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    Total Lack Of Ground Support For ‘Referendum 2020’: Amarinder Singh On London Rally

    Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Aug, 2018 12:07 PM

      Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said the “no-show” London rally by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for a separate state has exposed the “total lack of ground support” for the ‘Referendum 2020’ even outside India.

       

      He also dismissed the entire affair as a “futile exercise” by a “sham” organisation to create trouble in India, particularly Punjab.

       

      “The SFJ is just a group of fringe elements that is playing into the hands of Pakistan’s ISI to divide India, but they have failed, and will continue to fail in their nefarious designs,” the chief minister said in a statement here.

       

      “The presence of Pakistani politicians at the rally confirms that it was out and out an ISI plot, which fell through, just as their attempts to create trouble in India have been failing all these years”, he said.

       
       
       
       

      Reacting to the UK rally, the chief minister said it turned out to be a “damp squib” participated by a handful of elements.

       

      He, however, felt the UK government should have put its foot down and not allowed its soil to be used to propagate anti-India campaign.

       
       
       
       

      Further castigating the UK government, Singh said that by allowing the protesters to use Trafalgar Square, instead of the usual Hyde Park generally used for such purposes, it had shown its total complacency in the issue.

       

      The entire referendum business is nothing but a “money making racket” of the SFJ, with no takers for the so-called campaign either in India, or even outside, as is evident from the poor show at the rally,” Singh added.

       
       
       
       

      He said there was virtually “nil local support” for the rally and whatever little support they had managed to garner was of “similar fringe elements” from other countries.

       
       
       
       

      “The presence of Pakistani leaders, including Nazir Ahmed who openly spoke of dividing India and splitting Kashmir, Punjab and Nagaland from it, made it clear that the rally was a game plan of the ISI — a fact further endorsed by the presence of separatist Kashmiris living in UK,” Singh added.

       

      Citing ground reports, the chief minister claimed that some of those Kashmiris were forced to wear turbans to make them look like Sikhs.

       

      And a handful of Sikhs around had evidently been forced to come, Singh said.

       
       
       
       

      Describing the SFJ fringe elements as mere “social media tigers”, who are trying to create hype even when they have no support, both in India and abroad, Singh said the Sikhs was a patriotic community which has always stood for the unity and integrity of the country.

       

      As many as 90,000 Sikhs are serving in the Indian Army, defending the country’s borders, he pointed out, adding that the SFJ could “never succeed in misleading the community” into falling for their “selfish” designs.

       
       
       
       

      Singh warned the SFJ and all such “anti-India” forces to stay out of the country and refrain from any attempt to foment trouble in Punjab, or any other part of India.

       

      Their efforts will backfire on them, he said, adding that his government would deal with such elements with an “iron hand”. Nobody would be allowed to disturb the peace and the communal harmony in the state, he said.

       
       
       
       

      Pro-Khalistani supporters yesterday assembled at Trafalgar Square in London in a rally organised by the SFJ, intended to raise awareness for a non-binding referendum in 2020, calling for the Sikh-majority state of Punjab to be granted “independence”.

       

      INDIAN DIASPORA GROUPS HOLD RALLY TO COUNTER PRO-KHALISTAN PUBLIC MEETING IN LONDON

       

      More than 2,500 pro-Khalistan supporters gathered to issue what the organiser, US-based Sikhs for Justice, called a “London declaration” to hold the “referendum” in 2020. Many travelled from other parts of Europe and elsewhere for the event, with some participation by UK-based groups.

       

      The event was allegedly backed by elements in Pakistan.

       

      A pro-India rally was organised at London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday in response to another by secessionists calling for a referendum on an independent Sikh nation,The Hindu Business Line reported.

       
       
       
       

      Indian diaspora groups organised the “We Stand With India” and “Love My India” events to counter the pro-Khalistan “London Declaration for a Referendum 2020”, which was attended by more than 2,000 pro-Khalistan supporters from across the United Kingdom and Europe.

       
       
       
       

      There was considerable police presence to segregate the pro-India and pro-Khalistan groups. British authorities had earlier rejected India’s demand that permission be denied for the event on grounds of freedom of expression, leading to renewed strain in bilateral relations.

       

      The pro-India group held placards, sang patriotic songs and danced to the accompaniment of loud dhols, as the rival group tried to drown out the chorus with slogans in support of Khalistan and against the Indian government.

       
       
       
       

      The pro-India group included members of the Overseas Friends of BJP, whose president Kuldeep Shekhawat claimed that allowing the event betrayed Britain’s “hidden agenda” to support Khalistan and Pakistan.

       
       
       
       

      Sikh separatist leader Jaswant Singh Thekedar, however, condemned the rally, claiming it was Pakistan-backed propaganda, ANI reported. He accused Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who was one of the organisers, of being a Pakistani stooge.

       

      Meanwhile, at the pro-India rally, supporters waved the Indian tricolour, waved placards saying “India Jai Ho” and “Vande Mataram”, and played dhols (drums) in an attempt to drown out the speeches of the Khalistan supporters.

       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
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