Suspended Aam Aadmi Party leader and Patiala MP Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi today launched a move to form ‘Punjab Oriented Political Platform’. Addressing a press conference Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi claimed that he had support of many social, political groups, activists, authors, intellectuals and NGOs. He said that Democratic Swaraj Party Punjab, Apna Punjab Party, Aam Aadmi Party Volunteers Front Punjab and Jai Jawan Jai Kisan party have agreed to join this “pro-Punjab” front and said that all “pro-federal structure” forces were welcome to join the front.
He said that the name of the platform was not decided yet. He was addressing media-persons during a press conference at Chandigarh Press Club at sector 27.
India is a multi-national country: Sikhs are a religion, not nation:
Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi said that Indian subcontinent was a multi-national, multi-civic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural country and maintained that Indian parliament itself symbolises this diverse character of the peninsula.
In response to a question posed by a senior journalist that whether their front would recognise Sikhs as a distinct nation, Dr. Gandhi said that “Punjab was a nation” not the Sikhs. Referring to the Sikh religion, he said that Sikhs have a distinct religious identity and religion can not be basis of a nation. He claimed that nation includes people of many religions, having one language, culture and history.