Chandigarh, Sept 16: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has accused the Centre of adopting double standards by permitting cricket matches with Pakistan while denying Sikh jathas permission to visit shrines across the border.
Speaking in Chandigarh on Sunday, Mann demanded the reopening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor and clearance for Sikh pilgrims to attend the upcoming Parkash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev at Nankana Sahib. He said he would write formally to the Centre on the matter soon.
“If you can allow a cricket match between India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup, why should Punjabis’ devotion towards their shrines in Pakistan be ignored?” Mann asked. “Either you allow all kinds of relationships with Pakistan, or you do not allow anything. You can’t have cricket relations with Pakistan, because the ICC is headed by ‘Bade sahib ke laadle’, but tell the Sikhs they can’t go to Pakistan because of deteriorating relations.”
This is the second time in two days that the chief minister has questioned the logic of holding Indo-Pak matches. On Saturday, he cited the ban on a Diljit Dosanjh film after the Pahalgam attack, saying: “If a film of Diljit Dosanjh is banned and the actor is called a traitor, how can the same government justify an India-Pakistan match?”
Mann said the reverence Punjabis hold for sites linked to Guru Nanak Dev in Pakistan must not be disregarded. “They hate Punjabis, maybe because farmers forced them to withdraw the three farm laws,” he alleged, pointing out that while aid was sent immediately to Afghanistan, Punjab had to struggle for central assistance during floods.
The chief minister also drew attention to what he termed contradictions in the Centre’s policy: “While the Kartarpur Sahib corridor remains closed, trade via Wagah is shut and Sikh pilgrims cannot go to Pakistan, trade with Karachi via Gujarat and Mumbai is allowed. Does it not reflect their anti-Punjab and anti-Punjabi mentality?”
Voices against the denial are growing, with several organisations condemning the move. Anandpur Sahib MP Malvinder Singh Kang joined the criticism, saying he “condemned the decision taken by the Centre to stop Sikh jathas from going to Nankana Sahib.”
Mann further targeted state BJP leaders, asking them to clarify their position. “Sunil Jakhar and Ravneet Bittu—the Congress unit of BJP—must explain where they stand on this issue,” he said. He also claimed Punjab has been shortchanged in economic allocations compared with other states. “Assam and Bihar got packages worth thousands of crores, Punjab got peanuts,” he noted.
