Latest flashpoint in Punjab politics: Veer Bal Diwas, demand to rename it

Amid the controversy, BJP’s Punjab spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal accused the Akali leadership of double standards. Baliawal cited a November 14, 2019 tweet by Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal to argue that it was she who had advocated commemorating the Sahibzadas’ martyrdom under the title “Bal Diwas”.

Questioning the shift in SAD’s stance, Baliawal said, “A term that was acceptable to the Akali Dal until 2019 had suddenly become objectionable”. He further recalled a 2018 event at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, organised by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), where he claimed SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had expressed concurrence with the term “Bal Diwas”.

Baliawal alleged that during the SAD-BJP alliance years, sensitive issues related to religion, agriculture and Punjab were resolved through mutual consultation, but were later weaponised for political posturing. He accused the Akali Dal of portraying the BJP as “anti-Punjab” to protect its shrinking political space.

Reinforcing BJP’s position, party state vice-president Bikramjit Singh Cheema said, “The BJP is organising programmes dedicated to the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas simultaneously in 768 districts across the country”.

SAD reaction

However, the Akali Dal’s Delhi unit chief Paramjit Singh Sarna, argued that the demand to rename the day was rooted in historical accuracy rather than politics. Sarna said the SAD had supported replacing Nehru Jayanti with an observance honouring the Sahibzadas in 2019, but maintained that terminology matters.

“The phrase Veer Bal is broad and imprecise,” Sarna said, arguing that Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas directly conveys the historical reality of their martyrdom. “Precision itself is a form of respect,” he said, dismissing claims that the demand sought to undermine the government’s decision.

Former DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK also said that Veer Bal Diwas was “inconsistent” with Sikh ethos. He said he had been requesting the Union government for the past three years to rename the day in line with Sikh sentiment and the directive of the Akal Takht.

GK disputed BJP claims that SAD leaders had endorsed the name Veer Bal Diwas, saying there was no DSGMC press release to support such assertions. He said that he had shared video link of the said seminar which makes it clear that Badal never demanded the day to be named as ‘Veer Bal Diwas.’

Akal Takht intervention

The debate intensified after Akal Takht’s Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj wrote to Sikh Members of Parliament in early December, urging them to press the Centre and raise the issue in parliament to rename Veer Bal Diwas as Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas, stating that the existing name did not reflect Sikh ethos. The letters were sent to at least 14 Sikh MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, reportedly excluding BJP MPs

AAP joins the debate

On Thursday, AAP general secretary Baltej Pannu, while addressing mediapersons in Chandigarh, said that as per the directives of the Akal Takht Jathedar, all AAP MPs had raised the matter in Parliament, “asserting that the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas could not be equated with the term ‘Bal’, and that they are revered as ‘Baba’”.

“As MPs, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal had supported the nomenclature of ‘Veer Bal Diwas’. This is not the first time they have taken a U-turn. Even in the past, they strongly supported the three farm laws, but later, realising the scale of protests, they reversed their stand,” Pannu alleged.

Bathinda MP

Meanwhile, Harsimrat, while reposting her parliamentary speech of December 10, 2023, wrote on X on December 23: “The Union govt’s decision to observe the martyrdom day of the Sahibzadas as ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ since 2022 misrepresents Sikh ethos and tenets. I request Prime Minister NarendraModi and Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene in the matter as per the directive issued by the Supreme body of the Sikhs worldwide — Sri Akal Takht Sahib’s Jathedar — to observe the day as ‘Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas’”.