Chandigarh: Away from the controversy on account of alleged Khalistani agenda attributed to him, the visiting Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan set out to visit his ancestral village Bambeli, 15 kms from Hoshiarpur District on Thursday afternoon. He is expected to reach the village by 2 PM.
The visit to the village was initially kept off the official itinerary, but was later confirmed by SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar. Led by sarpanch Sukhdev Singh, the residents of Bambeli have made arrangements to extend a grand welcome to their favorite son, who made it big in a foreign country and put the village on the global map. The villagers have put up hoardings, welcoming Sajjan, at vantage points along the way.
Earlier in the day, Sajjan paid obeisance at the Golden Temple where he was accorded a red carpet welcome. The visit was marked by raising of pro-Khalistan slogans by radical elements who wanted to meet the first Sikh Defence
Minister of Canada but were stopped from doing so by SGPC volunteers.
After visiting his village, Sajjan is scheduled to inaugurate the Consulate General of Canada office in Elante Mall complex at Chandigarh.
Sajjan’s visit has been under the shadow of a statement issued by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who called him a Khalistani sympathizer. The Punjab CM has preferred to stay away from the visit while according the state protocol that is due to a visiting foreign minister.