By Aditya Aamir
Journalists are often accused of being ‘intellectual thugs’ for lacking in skepticism. Something that can be applied in full while reporting and not questioning Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wishful thinking that Navjot Singh Sidhu will one day become Prime Minister of India and both countries will become permanent buddies! Imran Khan did not voice that in jest. He sounded and looked serious. Besides, Imran Khan spoke a harsh truth, maybe two.
The truth is that Navjot Singh Sidhu will never become Prime Minister of India and the harsher truth is India and Pakistan will never strike a lasting peace accord, not with Kashmir and Khalistan and Sir Creek and Siachen around. Besides, even if the impossible happens and Sidhu becomes Indian PM, what are the chances Imran Khan will still be Prime Minister of Pakistan?
Those skepticisms apart, what of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his stated desire to become Prime Minister of India? Khan obviously doesn’t think with his head. He could have easily said that an end to hostilities between India and Pakistan will be possible when the Congress returns to power, which could be as soon as next year. Imran Khan had no business setting the hierarchy in the Congress.
Imran’s friend Sidhu should be embarrassed, downright hopping mad, for Imran to even suggest the blasphemy. Imran Khan’s “Sidhu becomes PM” statement could be picked up by any number of Rahul’s rivals and “used” against him. Imran’s out-swinger was aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi but it sailed past and hit Rahul in the pavilion! Sidhu if he was a cricket expert should have rejected it there and then. But the way Sidhu soaked in those words, it was like he was in seventh heaven – bliss!
Who becomes Prime Minister of India in 2019 will not be set in Kartarpur or Lahore, showings of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will have a bearing on the big one in mid-2019, not Imran Khan mouthing praise of Sidhu and indirectly hinting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is nowhere in the statesman-like league like his pal Navjot Singh Sidhu is, giving Modi-bhakts one more reason to rail against the Congress for being Pakistan-friendly.
Only a diehard romanticist will believe that India and Pakistan will live in peace. Not so long as Kashmir is positioned where it is, they wouldn’t. Imran Khan raised the Kashmir issue at Kartarpur Sahib and India pummeled him for the thought, stating for the zillionth time that Kashmir is an inalienable part of India. The world knows India will not part with Kashmir. So, what remains is a stalemate.
What is the solution to Kashmir? Pakistan covets it and India will not part with it. The world wisely does not interfere and India has the clout to brook no interference. No number of summits or talks in Shimla or Shram-al-Sheikh will change the status quo. The only solution is Pakistan keeps POK and India retains the Valley. That solution is already in place. So what does Imran Khan think Sidhu will achieve if he becomes PM of India?
The Pathan PM of Pakistan said something else, which if General Qamar Bajwa is partial to, can be a solution that India and probably even the Congress will accept. Definitely the BJP and Capt. Amarinder Singh will, as also the Shiromani Akali Dal. It might be algebra but Imran Khan offered the solution: Sidhu can contest elections from anywhere in Pakistan and win!
Navjot Singh Sidhu, his heart and mind so cued into all things Pakistan, will not miss India and he will be closer to Kartarpur Sahib than any Indian-origin Sikh in 70 years if he takes up the offer. Pakistanis already love his laughter challenge and they’ll have one more Sikh to marginalize. For, it is fact that descendants of Sikhs who remained in Pakistan post-Partition haven’t had a gala time in Pakistan, an occasional one beaten up for this and that and shown on PTV.
But Navjot Singh Sidhu is a serious rival to Bushra Bibi and he is going bananas clicking selfies with Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla. BJP Rajya Sabha MP and ready-with-quotes Subramanian Swamy is calling for Sidhu’s arrest under the National Security Act. However, Sidhu is in Pakistan on a “personal” visit and if Chawla comes and stands next to him right when the cameraman says ‘Ciao’, what can he do?
Imran Khan said Wednesday, great men, whether in cricket or politics, take risks and win! He directed the statement at Narendra Modi and spoke for Sidhu. Now, it seems, Sidhu is out to prove Imran right, take another risk: Stand shoulder to shoulder with terrorist Chawla and India be damned. What does he want to become, Prime Minister of Khalistan?
The Congress would do well to rein in the Punjab Local Bodies minister, not turn the whole India-Pakistan thing into a laughter challenge. But then, Imran Khan’s wish that Navjot Singh Sidhu becomes Prime Minister apart, the Punjab Congress politician might be paving the way for an Indo-Pakistan accord under “Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi.” Who knows despite the wholesome skepticism. What is Navjot Singh Sidhu up to that we don’t know? (IPA Service)
The post What is Navjot Singh Sidhu up to? appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
