'Wadde Badal sahab' who said, "No one justified Gujarat riots, that earth shook after the tree fell"

 'Wadde Badal sahab' who said, "No one justified Gujarat riots, that earth shook after the tree fell"

(Parkash Singh Badal backed the Vajpayee government unconditionally in 1996 and Akali-Jan Sangh bond started in 1970. It was one of the oldest alliance in contemporary alliance politics. PM Modi touched his feet in 2019 before filing nomination papers from Varanasi.)

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New Delhi 

The Akali veteran and an iconic politician of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal expired on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

Born on 8th December 1927, he was 95 plus. 

He was once a Congressman but later became an ardent critic of the grand old party and was always comfortable dealing with BJP leaders either during Atal Bihari Vajpayee-L K Advani duo or many years later during the tenure of incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His observation in 2021 on both the BJP and the Congress perhaps best 'defines' the differences between two major political stakeholders in India and his objective understanding of the same. 

"No one has ever justified the Gujarat riots. No one said after the Gujarat riots that it was like shaking of the earth after the fall of a big tree," Parkash Sngh Badal had said. 

Late Rajiv Gandhi had remarked after anti-Sikh mayhem in Delhi and parts of north India that the earth can shake after the fall of a big tree.

Badal did grudge the Congress for such 'justification' and thus could never forgive either Rajiv Gandhi or other Congress leaders for "they have always justified the anti-Sikh riots of 1984".

Badal lauded PM Modi for his approach to inclusive politics and also governance and went on to compare him with Abraham Lincoln.

"...As for Modi sahib, I compared him to Abraham Lincoln and I spoke from the core of my heart. There was nothing political about it," he had said in an interaction. 

Badal had also said it is Prime Minister Modi who can fulfill the aspirations of great leaders such as Jayaparakash Narayan. For his part Modi had immense respect for senior Badal often addressed as 'Wadde Badal Sahab'. In 2015, Modi had hailed Late Badal and compared with illustrious Nelson Mandela for Badal was behind bars for a long period under Congress.

 

Badal had returned the compliment stating, "I don't believe I can be compared to a great man like Mandela.....Lots of people have referred to me as Nelson Mandela even before, because of the years I spent in jail fighting for democracy, civil liberties and peace and reconciliation in Punjab".

Badal was first detained in the Karnal jail in connection with Civil Liberties agitation under the infamous Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency. He was also arrested in 1982 for opposing the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal, meant to share river water with neighbouring Haryana.

The project is yet to become a reality due to Punjab’s continuing opposition.

In 1996, Badal and his party Akali Dal came out quickly in support of Prime Minister Atal Bihari

Vajpayee's government and Parkash Singh Badal was founding member of NDA along with

the likes of George Fernandes - then heading the Samata Party. Badal had good personal rapport

also with Late BJP leader Madal Lal Khurana besides Vajpayee and Advani.

The Akali Dal-BJP relationship was later seen as a good example of Hindu-Sikh amity -- something 

Late Badal always cherished.

The Akali Dal-BJP or the Jana Sangh alliance has been one of the oldest and strongest one in 

Indian politics. No other coalition weathered so many political battles and rough weathers

since March 27, 1970, when Badal could become the country's youngest Chief Minister.

After Vajpayee expired, interacting with the late PM's family members, the Shiromani Akali Dal 

patron said Punjabis would never forget the generosity shown to the state by Vajpayee. He cited

two examples and said during the run-up to the 350th anniversary of the birth of Khalsa, Vajpayee not only 

asked the state what it wanted, but also allocated Rs 100 crore to celebrate the occasion in a befitting manner.

Badal said similarly when he approached the late PM and sought allocation of a refinery to the state, 

Vajpayee took the decision within five days. The centre sanctioned Rs 16,000 crore Bathinda refinery project.

Incumbent PM Modi had surprised Badal and many others when he touched the veteran leader's feet 

in 2019 during filing of nominations for Varanasi parliamentary segment. 

"Modi sahib took me by surprise. But as I see it, he sought blessings not from me personally, but from Punjabis 

and Sikhs all over the world...He has my best wishes and the blessings of all Punjabis for what he did for opening 

the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, punishment to Sajjan Kumar (1984 riots) and other guilty of the 1984 massacre, 

abolishing the blacklists of Sikhs abroad and release of liberal funds in hundreds of crores for Guru Sahib's 

'shatabadi', 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi aptly paid homage in his remarks on Twitter:

"Shri 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".

ends