Punjab holds special session of Vidhan Sabha to mark 400th Parkash Purab celebrations of Guru Teg Bahadur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 3

The Special Session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha begans on Friday with the obituary references.

The camp opposing Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, led by PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, were seen occupying the back benches.

Even the four rebel ministers – Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukh Sarkaria and Charanjit Singh Channi – sat at a distance from the Chief Minister, though in all previous sessions their seats were near the CM’s seat.

As the obituary references ended, Rana Gurmit Sodhi sought the permission of the House to include eminent sportspersons Nirmal Milkha Singh and Yashpal Sharma to be included in the list of those whose death was mourned by the House.

Deputy Leader of Opposition Sarvjit Kaur Manuke and Sharanjit Singh Dhillon demanded that the farmers and farm labourers who had died in the ongoing farmers struggle also be included in the list.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, while addressing the House during the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to mark the 400th Parkash Purab celebrations of Guru Teg Bahadur, said we need to have more religious freedom in the country.

“There are places where intolerance is the order of the day. Whenever there is a crisis anywhere in the world, Sikhs come forward to help others. Our gurus were willing to lay down their lives for humanity,” he said.

He said that the welfare of the entire humanity – Sarbat da bhala – should remain most important guiding principle today. “As representatives of people, we should not forget that in spite of diverse political thoughts, serving humanity should be the prime objective,” he said.

Governor Banwari Lal Purohit, who made a maiden visit to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, upon his appointment as governor, said the teachings and sacrifices of all Sikh gurus were a lesson for humanity.

On this occasion, Justice JS Khehar, former Chief Justice of India, also gave a speech on the contribution and philosophy of Guru Teg Bahadur.

The Dalai Lama and the Vice President, who could not attend the session, sent their greetings, which were read out before the House by Speaker Rana KP Singh.

Later, the Akali Dal demanded that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh should prove his majority in the House.

SAD leader Bikram Majithia said since there is a division in the Congress, the Chief Minister should face a no-confidence motion.

However, the request was not entertained by the Speaker and the House was adjourned sine die.