Akali Dal accepted the name ‘Bal Diwas’ till 2019, but opposed it after alliance ended: Baliawal

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): BJP Punjab spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal has responded to the controversy surrounding the name "Veer Bal Diwas" (Brave Children's Day) that has been ongoing for the past few days, addressing the Shiromani Akali Dal and Bathinda MP Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Presenting an old tweet by Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal as evidence, Baliawal said that Harsimrat Kaur Badal herself had advocated celebrating "Bal Diwas" dedicated to the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas (sons of Guru Gobind Singh) through her tweet in 2019, but after the alliance with the BJP broke, the Akali Dal changed its tune.

Raising a question, Baliawal asked how the name "Bal Diwas," which the Akali Dal considered correct until 2019, suddenly became wrong after the word "Veer" (Brave) was added to it?

He further added that even in 2018, at an event organized by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi, Sukhbir Singh Badal, on behalf of the Akali Dal leadership, had agreed to the name "Bal Diwas," but now they have gone back on their own stance.

Baliawal said that when the Akali Dal and BJP were in an alliance, the Akali Dal was consulted on every issue related to religion, farmers, and Punjab and decisions were implemented only after their consent. Despite this, the Akali Dal leadership always betrayed our leadership and tried to portray the BJP as anti-Punjab to further their own political agenda, so that their political base remained intact and the BJP could not gain a foothold in Punjab.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has always given the highest respect to Sikh history, Sikh traditions, and the great martyrdom of the Sahibzadas. The declaration of "Veer Bal Diwas" is a symbol of the recognition of this great sacrifice before the whole world. Finally, Baliawal appealed to the Shiromani Akali Dal and its entire leadership not to try to gain political advantage from religious issues and to acknowledge the truth of their own previous demands. He stated that there should be no politics over the names associated with the martyrdom days of the Sahibzadas.