Punjabis not displaced, but part of India says Anil Vij

Chandigarh : Former Haryana Home Minister and senior BJP leader Anil Vij on Monday slammed Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Bhupinder Hooda, saying he should know that Punjabis were not displaced, but they were part of India.

“Punjabis were hurt because of the mindset of people like Hooda, who made their own countrymen refugees,” he said.

Advising Hooda, Vij said, “You need to change your mindset. Even after 70 years, you are still calling these people displaced because you do not want to accept them.”

Vij was responding to a question asked by the media regarding Hooda’s statement about establishing a Punjabi Displaced Welfare Board if the Congress government came into power in the state.

Hooda, who was in Karnal to chair a state-level Punjabi Samaj Sammelan, organised on the martyrdom day of freedom fighter Madan Lal Dhingra, on Sunday announced the formation of a Punjabi Welfare Board if voted to power.

Expressing resentment over Hooda’s statement, Vij said: “You want to label those (Punjabis) whose generations were born on this land as second-class citizens by calling them displaced. Hooda should be punished for using the term displaced.”

On the Congress leader’s remarks about corruption and hooliganism in the BJP government, Vij said: “Hooda is right that the Congress ran the state on the track of corruption for 10 years, but we have brought the state back on the track.”