Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today avowed to preserve peace, communal harmony, amity and brotherhood in the state till his last breath as these were the basic ingredients of development, progress and prosperity and would never compromise to safeguard these supreme values. Addressing the mammoth gathering during the second Sadbhwana Rally here today, the Chief Minister said that Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji was a lighthouse of peace and tranquility for the entire mankind and being a devout Sikh he was duty bound to follow these high ideals propagated by our great Sikh gurus. Mr. Badal said that he was ever ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of a peaceful and prosperous Punjab in sync with the philosophy of our great Gurus, saints and seers. The Chief Minister said that he was grateful to the state and its people who have showered heaps of love and affection on him and he would safeguard the peace and amity in the state at every cost. “I have apprised Sukhbir that this path of preserving the peace was strewn with thorns and peril to life but we are ready to make every sacrifice for the sake of state and its people” he added.
Envisaging the full some support of all the political parties, intelligentsia and even the religious leaders for promoting the ethos of peace, communal harmony and amity, the Chief Minister said that it was the need of the hour to ensure peace, progress and prosperity of the state. He said that at this crucial juncture the political parties should join their hands and shun ‘dirty politicking’ to foil the attempts of divisive forces to push the state back into the black days of militancy.Giving a word of advice to the newly appointed Chief of Punjab Congress Captain Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister said that it was the high time that the Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar should shun the politics of confrontation and adopt the politics of consensus. He said that the politics of confrontation pursued by Captain had already ruined his political career as the people of state have rejected him twice. Mr. Badal said that the former Chief Minister should give up arrogance and indulge in constructive politics for the sake of overall development of state and welfare of its people.
Taking the Congress party to the cudgels, the Chief Minister reminded the people that this party has done lot of injustice with the state by depriving of its capital, legitimate share in river waters and Punjabi speaking areas. He said that the Congress party had inflicted a deep wound on Sikh psyche by attacking the Sri Harmandir Sahib and by killing thousands of innocent Sikhs during 1984 Sikh carnage. Mr. Badal said that Congress was solely responsible for decade long militancy in the state in which more than 21,000 people were killed and thus the state’s economy was derailed beyond anyone’s imagination.
The Chief Minister said that Congress was again trying to bring the troublesome periods back in the state by hobnobbing with the radical elements and pursuing its age old policy of ‘divide and rule’. However, he said that wise people of the state were well aware of these tantrums of the Congress and those people who want to push the state back in turbulent times. Mr. Badal said that people of the state would not fell prey to the false slogans and propaganda aimed at disturbing the hard earned peace of the state.
The Chief Minister bemoaned that the feelings of every Sikh were bruised due to the incidents of sacrilege in the state. However, he said that it was unfortunate that some people with vested political interests were trying to take mileage from these tragic incidents by politicizing them. Mr. Badal said that taking advantage of this heinous crime against humanity some people had hatched a conspiracy to malign the glorious Sikh institutions, which was completely intolerable.Expressing gratitude to the people for turning up in large numbers first at Bathinda and now here in the Sadbhawana Rallies, the Chief Minister said that the massive support of the people was a befitting reply to divisive forces trying to disturb the hard earned peace of the state. He said that there was no political motive behind organizing these rallies but the sole aim of these rallies was to galvanize the support of people to peace, unity and integrity of the country. Mr. Badal said that the SAD-BJP alliance was, is and would ever remain a votary of peace and communal harmony in the state. “The public support in these two rallies is outstanding and we hope that this trend will be replicated in more three rallies to be held at Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Khadoor Sahib” added Mr. Badal.
