Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Saturday condemned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira for backing secessionism with his support for Sikh Referendum 2020, propounded by Sikh radicals for the creation of Khalistan.

Khaira had on Friday said he supported the Sikh Referendum 2020 movement as Sikhs have a right to demand justice against “atrocities” suffered by them
In a Press statement, the CM termed Khaira’s statement favouring the Referendum as unfortunate, and added that the leader of the Opposition seemed to be indulging in his usual political antics and theatrics, without any sense of the history of Punjab or any realization of the possible consequences of his statement or act.

Punjab and its people had suffered for years due to the secessionist and separatist movement unleashed by the radicals, Amarinder said, adding that Khaira seemed to be completely unmindful of what the state had been through and the dangers of his ill-thought statement.

The CM dismissed as sheer hypocrisy Khaira’s claim that he stood for India’s unity while supporting the Referendum, terming it a classic case of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds.

Anyone supporting the controversial Referendum, which was clearly designed to destroy India’s harmony, could not be a supporter of the country’s unity, said Amarinder, adding that Khaira’s stand suggested that he stood for India’s dismemberment.

The CM demanded to know whether Khaira’s statement had the backing of the AAP central leadership, led by Arvind Kejriwal, or he was going on a personal tangent, either out of sheer ignorance or to promote some vested personal interests.

This was important considering the fact that the Kejriwal himself had been hobnobbing with pro-Khalistanis when he was campaigning in Punjab in the run-up to the Assembly elections last year. The AAP leadership should clarify their stand on this sensitive and explosive issue, which had the potential to destroy India’s peace and plunge Punjab back into the dark days of terrorism, said Amarinder, demanding to know from Kejriwal and his party colleagues whether or not they stood for peace and upheld the Indian Constitution.

As the leader of a democratically elected government, he was committed to ensuring that the human rights of the citizens of Punjab were not violated in any way, said Amarinder.

At the same time, however, he would not allow anyone to disturb the peace and harmony in the state, he asserted.

The Sikhs for Justice, an organisation operating out of Canada, has declared 2020 as the year for a referendum for a separate Sikh nation.