Saying anti-national people were behind the throwing of shoes at a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation in New York on Saturday, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday questioned "the Congress support to those elements".
Addressing the media after laying the foundation stone of a sewerage project worth `185 crore in Bathinda, Sukhbir said his party's delegation had received a huge support from non-resident Indians (NRIs). "The response is historic, and if a small number of people are resorting to protests, we should not bother," he said, adding: "The protesters are anti-national people and I wonder why Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa is supporting them."
"They are against us and our country, what can we do about it?" he said. Pro-Khalistan flags had been raised during the radicals' protest in New York. About the demand from the radicals to release the Sikh prisoners serving extended jail terms, Sukhbir said the Supreme Court had forbidden the states, and the matter was before a constitutional bench.
When told that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had stated that his government was making efforts for the release of those Sikh prisoners, Sukhbir said the SAD had filed a petition in the Supreme Court for expediting the matter.
When told that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had stated that his government was making efforts for the release of those Sikh prisoners, Sukhbir said the SAD had filed a petition in the Supreme Court for expediting the matter.