S Parkash Singh Badal death | When political stalwart returned Padma Vibhushan over farm laws
S Parkash Singh Badal death: The five-time Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal is no more. He passed away at the age of 95 in Fortis Hospital, Mohali on Tuesday (April 25).
His party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), was one of the NDA's oldest allies until 2020, when it quit the alliance in protest of the controversial farm laws which saw farmers from throughout India, including Punjab, take to the streets and highways demanding the laws be repealed.
Although no longer a BJP ally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chandigarh on Wednesday to pay his last respects to the great politician.
When S Parkash Singh Badal returned Padma Vibhushan
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Sardar Parkash Singh Badal received the country’s second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
However, in 2020, the former Punjab Chief Minister became the first to return his award in protest against the treatment of the protesting farmers by the Central government.
Expressing solidarity with farmers who sat on protest in Delhi’s border in November against the new agricultural laws, S. Parkash Badal wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind to return his Padma Vibhushan award.
“I write this to return the Padma Vibhushan award in protest against the shocking indifference and contempt with which the government is treating the ongoing peaceful and democratic agitation against the Farm Acts. Today… the farmer because of who I am has lost his honour. I see no point in holding onto the Padma Vibhushan honour," he had written.
Sardar Badal also said he was registering his protest against the government's "betrayal of farmers".
“When the Government of India had brought in ordinances, assurances were given to us that the farmers’ apprehensions would be addressed… when these were converted into Bills and Acts. Accordingly, I even appealed to the farmers to trust the Government’s word. But I was shocked when the Government simply went back on its word… That was the most painful and embarrassing moment in my long political career… I have truly begun to wonder why the Government has become so heartless, cynical, and so ungrateful to the farmers," he added.
“I am deeply pained by the communal insinuations… I can assure you that they (the farmers) have secular ethos running in their blood… It is amazing and unjust that lakhs of crores of corporate loans are waived off… but no one has even thought of subsidising farm debts or introducing schemes like one-time settlement. Instead, the country chose to let the annadata die," the letter further read.
Relationship between S Parkash Badal and PM Modi
PM Modi's relationship with the SAD patriarch has always been cordial. At public rallies, the Prime Minister always made a point of touching his feet. In another case, when Badal was brought to a hospital in 2016 with chest congestion, PM Modi surprised everyone by reaching the PGIMER in Chandigarh and spending half an hour with the ailing politician.
In 2015, Modi referred to Badal as the "Nelson Mandela of India," referring to the nearly 17 years he spent in prison for various political movements he was a part of.
Paying last respects, the Prime Minister said that "Parkash Singh Badal's passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him."
"I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers," he added.
- PTC NEWS
