Punjab CM Capt Singh says India won't allow ISI-backed forces to disturb its harmony

While addressing the Indian diaspora on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Saheb in Birmingham, UK, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asserted that India will not allow Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed forces such as the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) to disturb its harmony and stability. He also strongly advocated peace and friendship with Pakistan to enable both countries to move forward towards development and progress. "Both India and Pakistan had been through a lot, and it was time now for them to let go of the past and move forward in the spirit of friendship to ensure their respective progress," he stressed. Citing the Kartarpur Corridor as a beginning towards better relations between India and Pakistan, Captain Amarinder hoped it would set the stage for the opening of other important religious shrines in Pakistan to Indians seeking 'khulle darshan  deedar.' 

READ: 1,467 Pilgrims Visit Kartarpur – Highest Since Opening Of Corridor

READ: 'Delighted' Punjab CM Amarinder Singh Speaks On Kartarpur Corridor

Amarinder Singh slams SFJ 

During his speech in Birmingham, the SFJ protesters gathered outside the venue and tried to disrupt Capt. Amarinder Singh’s address.  Amarinder Singh conveyed that, “The handful of protestors gathered there not only had no popular or genuine support but they also did not succeed in disrupting the Chief Minister’s program in any way. Capt Amarinder attended the entire event and was there for almost three hours. He pointed out, adding that it was the so-called protestors who were, in fact, forced to beat a hasty retreat.  

READ: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh slams SFJ protests, calls them an ISI-backed group

Speaking to press Punjab CM said, "SFJ was a hardcore terrorist group, with no ideological basis for its campaign, and had to be treated as such”. Describing SFJ's "so-called legal" advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu as a "fraud, operating under the directions of Pakistan's ISI," the Chief Minister said, "Pannu's sole motive was to divide the Sikhs, and India, to promote the ISI agenda". Referring to the terror modules busted in Punjab in the past couple of years, along with large-scale arrests and seizure of weapons, he said these had exposed SFJ's intentions, but both the Punjab government and the Indian government were dealing with it with an iron hand. 

READ: Amarinder Singh Expresses Shock Over Delay In Rs 4,100 Cr GST Compensation

(With inputs from agencies)