Stop work on Kartarpur corridor: Swamy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said the work on the Kartarpur corridor project should be stopped in the interest of the nation and there should be no talks with Pakistan on any issue.

“It’s my personal opinion, there should be no talks with Pakistan on any issue and making of Kartarpur corridor is one of them. The work should not move ahead,” said Swamy.

“We should not give any excuse to Pakistan for dialogue on any issue and show it to the world. They have not stopped terrorism and have not handed over to us those who have been hiding there after committing crimes here. We should not have any relation with Pakistan,” he added.

He further added, “There is no doubt that the Sikhs are an integral part of the nation... I personally oppose whatever happened during the Operation Bluestar and I understand Sikh sentiments very well. However, the Sikhs should understand that Pakistan’s intentions are bad and they have to be set right first. We should not give any excuse to Pakistan for dialogue on any issue.”

In a major initiative last November, both India and Pakistan had agreed to set up the Kartarpur corridor to link the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib — the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev — to Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.

Earlier, addressing a seminar on ‘Vacation of PoK’, organised by Chandigarh Sanskritik Gaurav Sansthan here, Swamy said India should regain control of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The event was also attended by General KJ Singh, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command and Sumedh Saini, former Director General of Police, Punjab.

‘Abolish income tax’

Subramanian Swamy batted for abolishing income tax, hiking interest rate on fixed deposits and lowering it on loans to spur economic growth. “The main thing is that the income tax should be abolished. The rate on fixed deposits should be increased and the rate of interest on borrowings should be brought down to nine per cent as well,” he said. pti