India News | Nobody Wants Khalistan: Punjab CM

Chandigarh, Jun 29 (PTI) Asserting that nobody wants a separate state for Sikhs, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday dismissed a recent statement of Akal Takht Jathedar that the Sikh community will accept Khalistan if the government offers it.

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“Sikhs living in the country are leading prosperous lives. Why would they want a Khalistan? Nobody wants it and I do not want it,” said Singh while replying to a question on Khalistan during a press conference here.

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Singh said every Sikh always stood for the unity and integrity of the country.

“Do you know how many Sikh soldiers we have? They sacrifice their lives for the country. We fight for our country and this is our country,” said Singh.

On June 6, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh had said, “The Sikh community will accept Khalistan, a separate state for Sikhs, if the government offers it.”

The Jathedar (head priest) of Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of Sikhs) had raked up the Khalistan issue on the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, which was carried out in 1984 to flush out heavily-armed terrorists holed up in the Golden Temple.

Even the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gobind Singh Longowal had also endorsed the Akal Takht jathedar's views on Khalistan.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)