Away on family trip Badals’ absence takes sheen off Malerkotla’s Eid

The absence of both Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal took the sheen off the Eid-Ul-Fitr celebrations at Malerkotla and the state-level function held in the memory of Sikh leader Sant Harchand Singh Longowal at Sangrur.

Both the functions were held on Monday and while attending the Eid celebrations is not a regular feature for the chief minister or his deputy, Badal has in the past never missed the function held in memory of Sant Longowal. With the Badal's away on a family holiday it was upto Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and his son Sukhdev to fill the void.

At Malerkotla, Eid celebrations witnessed immense bonhomie between communities. In the morning thousands of Muslims offered prayers at the local Idgah, later in the day Dhindsa and others from the Sikh and Hindu communities gathered to reiterate their stand to maintain peace and harmony at all costs and wish their Muslim brothers.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Punjab Wakf Board Mohammad Izhar Alam presented a set of demands to Dhindsa. "Despite Muslims being a majority of the migrant population in the state, no Muslim has ever been appointed as the head of Parvasi Bhalai Board. Development in Malerkotla will improve with the setting up of a transport nagar here and at the same time retaining land allotted to the now defunct OCL Limited and distributing it to small entrepreneurs."

Dhindsa, on the other hand, said: "The state government recognises the contribution of the Muslim community to the development of Punjab and care will be taken while reconstituting state boards and corporation to ensure due representation. At the same time, local MLAs can make plans of extending canals — a long pending demand — and it will be met in the next budget."

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