Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab, Akali Dal patron and former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday said the Centre should acknowledge the “sacrifices” of farmers who died during the agitation against farm laws.
The five-time CM also asked the PM to “create the right atmosphere for his much-delayed visit to Punjab by first taking some concrete steps to expose the conspiracy behind the on-going incidents of sacrilege against Sikh faith and resolve the other major political, religious and economic issues being faced by the people of Punjab”.
In a written statement, Badal listed five major issues on which he said “a Prime Ministerial package would lend credence and respectability to Modi’s visit to Punjab.”
Senior Badal said, “As PM, you would earn a lot of goodwill and my personal gratitude if, before coming here, you announce an economic, political, agricultural and territorial package to meet the demands of the Punjabis.”
He also drew the PM’s attention to “thousands of Sikh families awaiting justice for the 1984 massacre.” Badal said that “the PM’s visit would then truly be a welcome gesture and would heal many past wounds inflicted by Congress governments.”
Badal stated that he was “making this request on the eve of the PM’s visit just to remind him of his sacred obligations to the country’s food bowl and sword arm, Punjab.”
He also demanded “a major agricultural economic package to pull the Punjab farmers out of the tragic crisis into which they have sunken as a result of agricultural indebtedness.”
“It would be a great gesture if you go beyond optics and announce steps such an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to go into the conspiracy behind the painful series of sacrilegious incidents against Sikh faith and address other issues facing the people of the state,” Badal said.
Badal asked the PM to “heed the expectations of Punjabis on the resolution of their other pending demands, including the transfer of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas and the resolution of the river waters issue along Riparian principle”.
He drew the attention of the PM to “the loss of over 800 lives in the struggle against the three black laws on agriculture” and said that “these sacrifices must be acknowledged by concrete gesture by the Union government to help their families. This was especially important as these sacrifices were made opposing the laws framed by the Union and the government has since acknowledged the advisability of annulling these laws.”