Chandigarh, June 12 (IANS) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday asserted that a false Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-sponsored complaint against party leader Parambans Singh Romana had led to his being denied entry into Canada.

SAD spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler said a false case had been registered against Romana during the recent municipal elections in Faridkot.

“Romana had got anticipatory bail in the case and had gone abroad after seeking due permission from the court,” Kler stated.

He alleged that the AAP government became jittery once it learned that a SAD delegation was visiting Canada to interact with the NRI community. “As AAP has reneged on every promise made to NRIs, the government was desperate to stall the SAD delegation. This is why propped-up charges were presented to the Canadian authorities to deny entry to Romana,” he claimed.

The SAD leader said the AAP government had not only insulted the NRI community that Romana was visiting at their invitation, but had also gone against the concept of hospitality enshrined in Punjabiyat.

“The SAD delegation is visiting Canada with the purpose of interacting with the community and listening to the grievances of NRIs. The SAD believes in offering solutions as it did during its last term in government, by holding NRI sammelans and creating special police stations for NRIs. But it seems the AAP government, which has done nothing for NRIs, does not want any discussion on this matter,” Kler said.

He added that the successful tour of a recent SAD delegation, which had visited Australia and New Zealand, had also unnerved the AAP government.

Kler also took notice of what he termed a desperate attempt to launch a smear campaign against Romana. He said a leading electronic channel in the state had tried to tarnish the leader’s reputation by claiming that Romana was under the influence of liquor and that was why he had been sent back to India.

“This is a canard. If it is not withdrawn within one day and the channel does not issue an apology, we will file a defamation suit against the media house,” he warned.

–IANS

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