Gurdaspur (Pb): Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh Monday hit out at Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, blaming him for terror activities in the state and killings of Indian soldiers at the border. The chief minister made the remarks at an event where he laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor along with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
He said, “I want to say something to their (Pakistan) army chief. I have also been in the Army and General Bajwa he is very junior to me in service. Does the Army teach (you) to kill our jawans at the border? You kill them with sniper. Have you ever been told that you killed people in Pathankot, Dinanagar,” Singh said.
Referring to the grenade attack on the Nirankari Bhavan in Amritsar in which three people were killed, he said: “People were offering prayers in a village and grenades were hurled at them. Is it what is taught by the Army? It is cowardliness,” said the 76-year-old Singh, himself an ex-Indian Army officer.
He said that it is common knowledge that it is the Army that calls the shots in Pakistan.
“We believe in peace and we are giving a message of peace from here. But, their generals should understand that we have a large Army and we are prepared… And this should not happen as nobody wants war. We all want to carry out development in a peaceful manner,” he said.
Earlier, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Singh laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, which will facilitate easy passage to Sikh pilgrims to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. The decision to build the passage — from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the International Border — was taken by the Union Cabinet on November 22.
Kartarpur is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi river, about three-four km from the border in Pakistan.