JALANDHAR: Dr Pyara Lal Garg, who was appointed adviser by
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh
Sidhu, has also “withdrawn” his consent “for tendering advice” to him. Earlier,
Malvinder Singh Mali had withdrawn his consent after Captain
Amarinder Singh’s camp and opposition parties had created furore on their remarks.
Dr Garg, a paediatric surgeon and former registrar of
Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, sent the message to Sidhu on September
20. When asked on Thursday, Dr Garg confirmed it, saying, “I did not want to let Sidhu down in that hour of crisis (when there was storm on his appointment and comments). Now that things have settled, I have withdrawn my consent and will continue freely expressing my views without any bearing on Sidhu.”
“I refuse to be cowed down by the manouvers of political forces... These forces may be inadvertently defy the dictum of the Supreme Court of India, wherein it has been categorically made clear that the line between criticism of the government or its decisions, policies and that of being anti-national should not be allowed to be erased,” he said.
“By demanding my ouster from my motherland, they want to throttle my voice,” he added.