PM security lapse: British Sikh Association rues lost opportunity for Punjab

British Sikh Association has condemned the protests that saw the Prime Minister being stranded over a flyover for 20 minutes.

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress party tussle over the issue of the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, the United Kingdom-based British Sikh Association has condemned the protests that saw the Prime Minister being stranded over a flyover for 20 minutes.

In a statement on Sunday, British Sikh Association reminded the groups that the state could have been immensely benefitted had Prime Minister Modi's visit not been disrupted. British Sikh Association Chairman Lord Rami Ranger said that the misguided people who disrupted the Prime Minister's visit must realize that the latter had come to give more benefits to the state.

Stating that Prime Minister Modi was visiting the state to make development announcements worth over Rs 42,750 crore, Ranger said that nobody should undermine the authority of a leader who has to steer the country. Stating that what transpired on January 5 was a sad indictment of the security arrangements, he further said that a handful of an unruly mob was allowed to hamper the visit planned to exercise the Prime Minister's democratic right to meet and greet the public.

The British Sikh Association also sought to send a message across that Punjab depends on Prime Minister Modi's goodwill for its future development and being a bordering state, Punjab needs the central government to help fight the drug epidemic and terrorism unleashed by the neighbouring country.

Calling upon leaders of Punjab to extend an equivocal apology to the Prime Minister and show remorse for the way he was forced to cut short his visit, Ranger hoped that lessons will be learnt and the people and leaders of the state would remember that there is no future for any disloyal citizen in India.