Leaders divided over district status to Batala

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Batala, September 10

A majority of city residents want the coming Monday to be a red-letter day for them even as the proposed decision to elevate Batala subdivision into a full-fledged district is having some interesting fallouts.

There is widespread speculation that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will make an official declaration on the occasion of the marriage anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak — also known as ‘Babe Da Viah’ — falling on September 13. Even as the city is agog with religious fervour and excitement, residents feel an official announcement will provide the icing on the cake.

Move not in our interest: Lawyers

• The Gurdaspur District Bar Association claimed the creation of a separate district would harm their professional interests as 65 per cent of their professional work originates from the Batala subdivision
• Around 90 lawyers have sought a meeting with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh over the issues. The advocates left Gurdaspur on Friday for the CM’s farmhouse at Siswan

In the battle to make the town a district, friends have become foes and vice-versa. The Gurdaspur District Bar Association has nearly 400 members on its rolls. These lawyers have different political affiliations but when ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Tript Rajnder Singh Bajwa,

and Rajya Sabha Member Partap Singh Bajwa wrote to the Chief Minister seeking the district status, the advocates gave their difference a quiet burial and instead came together on a single platform.

They vociferously claimed the creation of a separate district would harm their professional interests. “Right now, 65 per cent of our professional work originates from the Batala subdivision. If the proposed decision takes practical shape, all of us will be doomed. Our earnings will substantially decrease,” said leading lawyer Santokh Singh Basra. Around 90 lawyers, concerned over the proposal, have sought a meeting with the Chief Minister. Despite the fact that there was no confirmation from the Chief Minister’s office, these advocates left Gurdaspur today for Capt Amarinder’s farmhouse at Siswan in Mohali.

Interestingly, three known dissidents — Randhawa, Bajwa and Gurdaspur legislator Barindermeet Singh Pahra, who earlier were hand in glove with each other, are now finding themselves at two ends of the spectrum.

While the ministers have passionately committed themselves in the battle to get the district status, Pahra has been left with

no option except to go with the voices which do not want a division.

With the D-day fast approaching, Batalvis, many of whom have started prayers in religious places, are waiting with a bated breath for an official word. “Batala district was a separate entity till the British merged it with Gurdaspur. By restoring the original position, the Chief Minister will actually be correcting a historical mistake,” said Dr Satnam Singh Nijjar, chairman of the Gurdaspur Planning Board.

Committed to cause

Both the ministers have passionately committed themselves to the battle of getting the district status for Batala. Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa has also written to the Chief Minister, seeking the district status.