Party spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh, who was in town to attend the meeting of party workers said the statement by Shinde targeting Sikh youth was meant to terrorize Punjabi Hindus and polarize society in view of the impending elections to Parliament.
He pointed out that aspiring for Khalistan through peaceful and political means was neither illegal nor anti-national. He said that the Supreme Court and High Court in numerous cases have ruled that raising the Khalistan issue through peaceful as well as democratic means was not offensive.
He slammed Shinde for blaming Sikh youth for vitiating the atmosphere of the state. “The Indian government has never tried to redress the vexed issues of Punjab that led to [Freedom fighting] in Punjab. Rather the state has always found police solution to Punjab problem, which was otherwise political in nature,” he said.
Others who were present in the meeting were SYP head Ranvir Singh, Paramjit Singh, Manjit Singh, Noblejeet Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh Kalkat and Gurpreet Singh