CHANDIGARH: Hitting back at Punjab Congress leaders for levelling ‘wild allegations’ against her, Pakistani journalist and former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s friend Aroosa Alam has described them as ‘shameless people’ who are targeting a woman for the sake of their politics.
“When they wanted to dislodge Captain sahib, they made tall claims like a 13-point agenda, including the PPA issue. Actually, they are not able to do anything as this is a group of limping fools. Navjot Sidhu did not allow Sukhjinder Randhawa to become chief minister and do you think that Randhawa will forget this ever?” she said in a conversation with TOI over telephone from Pakistan.
About Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s statement on probe of Amarinder’s alleged links with Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency through Alam, she said, How can they investigate when the central government agencies have such powers which have been giving visa clearances to me for the last 16 years after multi-layered checks?”
‘For last 1 year, I’ve been back in Pak’
Alam said she used to come to India on a tourist visa for a limited stay, sometimes of just 15 to 20 days and it was a city-wise visa and not any sweeping visa. “You know, me and Maharaja sahib have been friends for the past 16 years. I also used to meet his family and grandchildren like any family friends,” said Alam, adding that on many occasions she had come with a group of friends and also used to visit Delhi and Mumbai as per visa permissions.
About her stay at Punjab chief minister’s official residence, Alam said, “I have stayed in the official residence for a very few days in the last four-and-a-half years. For the last one year, I have been back in Pakistan. As Maharaja sahib had shifted to his Siswan farm, I used to stay there.”
Asked about her closeness with former DGP Dinkar Gupta and his wife Vini Mahajan, who is former chief secretary, Alam said first she had met Mahajan at a ladies’ lunch in the Chandigarh Club when she was not the chief secretary. “I met her husband later at a dinner party at the former chief secretary’s house. Then we became friends. Is it a crime to make friends? Vini still is a good friend. I have nothing to do with Dinkar’s appointment as there is a process to be followed by the UPSC and that is beyond me,” she added.
Alam said that it is ‘ridiculous and absurd’ to say that she used to interfere in postings and transfers of deputy commissioners and SSPs, adding that those who know Amarinder know it very well that he does not listen to anyone.
Asked about the allegations of her interference in the affairs of the PWD department under minister Vijay Inder Singla when Amarinder was chief minister, she replied, “So how is Vijay Inder Singla still a minister in the Channi government now? I am here keeping an eye 24 hours on television channels about various developments in Punjab. Singla should have been shunted out if I used to influence him or he used to work for me.”
About those raising questions on her properties allegedly amassed in Dubai and London in the last few years, Alam questioned, “Can they prove any of my properties in London and Dubai? My elder son was settled in Dubai 10 years before I met Maharaja sahib. It is very easy to make wild allegations on a person who is not in front of you.” Attacking PPCC president’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Alam said, “I used to hear a lot when I was there that Navjot Kaur and her so-called boyfriend used to see files and collect money to approve societies as minister Navjot Sidhu used to be in Mumbai. I can take such allegations to the sky. But if somebody does an impartial inquiry, such works of Madam Sidhu must be on the files.”
Answering to the allegations of Amarinder having married her in December 2006 in a resort near Jaipur by converting to Islam where two Congress leaders were witnesses, Alam said, “Absolutely not. There is no truth. Again they need to produce something. For God’s sake, I have grown up children and grandchildren. People should at least first think as to what they are talking about. I am a Muslim woman. He is a Sikh. When I met Captain sahib, I was 50 plus and he was 65 or 66. Is it the age to marry? But yes, it is definitely time to find companions.”
She added that those Congress leaders who earlier used to roam around Amarinder and are now close to Sidhu should know how to respect a woman when their party president is a lady who too is a foreigner. “They have started hitting a woman. I am deeply hurt. I have a family here, brothers, their children and grandchildren. People here ask me lakhs of questions,” she added.
“I swear by Khuda, I will always have a very pious relation with Maharaja sahib. I have known Captain sahib for the last 16 years and most of the time he was out of power. When he came to power, I don’t know who all surrounded him. How can this prove that I was power hungry? As a journalist I have travelled a lot and rubbed shoulders with various heads of state,” she added.
Questioning Congress high command’s decision to remove Amarinder, she said, “Who in this world removes the commander in the middle of the battle? Who is advising them? The Congress high command should have called Captain and Sidhu to Delhi and told them you both focus on the elections. Then after coming to power, they should have come up with some power sharing formula. Capt could have again become the chief minister for one year and could have by that time groomed Sidhu.” About former IPS officer Mohammad Mustafa, she said that he is mistaken that I helped Dinkar Gupta to become DGP.
Asked as to when she plans to come to Chandigarh, she replied, “Tauba, tauba, tauba. Am I mad that I will come back to Chandigarh again?”
