Navjot Singh Sidhu’s Pakistan, TN comment sparks row

CHANDIGARH: Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu raked up yet another controvery while speaking at a literature fest in Kasauli on Friday. Discussing cultural similarity between the Punjab in India and Pakistan, he said the culture is same at both places.

To drive home the point, Sidhu said, “When I go to Tamil Nadu, I don’t understand the language. There are just one or two words I understand. Not that I don’t like the food, but I cannot have it for a long time. The culture is totally different. But if I go to Pakistan, they speak Punjabi and English and I can relate to them more.”

Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said Sidhu, being a cabinet minister, should be careful with his words. “There is no harm in praising others, but one should not demean his own country,” said Cheema.

In his defence, Sidhu said an unnecessary controversy was being created and he never said anything objectionable.

The 54-year-old minister was recently in news for visiting Pakistan and hugging its army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. He had termed it as an emotional response after Bajwa told him that they were making efforts to open the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in India to Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan to facilitate pilgrims who want to pay obeisance on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.