Imran Khan.
COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST SIDHU FOR HUGGING PAKISTAN ARMY CHIEF
A complaint was filed in a court here on Monday against former cricketer and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu seeking registration of a case against him under sedition and other charges for hugging Pakistan’s Army chief.
The complaint was filed by advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Hari Prasad.
The court fixed August 24, 2018, as the date for hearing the matter.
In his complaint, Ojha contended that Sidhu’s gesture of “hugging” Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has hurt his feeling and that of other Indians.
“Sidhu, who had gone to Pakistan to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as PM on August 18, hugged the Pakistan General Bajwa on whose orders Indian soldiers are getting killed in cross-border terrorism,” Ojha submitted in his complaint while adding that “it was General Bajwa who is responsible for beheading of our soldiers”.
Sidhu’s gesture has mocked the families whose loved ones were martyred for the country, he said.
The petitioner said that when there was state mourning due to the death of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sidhu was celebrating in Pakistan during Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony.
Sidhu’s actions amounts to sedition besides creating hatred among people, the advocate said.
“I pray to the court to take cognisance of the matter which is a serious one and direct authorities concerned for his (Sidhu’s) arrest,” Ojha said in his complaint.
The complainant prayed for initiating case against Sidhu under various sections of IPC that included- 124 A (sedition), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).
The provisions of above sections could attract a minimum of two to three years of imprisonment with fine or both if the person is held guilty by the court.
