Member of Parliament from Punjab’s Sangrur, Simranjit Singh Mann has called for the boycott of the center’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign. The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) MP has requested the people of Punjab to hoist the Sikh flag with the symbol of Nishan Sahib on August 14-15. Mann while referring to the slained Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a martyr, termed the Indian armed forces as the forces of the enemy.
Mann has supported Sikh separatism on multiple occasions. In July 2022, after getting elected as the MP from Sangrur, Mann justified his support for Khalistan in the following words:
There should be a separate country for the Sikhs. Khalistan will act as a buffer state between nuclear-powered India and Pakistan.
A few days ago, US-based Khalistani terrorist and chief of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, had asked the Sikhs in a video message to burn the national flag of India and hoist the Khalistani flag.
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, chief of Congress in Punjab, while criticizing the boycott call of Mann alleged that the radicals were attempting to undermine the state’s hard-won peace. He said:
The Tricolor is a national symbol that every Indian should honour. Tens of thousands of people, mostly Punjabis and Sikhs, gave their lives to protect the Tricolour’s honour. Those who try to undermine it are disrespecting our own martyrs and their martyrdom.
He added:
Nobody stops anyone from displaying the ‘Kesari’ flag atop their houses and every Sikh is and should be proud of the ‘Kesari’ colour as it is the symbol of the glorious spirit of Khalsa.
