CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) stalwart, former Union Minister and five times Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday returned the Padam Vibhushan award in protest against the central farm laws. SAD (Democratic) president and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also announced to return his Padma Bhushan award in protest against these laws.
In his letter to the president Ram Nath Kovind, former CM Parkash Singh Badal said, “I am who I am because of the people, especially the common farmer. Today when he has lost more than his honour, I see no point in holding on to the Padma Vibhushan honour.”
In a letter e-mailed to the President this morning, Badal said, “After panthic ideals of peace and communal harmony, farmers have been my second religious passion. Everything I have, everything I take pride in, every moment of glory or every office of public service that has been bestowed on me during my long public career has been purely because of my commitment to these ideals in which farmers have remained at the center of everything.”
“When the country honoured me with Padam Vibhushan, I knew that it was only in acknowledgement of my commitment to the people in which the farmers featured most prominently. I owe it to them,” he said.
In his letter to the President, Badal added, “When the Government of India had brought the Ordinances, assurances were given that the farmers’ apprehensions on these ordinances would be addressed to their satisfaction while bringing the relevant Bills and subsequently the Acts. Trusting these assurances, I even appealed to the farmers to believe the Government’s word. But I was shocked when the Government simply went back on its word.”
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Thursday announced that he would be returning his Padma Bhushan award in protest against farm laws. Dhindsa was presented the Padma Bhushan by President Ram Nath Kovind in March 2019.
In a statement Dhindsa said that he was withdrawing the award in protest as farmers had been struggling and staging dharnas for the past two months but the Central government was not ready to listen to them. He said they expected that the centre government would resolve the issues of the farmers and satisfy them, but the situation is different.
“Whatever is happening with the farmers currently at the borders is intolerable. When the government is ignoring our mothers, daughters, sisters, elderly people and youngsters, who have shifted to Delhi borders for protest, then the award is worthless to me. Government should again think and satisfy the farmers by repealing such laws,” Dhindsa added.