SGPC a tool in Akalis'' hands, Harsimrat Kaur an ''an ill-informed woman'': Punjab CM

 Chandigarh, September 16

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday yet again dubbed Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal as "an ill-informed woman" and asked her to "stop exploiting" the issue of 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev for “petty political gains".

The chief minister also described the SGPC as “a tool” in the hands of the Shiromani Akali Dal and alleged that Badal was “going all out to drive a deeper wedge” between the government and the religious body.

This was in reaction to the union minister’s allegation that the government was playing politics over the Sikh founder's birth day celebration. Last week, the Union minister had objected to the state government's insistence to holding separate function at a "tent city" in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala on November 12 to mark the occasion, while the SGPC has decided to hold the main event in a stadium near Gurdwara Ber Sahib there.

The chief minister said on Monday that Badal was an “ill-informed woman" who was making "repeated attempts to malign” his government He also said she was trying to “reduce the sacred occasion into a disgraceful saga of fibs and fabrications”. 

 “Instead of asking the SGPC, which was a tool in the hands of her Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to extend support to the state-level function, Harimsrat Kaur was going all out to drive a deeper wedge between the government and the religious body,” Amarinder Singh said, as he called Badal’s statement “divisive and provocative”.

For 10 years they (SAD leaders) worked to “destroy” every vestige of Punjab's socio-economic fiber, and are now trying to push the state back into its dark days with their “insensitive and contentious” statements, Singh alleged.

“Harsimrat talks of oneness, unity and peace, but her deeds are in complete variance with her comments,” claimed the CM, pointing out that the Akalis had reduced the SGPC into a “political instrument for their short-term gains”. 

His government, said the chief minister, had been persistently appealing to all, including the SGPC, to rise above petty differences and celebrate the lifetime event in the spirit of Guru Nanak Dev teachings. This, however, does not suit the “interests” of the Akalis, who are “hell-bent” on spreading “disinformation and disharmony” over the issue, he alleged.  Reiterating his government's total support to the SGPC for the celebrations of the event inside Gurdwara sahibs and properties controlled by the committee, Amarinder once again appealed to the SGPC chief to join hands with his government to "commemorate the grand occasion in a collective spirit of amity and brotherhood, rising above political, social and religious considerations".

In his letter to SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal, the chief minister solicited his support to ensure a befitting celebration for the grand occasion, "in line with the ethos and philosophy of universal brotherhood as propounded by the first Sikh Guru".

The latter also said that the state government had, on the directives of Akal Takht Sahib's jathedar, already nominated two Cabinet ministers Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for inclusion in the joint commemoration committee.

“I had also designated three ministers who had personally met you at your residence on June 29, 2019 to request you on my behalf to come together for this sacred occasion which we all are privileged to witness in our lifetime,” the Chief Minister recalled.

He further mentioned that elaborate programmes had already been finalised by the state government for the main function, which would be held on November  12 at the holy city of Sultanpur Lodhi. PTI