Reiterating that some forces inimical to the progress of the state were bent on disrupting its hard earned peace, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today said that he would not allow such forces to succeed till his last breath.Addressing the gathering here after installing Bhagwan Parshuram Chair for Indian literature and culture at Punjabi University Patiala, the Chief Minister said that Punjab had suffered a lot due to such conspiracies in the past but now the SAD-BJP alliance government was keeping a strict vigil to foil the nefarious designs of all those people who were vary to the peace and progress of the state. Soliciting the proactive support and cooperation of media and general public for this noble cause, he said that all of them should join hands for making Punjab an epitome of peace and communal brotherhood. “For their vested interests some people are actively working to bring black days back in the state but I assure you that they will not succeed till I am alive”, added Mr. Badal.
The Chief Minister further said that religion should not be misconstrued as communalism as religion was just a way of life aimed at ensuring overall welfare of everybody. He said that one should profess his own religion and should not hate the religion of others. Mr. Badal said that the state had suffered in the past as some people had divided the people on religious lines which must be avoided.The Chief Minister also called upon the people to refrain from indentifying Gurus, Saints and Seers on communal lines as they belong to the entire humanity. He said that the people must overcome the parochial considerations of caste, colour and creed to celebrate the functions related to them with full zeal and religious fervor. Mr. Badal said that the state government had been following the footsteps of great Sikh Gurus to carve an egalitarian and secular society by observing days related with every community at state level functions.The Chief Minister further said that the SAD-BJP alliance was always ready to redress the problems faced by any community in the state. Mr. Badal said that he was always available to the people for mitigating their woes and anybody could meet him at any point of time for any work. “Unlike my predecessors who behaved like Monarchs by maintaining a distance from the masses, I am always available to the people to serve them” he added.
Listing several initiatives taken by the state government to perpetuate the glorious legacy of the state, the Chief Minister said that the state government has spend nearly Rs 1000 crore for perpetuating the rich legacy of state by creating a network of several magnificent memorials viz. Virasat-e-Khalsa, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War Memorial, Chotta Ghallugara and Vadda Ghalugarra memorials. Apart from these several other state of the art memorials like Jang-e-Azaadi, War Heroes Memorial cum museum, Baba Jiwan Singh Memorial, Sri Guru Ravidass memorial and others were in pipeline. Mr. Badal said that the sole aim of constructing these memorials was to keep our younger generations abreast with the glorious and rich cultural and historic legacy of the state.Paying tributes to Bhagwan Parshuram Ji, the Chief Minister exhorted the people to imbibe the ideals propagated by him so that justice and equality could be ensured in the society. He said that Bhagwan Parshuram ji stood for protecting the basic tenets of religion, truth, universal love, compassion and righteousness adding that the life and philosophy of Bhagwan Parshuram ji teaches us that irrespective of our caste, religion and profession, we should fight injustice with all our might.
Later on interacting with the media persons, the Chief Minister said that the Union government must introduce ‘Crop Insurance Scheme’ for safeguarding the interests of farmers. He said that the hard working and resilient farmers of the state had over exploited the only available natural resources in the state in term of fertile soil and water to make the country self reliant in food production. However, Mr. Badal bemoaned that in wake of escalating cost of farm inputs and non-remunerative MSP the farmers were today on the verge of economic disaster. “So need of the hour is to provide crop insurance and remunerative prices of their produce to the farmers for bailing them out of agrarian crisis” he added.
Earlier in their address Cabinet Minister Mr. Surjit Singh Rakhra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr. KD Bhandari and President of Sri Brahmin Sabha Punjab Mr. Devi Dyal Prashar hailed the Chief Minister as the most secular leader of the country who was ever committed for the well being of every strata of the society. They envisaged that with the installation of this chair the Punjabi University would emerge as a hub for undertaking research on the life and philosophy of Lord Parshuram ji. They also said that the Brahmin community would ever remain indebted to the magnanimity of Mr. Badal.Addressing the gathering Vice Chancellor of Punjabi University Dr. Jaspal Singh lauded the Chief Minister for his unflinching commitment to preserve the rich heritage and culture of the state.The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chairman PUNCOFED Mr. Kulwinder Singh Bhai Ka Kera, former Minister Mr. Harmail Singh Tohra, Mayor Patiala Mr. Amaninder Singh Bajaj, former Mayor Mr. Vishnu Sharma, his Special Principal Secretary Dr S Karunaraju and Deputy Commissioner Mr. Varun Roojam.