Earlier addressing the gathering the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, S. Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the SAD- BJP alliance led by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal alone had always stood for development in Punjab while the Congress has always followed a policy of divide and rule and vendetta politics which had never benefitted the State. He said the Congress, especially the Gandhi family, was a sworn enemy of Sikhs as it was responsible for attacking Sri Akal Takht Sahib as well as the 1984 Sikh grnocide. He informed that presently the scion of this anti-Punjab and anti-Sikh family- Rahul Gandhi was hell bent upon fanning the fires of religious communalism in the state.Accusing the Congress of resorting to devious means inimical to the security of the both the country and the state, the Deputy Chief Minister said the so called congregation of November 10 was a deep rooted conspiracy intended to harm national interests. He said the Congress gave its full blessings to this move as was evident from the presence of Comgress leaders Ramanjit Singh Sikki, Inderjit Singh Zira and Harminder Singh Gill at the radical stage.
Taking Punjab Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh heavily to task, S. Badal said that this so called big war horse of congress had tasted defeat at the hands of the SAD twice and was now staring at a 3rd straight defeat in 2017and the phrase 'Third time lucky' won't prove correct in his case. He said that the appointment of Captain Amarinder as Punjab Congress Chief would not make any difference because the people of Punjab had seen through the nefarious game of the Congress party. Asking Captain Amarinder Singh to throw out Sikki, Zira and Gill from the party, the Deputy Chief Minister said that in case of this not being done the complicity of congress with anti-national forces would be proved beyond doubt.S. Badal said the congress, which is devoid of issues, has collaborated with anti-Punjab forces to attack Sikh institutions including the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, SGPC and SAD.Taking a dig at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), S. Badal called it a 'Topiwali Party' and said that the party which has ruined Delhi, is now training its guns on Punjab.S. Badal further said that the unfortunate incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji has pained every right thinking person around the globe and the SAD-BJP government had handed over the probe to CBI to unearth the whole conspiracy behind this. He said that as per the preliminary leads, the hand of ISI as well as some foreign elements were emerging behind the sacrilege incidents. He said that the truth would come out in 2-4 months.
Calling SAD, a party of martyrs, S. Badal said that this party has never shied away from and would never shy away in future also to make every sacrifice to keep the integrity of the country and Punjab intact.The Deputy Chief Minister disclosed that the SAD-BJP government would not allow the hard earned peaceful atmosphere of the state to be vitiated by some unscrouplous elements and was ready to make any sacrifice to protect it. Listing the achievements of the SAD-BJP government, he said that the government had rapidly taken the state on the road to progress in every field be it the strengthening of road infrastructure, tackling unemployment by soon advertising around over 1 lakh jobs and bringing investment worth Rs. 1 Lakh crore through recently concluded 2ndProgressive Punjab Investor Summit at Mohali.
In his address, former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa recalled the glorious role of the Shiromani Akali Dal in protecting the democracy during the days of Emergency. He said that the Congress party has never forgotten this and had always hatched conspiracies to weaken the SAD and Punjab. He said that Punjab had suffered due to the wrong policies of Congress, which was once again trying to bring black days back in Punjab.
In his address National BJP Secretary Mr. Tarun Chugh questioned the silence of Congress over the presence over party leaders in the congregation near Amritsar where the conspiracy to malign Sikh institutions and throw back Punjab again in black days was hatched. He said that the dynamic combination of duo with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi at centre and Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal at the state has proved to be a boon for Punjab to further touch new heights of progress and prosperity.
While conducting the proceedings of the Sadhbhawna Rally, the Agriculture Minister Jathedar Tota Singh said this program was aimed at rejuvenating the masses to inculcate a sense of peace, harmony and brotherhood amongst them.Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Cabinet Ministers Mr. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Mr. Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Mr. Surjit Kumar Jyani, President Istri Akali Dal Bibi Jagir Kaur, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Mr. Balbir Singh Ghunas, Mr. Parkash Chand Garg and Nisara Khatoon, MLAs Mr. Maheshinder Singh, Mrs. Rajwinder kaur Bhagike, Mr. Darshan Singh Shivalik, Mr. Manpreet Singh Ayali, Mr. SR Kler, Mr. Hari Singh Zira besides the senior leader of SAD-BJP.