Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have taken Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan if he had been in power during the 70s before giving up their troops.
The prime minister’s comment came during a public rally in Punjab’s Patiala. Punjab will go to polls on June 1 during the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024.
“For 70 years, we could have a ‘darshan’ of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara only with binoculars. An opportunity presented itself to take back the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in 1971 when more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered before the Indian Army and “we had the trump card in our hands. Had Modi been there at that time, he would have taken Kartapur Sahib from them and then freed their troops,” PM Modi said.
Kartapur Sahib, the place where Guru Nanak spent the last few days of his life, holds sentimental significance for Sikhs in India. Every year Pakistan issues thousands of visas to Indian Sikhs during the festival of Baisakhi. The Gurdwara fell in Pakistan’s Punjab after the partition, just a few kilometres from India’s border.
Campaigning for Patiala candidate Preneet Kaur, the wife of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, PM Modi said he has come to seek the blessings in the land of Gurus “by bowing my head”.
Punjab has led the country in various sectors, from agriculture to industry, he said. But, the current “fiercely corrupt” Bhagwant Mann government has changed all that, he added.
“Trade and industry are leaving Punjab while the drug trade is growing. The entire state government is running on debt,” PM Modi further said.
“All ministers are enjoying and the ‘kagazi Chief Minister’ is always busy marking his presence in the ‘Delhi darbar’. Can such people bring development to Punjab?” PM Modi asked.
He also took a dig at the AAP and the Congress for fighting the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi and against each other in Punjab.
With inputs from agencies
Link to article –
