'Can't generalise': Puri reacts to Mehbooba Mufti's ‘Sardars are now Khalistani’ remark

Mehbooba Mufti had accused the Central government of labelling those opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as anti-nationals and Khalistani.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said no Sikh should be called “anti-national” or “Khalistani” after the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, accused the Central government of labelling those opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri was in Kolkata for a door-to-door campaign in support of BJP’s candidate from Bhabanipur constiuency, Priyanka Tibrewal.

On Tuesday, the chief of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that the government has no vision for Jammu and Kashmir and they are using the region as a “laboratory”. She said that leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a vision of Jammu and Kashmir but the current dispensation only creates a divide between Hindus and Muslims, adding that Sikhs are now labelled as Khalistani.

“No Sardar (Sikh) should be called anti-national or Khalistani. You can't generalise on the basis of some misguided people,” Union minister for housing and urban affairs told news agency ANI.

After campaigning in the high-profile constituency for by-poll, Puri tweeted, "In my conversations with residents of Ram Mohan Dutta Road in the Ray Street area of Bhabanipur, shared their issues & concerns. But there is clear support for the BJP candidate Smt. Priyanka Tibrewal."

Mamata Banerjee is contesting from her home constituency after winning MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat to make way for his party leader who had lost to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram. However, the result of the Nandigram election is subject to an ongoing court challenge.

(With inputs from agencies)