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We need to keep adversaries of Sikhs away from the faithful: Sukhbir Badal
By Rohan Dua, TNN - Jan 31, 2013, 06.46 AM IST
CHANDIGARH: On a chilly morning of January 15, there was an impromptu invoking of SAD patriarch and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal's 16 jail visits, followed by the infamous 1984 genocide, that saw the killings over 3,000 Sikhs.
An emotional SAD president Sukhbir Badal had just hit the chord in the dusty bylanes of migrant Sikh pocket boroughs in Lutyen's Delhi. And, the task for the DSGMC polls was cut out.
"My father went to jail 16 times during and after that. He, along, with other leaders had nurtured the institution for us in 1971. We can never forgive the Congress for hurting the sentiments of Sikhs. The November 1984 massacre rankles me every night. I was hardly 21 then," he told them.
Holding a microphone with his both hands and beads of sweat clinging to his brows, an impassioned Sukhbir moved the crowd as many raised their mobile phones to take pictures, like fans at a rock concert.
The feisty sardar, who had recently acquired a sobriquet CEO in his own state, established an instant connect with his audience.
From there on, at every rally at a new ward last two weeks, he would remind them of their identity and unity. There were abundant references to the gathered crowd as "Khalsa ji". There was poise. There was catharsis. There were pleas.
"It's a religion that demands its mini Parliament. We must save that legacy. We cannot leave that to the Gandhi pariwar and their men," he would tell them.
The SAD(B) president would take along senior leaders like Tota Singh and Gulzar Singh Ranike, without much fuss. "We need to keep the adversaries of Sikhs away from the faithful," he would tell the crowd at ward rallies.
Like a jathedar, he would even recite hymns and prayers with them. "We aim at introducing the judicial commission for the Sikh shrines. We also want to introduce subsidised education for the displaced and marginalised Sikhs."
On Wednesday afternoon, Sukhbir knew he had shown how and where the religion mattered.
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ithful-Sukhbir-Badal/articleshow/18266412.cms
