Congratulatory hoardings on Maghi, Oppn targets govt

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, January 15

The congratulatory hoardings put up by the state government in the historic town on the occasion of Maghi have not gone down well with the leaders of Opposition parties and some Sikh organisations.

Notably, the Maghi Mela is held every year on the next day of Lohri to commemorate the 40 ‘Muktas’ (liberated ones) who laid down their lives while fighting the last battle of Sikhs against the Mughals in 1705 here, earlier known as ‘Khidrane di dhab’.

Muktsar MLA Kanwarjit Singh ‘Rozy Barkandi’, who is SAD’s Muktsar district president, said, “The Congress is not even aware of the Sikh history. It is really shameful that the state government has put up congratulatory hoardings. If the state government had to instal the hoardings, it should have paid homage to the 40 ‘Muktas’ rather than congratulating people on the occasion. I demand stern action against the officers responsible for it.”

Ludhiana MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, founder of the Lok Insaaf Party, said: “On the one hand, the Chief Minister had appealed to all political parties not to hold political conferences on the religious occasion and, on the other, the state government has put up congratulatory hoardings in the town. Maghi Mela is observed to pay respect to the supreme sacrifice of 40 ‘Muktas’.”

Jasvir Singh Khalsa, president, Sikh Virsa Council, Muktsar, said, “It is shameful that the state government, led by a Sikh CM, is unaware of the Sikh history. Even the photograph of the Chief Minister is displayed on the boards. These hoardings should be removed immediately.”

Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, who had come to pay obeisance here on Monday, said, “It could have happened due to mistake of an individual, not of the government.”