No state-level function on Punjab Day; Sukhbir attends INLD Haryana rally
Monday, 02/11/2015
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PATIALA: Facing public ire over its perceived inability to take action against the culprits involved in the recent incidents of sacrilege of the bir of the Guru Granth Sahib, the state government failed to organise a state-level function to mark its 49th formation day on Sunday.
Deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal attended a rally at Rohtak in Haryana organised by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to mark Haryana Day. Haryana also also carved out of the previous undivided Punjab on November 1, 1966.
Across the state, Akali leaders stayed away from making an appearance in public. Interestingly, Akalis had spearheaded the Punjabi Suba movement of the ’50s and the ’60s that led to the creation of the present Punjab.
In Patiala, higher education and language minister Surjit Singh Rakhra skipped a function organised by the state language department on its premises. Even as a huge hoarding on stage proclaimed the minister as the chief guest, he failed to turn up for ‘unspecified reasons’. With no other Akali leader turning up, the organisers downgraded the function to a district-level seminar. Finally, after a wait of around an hour, state languages department director Chetan Singh presided over the function.
