Chandigarh, Nov 26 (PTI) The ruling AAP in Punjab on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and central ministers for not attending events organised by the state government to mark the 350th anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, during an event in Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, said senior leaders of the BJP did not participate in the martyrdom anniversary events at Anandpur Sahib on Tuesday, alleging this has exposed their “insensitivity” towards Punjab’s rich spiritual and martyrdom legacy.
Meanwhile, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar condemned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and state minister Aman Arora’s remarks regarding PM Modi, calling them baseless and said not only the minister but the entire AAP should publicly apologise for the “false” statement. Jakhar said Arora’s claim that despite being invited, the prime minister did not attend the event, is completely incorrect.
He said it does not mean the prime minister lacks respect for the Guru Sahib.
“In fact, Modi Ji paid homage to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s unparalleled martyrdom anniversary during the major event held in Kurukshetra, and the government of India also issued a commemorative coin dedicated to this sacred occasion,” said Jakhar in a statement.
Earlier, Arora said the government had invited the prime minister and all central ministers to attend the events to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of the ninth Sikh Guru.
Addressing the media here, Arora said they did not raise this issue till November 25, as they were expecting that these invitees might attend the events.
The Punjab government organised various events to mark the occasion, including a special session of Vidhan Sabha, ‘nagar kirtans’, ‘kirtan darbars’, light and sound shows, drone shows dedicated to the life and legacy of Guru Tegh Bahadur and a ‘Sarv Dharam Sammelan’ (interfaith conference) from November 23 to 25.
Targeting Modi, Arora said the prime minister visited Kurukshetra on Tuesday, but did not go to Anandpur Sahib, which is hardly 12-15 minutes from the Haryana city by flight, to pay obeisance to the Sikh Guru.
Modi visited Kurukshetra on Tuesday to take part in a special programme organised by the Haryana government to commemorate the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
The prime minister and his entire leadership, including central ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, should be ashamed of themselves for not visiting Anandpur Sahib despite being invited by the Punjab government, Arora said.
“The BJP does not leave any stone unturned to project the prime minister as the ‘Vishwaguru’ but they failed to visit Anandpur Sahib to bow before the actual ‘Vishwa De Guru’ Guru Tegh Bahadur,” Arora said.
“We can well imagine how much they (BJP leaders) hate Punjab, Punjabiyat and the Sikh community,” the AAP leader alleged.
Later, Jakhar took on AAP and said a national-level event was also organised at the Red Fort, where people were informed about the Guru’s extraordinary sacrifice to protect religious freedom and humanity.
Jakhar said several programmes were organised by the government of India not only across the country but also internationally. Therefore, Arora’s remarks about the PM are unfounded, baseless, and made solely for political gain, he said.
The BJP Punjab chief demanded that Arora apologise to the prime minister.
He further said the BJP’s state unit also organised a ‘kirtan darbar’ at Sri Anandpur Sahib dedicated to the 350th martyrdom anniversary of the ninth Sikh Guru, and the party leadership collectively bowed and offered prayers at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib.
He added that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had also invited AAP leaders to their event but not a single minister or leader from the ruling party attended.
Jakhar questioned, “If you truly have reverence for the Guru Sahiban, then why did you not attend this important SGPC event?” Jakhar also said that AAP’s “double standards” were exposed earlier as well and said on August 26, when Punjab was suffering from floods, Chief Minister Mann was in Tamil Nadu for the launch of a scheme. He said the same leaders later extended an invitation for this event to the Tamil Nadu chief minister, too, yet he also did not attend.
“What will the chief minister and Aman Arora say about this?” Jakhar asked.
Jakhar said the chief ministers of other states knew that such events had “political motives” and that AAP was using religion for its “political interests”.
That is why none of them considered it appropriate to attend, as no responsible leader wishes to indulge in politics in the name of religion, he said.
Jakhar added that AAP spent “crore of rupees” on the special Assembly session and on banners featuring their leaders’ photographs purely for political promotion.
This money could have been far better utilised for the development of Anandpur Sahib, which would have greatly benefited the state and the Sikh community, said Jakhar.
Using religious matters for “political gain” is utterly wrong, he further said, adding that turning the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur into a political debate reflects the “narrow-mindedness and wrong intentions of AAP leaders.
Jakhar said the BJP and the central government have always been committed to honouring the inspirational legacy of Guru Sahib’s supreme sacrifice. PTI CHS KSS KSS
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