The politics surrounding the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev in Punjab is getting murkier by the day, with the ruling Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) continuing to fire salvos at each other.
A day after Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal accused the State government of “insisting” on holding a separate programme on the occasion at Sultanpur Lodhi, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday alleged that Ms. Badal was “spreading falsehoods about the event to exploit the historic occasion for petty political gains”.
“The Union Minister is trying to reduce the sacred occasion to a disgraceful saga of fibs and fabrications. Instead of asking the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee [SGPC], which is a tool in her hands, and the Shiromani Akali Dal, to extend support to the State-level function, Harsimrat is going all out to drive a deeper wedge between the government and the religious body,” said the Chief Minister as he once again wrote to SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal to join the State government’s programme to celebrate the occasion at Sultanpur Lodhi.
The Punjab government is celebrating Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary in a week-long function from November 5 to 12.
Capt. Amarinder alleged that the Akali leader’s comments over the last few days had further exposed the party’s “cheap mindset and disruptive political agenda”. “For 10 years, they [SAD leaders] worked to destroy every vestige of Punjab’s socio-economic fibre and now they are trying to push the State back into its dark days with their insensitive and contentious statements,” he said.
“Harsimrat talks of oneness, unity and peace, but her deeds are in complete variance with her comments,” said the Chief Minister, claiming that the Akalis had reduced the SGPC to a “political instrument for their short-term gains”.
Appeal to SGPC
Reiterating his government’s total support to the SGPC for celebrations inside gurdwaras and properties controlled by the Committee, Capt. Amarinder once again appealed to the SGPC chief to join hands with his government to commemorate the occasion.
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, too, hit out at the Congress government for holding a separate programme. “Historically, all major religious celebrations have been organised by the SGPC. The government should act as a facilitator and assist the SGPC,” he said.