Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday hit out at the Union government, accusing it of deliberately keeping Punjab’s tableau out of the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. He added the decision was “unfortunate”.
He was addressing a gathering after unfurling the national tricolor in a function to mark the 75th Republic Day in Ludhiana.
“It is surprising how national festivals can be celebrated without Punjab adding that those who had deliberately kept Punjab’s tableau out of the parade must tell what was wrong in them,” he said, adding that the rich culture and heritage of the State was duly showcased in the tableaus made by the State government.
“The mockery of the supreme sacrifices made by the Punjabis, by the Union government, is intolerable and unwarranted due to which the state has vehemently raised this issue,” said the Chief Minister.
He said the State government duly showcased this immense contribution in tableaus across the State during the Republic Day functions.
“The Union government has insulted the great martyrs including Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Shaheed Rajguru, Shaheed Sukhdev, Lala Lajpat Rai, Shaheed Udham Singh, Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha, Mai Bhago, Ghadri Baabe and others by rejecting the tableau of the State. The Union government has belittled their contribution and sacrifice of these heroes by not including their tableaus in the Republic Day parade. This cannot be tolerated as it is the grave insult of these great patriots and national leaders,” he said.
Mr. Mann said that conspiracies are being hatched to deprive the farmers of Punjab of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which he said “is discriminatory and pathetic”.
Taking a jibe at previous governments of the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Mr. Mann said that during previous regimes the youth were deprived of jobs and education so that they made a beeline behind the political leaders, but now this culture is being abandoned so that youth become an integral part of the progress and prosperity of the State.
