Hours after veteran Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from the post of Punjab Chief Minister, India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai tried to draw a false equivalence between Singh’s personal connections in Pakistan and Navjot Singh Sidhu’s close proximity with Pakistani army chief General Bajwa.
During an exclusive interview with Captain Amarinder Singh, Rajdeep admitted to being tipped off by Sidhu into asking the former Punjab Chief Minister about his Pakistani connections. “I will certainly not support him for being this way with Pakistan. He has great buddies over there and the way he handles them is a matter of national security. And national security comes first for me,” the ex-Punjab CM spoke out against Navjot Singh Sindhu.
At that point, Rajdeep was seen scrolling through his phone. While interjecting Captain Singh (at around 18 minutes into the conversation), the India Today journalist seemed to be playing the role of Sidhu’s advocate during the show. He asked, “You are saying all the strong words. Sidhu will hit back and say that you cannot take the moral high ground on any of these issues. As I said, it is increasingly becoming personal. Will it end up benefitting the AAP and Akalis?”
Furthermore, Rajdeep conceded that he was briefed by Navjot Singh Sidhu about ex-Punjab CM’s personal relations in Pakistan. “Sidhu tried to suggest to me that Captain had personal relations in Pakistan. Why don’t you ask him about that?” the journalist inquired. Amarinder Singh clarified that half of the Patiala went to the Pakistani side during the Partition of India and that his personal relationship is with the common people of Punjab. “What has that got to do with leadership?” he confronted Rajdeep while negating any friendship with the Pakistani Prime Minister or Army general.
Singh had earlier bashed Navjot Singh Sidhu for the latter’s apparent love for the Pakistani military and its leaders. He claims to have told Sidhu, “here are my soldiers getting killed and you are going and hugging the Pakistani chief General Bajwa. Then you are going to Imran Khan where policies are made against our nation. Do you know how many drones are coming into Punjab on a daily basis? How much weaponry has come into Punjab? How much RDX explosives, how many grenades, how many pistols, over 50,000 rounds of ammunition, all that is coming in the state, what does it come in for?”
Captain Amarinder Singh and his connection with a Pakistani journalist
Not many people know but there have been reports about that a Pakistani friend of Capt Amarinder who is a regular at his Chandigarh house. Aroosa Alam shares a close relationship with him and had also attended his swearing-in ceremony in 2017. She was also present at the launch of Captain Amarinder Singh’s biography ‘The People’s Maharaja’ in February 2020.
The duo has manifestly been low-key about their lesser-known ‘affair’ and has often shied away from talking about it in public. Notably, Alam is a former Pakistani defence journalist and was known in Pakistani circles for having close ties with the military establishment. Alam is the daughter of Akleen Akhtar, also known as the famous General Rani, a socialite who was described by the Pakistani media as the “muse and mistress” of Pakistani leader Yahya Khan. “My relationship is a sensitive issue even back home, I am a Muslim woman, and you know how people back home think,” said Aroosa in February 2018 when she was in Chandigarh.
