Amarinder Singh warns center against Pakistan trying to use Punjab disturbance to infiltrate

Last updated on February 6th, 2021 at 08:59 am

Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh raised alarm about Pakistani elements trying to infiltrator the country. Singh warns the center against the increase in the supply of weapons, money, and drugs from across the border and reported that there has been a spurt in these supplies over the past few months, increasing especially around October when the protests against new farm laws were initiated. He added that Pakistan has several sleeper cells in India, which seems to be getting activated. He highlighted, “a disturbed Punjab suits Pakistan’s policy”.

Punjab leader asked the centre to take cognisance of the matter and not to overlook the issue as disturbed Punjab would only benefit Pakistan. The sensitivity of the matter aggravates when one closely observes the unified aggressive role of China and Pakistan near Indian borders, especially their record of past six months.

In an interview with news agency ANI, the Chief Minister said that there has been a significant increase in “drone delivery” from the neighboring nation since the farmers’ agitation started, and “weapons, money, and heroine” formed key supply component. He said, “I have a hostile country on my western border. On the north of us, we have China. These two countries are going to collude. About 20 percent of the Indian army belongs to this area and we can’t allow their morale to go down. I think we should be very careful in our choice of putting out news which should not create a situation where the morale of our troops goes down.”

Singh mentioned that he has been demanding the Centre’s attention towards the matter, urging for an immediate and appropriate resolution. He said, “I went to see the Home Minister when everyone started making big news about farmers’ struggle to discuss the issue that has taken place. Since the farmers’ struggle started in October, the number of weaponry that is coming to Punjab (from Pakistan) has increased. It is drones that are bringing it in. That was what was concerning me because those drones that bring weapons are meant for something. They are not sent as a present here. We may capture 30 drones, but there are 20-30 that may get past us, to their objectives.”

He added, “Government better be on its toes. I have been warning them for a long time that Pakistan is trying to infiltrate the borders. Their weapons are coming in. They have sleeper cells here that they can awaken anytime they want. A disturbed Punjab suits Pakistan’s policies.”

When asked about his opinion over the claims hinting at presence of Khalistani elements in the farmers’ movement, Singh said, “This is what Pakistan wants to do… I don’t say that they are Khalistani. Khalistan, Naxal and Urban Naxal are just names. There are people with different ideologies. You may have Leftist ideologies, southern Punjab always had a leftist ideology”.

Punjab CM also expressed his concern over the violence that took place in Red Fort on the Republic Day. “This is something of which no Indian can be proud. The Red Fort is a symbol of our Independence and democracy. The Indian flag was raised there on August 17, 1947. It was a sad day when I saw what happened. The farmers have made it clear that they do not believe in violence. I don’t believe that the farmers were involved in the violence. I think it is people who infiltrated this movement. There are plenty of people. We are sitting on the border here. I keep reporting back and government in Delhi knows this jolly well what is happening at our border. It is for the investigative authorities to probe the matter and see who is responsible for it,” he said.