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Journalism of Courage
ROOPNAGAR, May 2: Veteran film star and former Congress MP Sunil Dutt, who had earlier raked up a controversy by suggesting that Punjab be renamed as Khalistan, today said: 8220;The matter should now be buried for a peaceful co-existence of different communities8221;.
Speaking to mediapersons at the Youth Hostel here this afternoon, Dutt, who is on a Hands across the border expedition8217;, said: 8220;If Europeans can bury their past, why can8217;t we do the same.8221;
Dutt, who was flanked by 18 members of the expedition from five South-Asian countries, warned, 8220;I want peace in the state. Since a peaceful situation prevails in Punjab, let8217;s not write anything controversial.8221;
Dutt was earlier accorded a civic reception by the Youth Hostels Association and Yuva Shakti at Roopnagar. Parrying political questions of mediapersons, he said: 8220;We are on a peace mission to minimise tension in the South-Asian region.8221;
Asked how he differentiated between the foreign policy of the BJP-led coalition government with that of the previous Congress regime, Dutt said: 8220;We do not want to discuss policy matters, as we want peace in South-Asia.8221;Adding that real issues confronting the South-Asian countries were poverty and malnutrition, Dutt said, 8220;Such efforts should continue. Even Mahatma Gandhi did not succeed in bringing peace in one Dandi8217; march. It took him 30 years to achieve the results.8221;
8220;Only peaceful co-existence of South-Asian countries can rid us of poverty,8221; he added. Dutt, who had led a padyatra8217; in late 80s to the Golden Temple, when asked if he will try to bring peaceful co-existence between the warring Akali leaders, said: 8220;That is for Badal and Tohra to decide.8221;
When asked if he desired to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls, he said, 8220;Let the time come, I will see.8221;
Earlier in his address, Dutt reminded the gathering of his padyatra8217; to Punjab during terrorism days. 8220;My only affinity with the state is that I am born to a Punjabi mother,8221; he said.
Terming Guru Gobind Singh8217;s sacrifice as unmatched, Dutt expressed his desire to visit Anandpur Sahib on his way to Una as part of the three-month expedition that started from Colombo in Sri Lanka on March 3. So far, the expedition has covered 15,000 km by visiting Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and some parts of India.
Himself a chairman of the expedition committee, Dutt was presented a memento and a sword by the district administration on behalf of the Youth Hostel Association and Yuva Shakti.
Kurukshetra: Sunil Dutt exhorted the youth to come forward to take the reigns of the country in their hands and requested them to refrain from social evils like casteism, terrorism and factionalism.
He reached the holy city today after having traversed Sri Lanka, Chennai, Pondicherry, Dhaka, Calcutta, Shillong, Kakarmitta Bhutan, Nepal, Sultanpur, Lucknow and Moradabad on a world peace journey over the past two months.
