Mrs. Badal calls for dedicating old parliament building to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
Chandigarh, September 18, 2023: As per media reports, Bibi Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP today demanded the parliament unanimously condemn the 1984 Sikh genocide. He also called for dedicating the old parliament building to Hind ki Chadar Guru Tegh Bahadur ji who laid the foundation of democracy in India.
The former union minister also demanded the Women Reservation Bill be taken up by the Lok Sabha and be passed to empower women in the true sense of the word.
Participating in the discussion on evolution of India’s parliamentary democracy in parliament, Harsimrat Badal in an evocative speech spoke on how she witnessed the murder of minorities as well as the murder of religious tolerance as an eighteen year old in 1984.
Asserting that State sponsored genocide had been unheard of till then, Mrs Badal said “had this government ensured justice to the Sikh community, other tragedies could have been averted” while referring to the incidents of mass murder and rape of women in Manipur.
She also blame the Congress party, how the party stooped down to trying to eliminate an entire generation of Sikhs by engineering genocide in the national capital as well as other parts of the country. “The then Congress government even sent tanks into the Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar and destroyed Sri Akal Takht Sahib”.
The Bathinda MP also called for dedicating the old parliament building to Guru Tegh Bahadur to honour the supreme sacrifice made by the Guru to protect religious freedom. Mrs Badal said the Guru’s initiative to sacrifice his life to save the minority Kashmiri Hindu community from forced conversion had laid the foundation for democratic principles like human rights, equality and freedom of religion.
Harsimrat Badal also made a fervent appeal for women reservation, adding the Lok Sabha should pass the bill to empower women in the true sense of the word. Badal said “women constitute a majority of voters with 67 per per cent women turnout in the last parliamentary election and their voice should be heard in parliament”.
She also raised the issue of increasing suicides among farmers and distress in the community at large. She said the central government had promised to double farmer income but had failed to deliver. “Farmers need money in their pockets, not hollow promises”, Mrs Badal asserted, saying farmers were suffering because they were not able to fulfill their basic needs. She also gave the example of farmers of Punjab who had filled the food coffers of the country for the last 50 years but now in a state of crisis.
