Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for offering an official apology for the tragic Komagata Maru incident in which a shipload of Indians were refused entry into Canada more than 100 years ago.
He said this gesture showed "great political sagacity, statesmanship and a genuine concern for humane values."
He was referring to the apology offered at the parliament in Ottawa recently by Trudeau on behalf of the government of Canada for their role in the Komagata Maru incident.
Badal also hoped that "leaders and governments all over the world would take a leaf out of the Trudeau's book and try to follow the great example set by the Canadian Prime Minister in offering apologies for past sins and crimes to remove distortions in history."
"History can neither be re-written nor forgotten. But it can certainly be transcended, and this is the way to do it. Events of 1984 in Punjab are one such instance in history that demands a matching gesture of this kind," he said.
Thanking and appreciating the Canadian Prime Minister, the federal government and the people of Canada for displaying "great vision and a large-heartedness", Badal said, "I have always believed that this painful chapter in history will not only continue to hurt sentiments of Indians, Punjabis and especially the Sikh community but it also stands as an unfair and ill-deserved blot on the fair name of your great nation.
(Reopens DES56)
Badal alleged that Congress was inimical to the state from day one as it denied Punjab of its legitimate territorial rights in terms of its capital, share in river water besides attacking on Durbar Sahib thereby hurting the religious sentiments of the Punjabis in general and Sikh community in particular.
He said that the Sikhs could never forgive the Congress for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in which thousands of innocent Sikhs were brutally killed.
Badal reiterated that both Congress and Aam Aadmi Party were hobnobbing with each other to snatch legitimate share of Punjab's water.
He said that while Congress had in past signed several water agreements to deprive state of its river waters, the AAP was now trying its level best to ensure that these agreements were implemented at the earliest.
Badal alleged it was a known fact that both these parties were hell bent upon turning the state into desert by depriving it of water.
