Amid a large gathering of her supporters from different walks of life, including several sikh organisations, former president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, gave her “conditional support” to the BJP. The former SAD leader wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioning her list of demands related to the welfare of the Sikh community before extended her support to the BJP. While Bibi is not associated with any party after her expulsion from the Akali Dal, the former leader has a huge support base. BJP, which is aware that if it has to win Punjab it needs support from the community, had snapped ties with the SAD in September 2020 as a fallout of the anti-farm laws. In such a scenario, Bibi's support can prove to be a game changer for the saffron party. After a long meeting with her supporters in Jalandhar, the leader, who claims to be an Akali from her heart, handed over her 10 demands to Vijay Rupani, incharge of BJP Punjab and former Gujarat CM. Adding that she took the decision to support the BJP after discussing with her supporters, Bibi said that the demands include changing name of New Delhi Airport to Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib International Airport New Delhi. “Guru Tegh Bahadur is a great warrior who sacrificed everything for the sake of righteousness, and the rights of the people irrespective of their castes and faiths. That is why he was crowned with the rare honor of 'Dharam Di Chadar'. The Sikh community across the world is indebted to PM Narendra Modi for celebrating Gurpurab of Tegh Bahadur at Red Fort from where the order of his assassination was issued. We also thank the Modi government for opening the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor,” she said. Her other demands include compensation and rehabilitation for victims of 1984 riots who are still struggling for the past 39 year, compensation for families of terrorism victims, distortion and misrepresentation of facts related to the Sikh history in NCERT Books must be stopped. She also demanded a national-level institute or university in Baba Banda Singh Bahadur's name in New Delhi. She added that there are important matters related to gurdwaras outside Punjab and these must be taken up. “Gurdwara Dang Mar Sahib in Sikkim needs restoration. Gurdwara Gyan Godri Sahib at Har-ki-Pauri, Haridwar, was demolishes in 1978 due to beautification plan of the ghat. For 45 years, the Sikh community has been demanding restoration of the historic site gurdwara Mangu Math site in Jagannath, Odisha,” she said, adding that there should be proper instructions to the states against ‘Hate Speech’ and Bandi Singhs must be released. “The recent large scale police operation in Punjab was not needed. This cannot be a long-term remedy for such a deep rooted issue. It is requested that a lenient view may be considered in favour of all such persons,” she said. Addressing the issue of soldiers of Sikh regiment who were on duty but left the place when news of destruction of Akal Takht came, she said, “As the news came, the soldiers got emotional and left their barracks. As a result, they were punished and removed from service without any compensation and pension. They should be financially compensated.”
