Chandigarh, (Gurpreet) – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today requested Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to direct the Punjab chief minister to withdraw his statement surrendering the rights of Punjab over Chandigarh besides apprising the union home minister that Punjabis will not tolerate transfer of even one inch of land in Chandigarh to Haryana.
A senior delegation of the party led by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal submitted a memorandum in this regard to the Governor here.
Asking the Governor to direct the Punjab chief minister to protect the interests of Punjab, the delegation apprised the former that Mr Bhagwant Mann had not protested against the steady erosion of Punjab’s rights in Chandigarh including creation of the UT cadre, implementation of central pay scales and dilution of the status of Punjabi language besides other important issues like removal of Punjab’s representative in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
Asserting that Chandigarh was an inalienable part of Punjab, Mr Sukhbir Badal apprised the Governor that this was ratified during the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 and later by way of the Rajiv-Longowal accord which had been ratified by both houses of parliament as well as the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. He said accordingly the Governor should apprise the centre of the situation and recommend transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab.