No one questioned Modi's unscheduled visit to Pakistan: Sidhu
Chandigarh, Aug 21: Slamming those who criticised him for hugging the Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday said that no one had raised questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unscheduled visit to Pakistan.
Defending his visit, he said: "My visit was not about politics but on a warm invite from an old friend. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had travelled on the bus to Lahore and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled trip to Lahore in 2015, on his way back from an official visit to Afghanistan."
During that surprise stopover, Modi had hugged then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he said.
"No one is questioning Prime Minister Modi," he added.
Sidhu said his seating at the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as Pakistan's Prime Minister in Islamabad on August 18 was changed at the last minute and he did not know who sat next to him.
He was responding to the criticism for sitting next to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir President Masood Khan at the ceremony.
Without mincing words, he said his visit to Pakistan was a tribute to Vajpayee, who wanted peace between the two countries.
Sidhu said he received a lot of love and affection in Pakistan and was disappointed by some of the reactions in India. He said he had received the invitation for the ceremony 10 times.
Sidhu said he went to Pakistan at the invitation and repeated reminders from Khan.
"Even our government gave permission to me to visit Pakistan. Two days after Pakistan gave him the visa, our External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called me and said that I had been given permission (to go)," Sidhu said.
Two days earlier Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Sidhu's hug with Bajwa was "not a nice gesture and was completely avoidable".
Sidhu should have avoided indulging in such a gesture when Indian soldiers are getting killed everyday on the borders, the Chief Minister told reporters here.
At this Sidhu replied: "I was criticised by the Captain (Amarinder Singh), by top Congress leaders. It is not necessary that if the Captain has spoken against me, I should too."
"Many people from Congress have spoken on this, including Captain Sahab. It's a democracy and everyone has the right to have an opinion," Sidhu said.
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Assam CM flays Cong for 'not verifying' documents before making charges against his family
Sivasagar/Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday slammed the Congress for “not verifying” the documents based on which it brought allegations against him and his family.
Congress leader Pawan Khera had on Sunday alleged that Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, has multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in the chief minister’s election affidavit.
Sarma also hit out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, claiming that he was “speaking like a madman” due to old age, after the latter put the onus on central agencies to probe the charges.
The CM asserted that Khera had “run away” to Hyderabad, but the Assam Police will “hunt him down even from ‘pataal’ (netherworld)”.
“‘Assam Police ko nahi jante hain.. Pataal se bhi ukhar ke le ayega’ (They don’t know the Assam Police... they will hunt him down even from the netherworld),” asserted Sarma.
An Assam Police team had earlier in the day visited the Delhi residence of Khera for questioning him in connection with the case.
“If they didn’t know the truth, why did they put it out in public? They should have asked the foreign minister first,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of an election campaign, when asked for his reaction to Kharge’s assertion that the Union government should probe the allegations now.
Kharge, at a presser in Guwahati on Tuesday, said all agencies are under the central government, which should probe the charges.
"They have already filed an FIR against Khera. Let them probe the matter. We will face the case as it progresses. We have sought probes by the ED or CBI into the allegations," he said.
Sarma added: “Kharge is ageing and is speaking like a ‘pagal’ (madman). You insult the people first and then say will ask the foreign minister (for verification)? Is he your ‘damad’ (son-in-law),” the chief minister said.
“I think Rahul Gandhi had given these documents to Khera, and if that is so, the case will then include Gandhi,” he added.
