Punjab bids adieu to its ‘darvesh siyasatdaan’

Buta Singh, a villager at the cremation site, said, “You might not be aware of it but it is true that there was a time when ‘kurta pajama’ was seen as a symbol of backwardness, and rural folks going to government offices wearing ‘kurta pajama’ would face ill-treatment and exploitation. It was Badal Sahib who gave power to rural folks and Jathedars. He made people wearing ‘kurta pajama’ so powerful that now officers are afraid to get on the wrong side of them. It is not a small thing. He empowered us.”

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) stalwart, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 95, was cremated with full state honours at his ancestral village in Punjab’s Muktsar district.

Rani, who works in the farms of the Badal family, said, “Vadde Badal ne Gariban vaste bahut kita (Elder Badal did a lot for the poor.) It is a big loss for the poor. He was so kind. We would talk to him every day. He was chief minister for others but for us he was just like any other elderly village person. He never made us feel that we were working for a CM. He was a big man with a common touch. When Badal Sahib interacted with the villagers, we felt he was one among us. He never put on airs and graces. He was a down-to-earth man with no pretensions.”

Rani sat with a group of women outside the VVIP area on the stands used for viewers in sports tournaments. All the women had specially come to attend the five-time CM’s funeral, mostly attended by men.

“Traffic police are quick to issue challans to villagers when they go to city even if they have all the vehicle documents. But when Badal Sahib was the CM, we would make a call to our sarpanch whenever police stopped us and avoided trouble. Sarpanches were very powerful during the Badal era; it was like we were the CM when Badal was at the helm. Badals knew how to keep officers in control. Now, officers are running the government,” said Jagsir Singh, another villager at the funeral site.

“Badal Sahib was so humble. If today most leaders try to be humble, it is due to Badal Sahib. He would speak with everyone with respect irrespective of class, caste or creed. His humbleness gave people the confidence to expect humbleness from other leaders and bureaucrats. He would call everyone Sardar Ji or Bau ji,” said Mohan Singh, a villager who attended the senior Badal’s cremation ceremony.

“I was a graduate and had no job. My father had been in jail with the senior Badal during the Emergency. My father took me to Badal Sahib and asked him with authority to give me a job when he was the CM. Badal Sahib immediately asked his PA to give me a government job. I got the job within three months,” said a government employee on condition of anonymity.

“When he gave free electricity to farmers – it was not that he was trying to be in farmers’ good books. For him farmers were his priority. He never let us face shortage of seed and urea. Muktsar district had his special blessings. Once there was shortage of cotton seed but not in Muktsar. He diverted stock for us,” said Harjit Singh, a farmer.

He said, “There was a time when Muktsar was in deep water due to water-logging. But Badal Sahib brought several schemes to prevent water-logging in Muktsar. Today water-logging is no more a problem here. Some 20 years ago, a big chunk of land in the district had got submerged in water. Then Badal Sahib brought national and international experts to solve the problem.”

“At present, Punjab is ruled by AAP. Before AAP, it was ruled by Congress. Both governments were/are after the blue ration cards in the name of inspection. They had/have been cancelling blue cards. Officials are harassing and threatening us that our blue cards will be cancelled. It was Parkash Singh Badal’s government that made blue cards even for those who were not that poor. Because he (Badal) did not want any poor person to be left out of the benefits of welfare schemes – it did not matter even if a few undeserved people also got the benefit,” said Balwinder Kaur from Lambi.

“He did a lot for the poor. He launched many schemes for the poor. It is due to Badal-run schemes that now other parties also have to launch such schemes. He was the pioneer of welfare measures,” said Seera, who was a Dalit panch in Lambi village.

“He took us by surprise when he started ‘Sangat Darshan’ back in 1997. Once he gave us time to come at 9 am, but he turned up at 7 am. We were not ready and people had also not come. It was also raining that day. He sat in a veranda, heard us out and gave us everything that we demanded. He did not even make a fuss about the poor arrangements,” said Sarpanch Diwan Chand from village Aspal.

The senior Badal’s politics had something for every section of the community. However, apart from politicians, their staff, security and media – Jatt and Dalits were the only rural folk who turned up for the cremation at Badal village.

“I always wished SAD had an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), because Parkash Singh Badal had many policies for the Dalits. These policies would have worked better if SAD was in alliance with BSP. Now, SAD is in alliance with BSP. Hope it would work for long,” said Raghubir Singh, a Nihang, who came to attend the cremation with a BSP flag in his hand.