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Religion should not be misconstrued as communalism: Badal
Patiala (Punjab), July 26
Punjab Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that religion should not be
misconstrued as communalism and that people should refrain from
indentifying gurus, saints and seers on communal lines as they belong to
the entire humanity.
"Religion should not be misconstrued as
communalism as religion is just a way of life aimed at ensuring overall
welfare of everybody. One should profess his own religion and should not
hate the religion of others.
"Punjab had suffered in the past
as some people had divided the people on religious lines, which must be
avoided," Badal said while addressing a gathering here after installing
Bhagwan Parshuram Chair for Indian literature and culture at Punjabi
University here, 80 km from Chandigarh.
He claimed "some forces
inimical to the progress of the state" were bent on disrupting its hard
earned peace but asserted that he would not not allow such forces to
succeed "till my last breath."
The chief minister said that
Punjab had suffered a lot due to "such conspiracies in the past", but
now the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance government was "keeping a
strict vigil on the nefarious designs of all those people who were vary
to the peace and progress of the state".
"For their vested
interests some people are actively working to bring black days back in
the state but I assure you that they will not succeed till I am alive,"
Badal added.
"People should refrain from indentifying gurus,
saints and seers on communal lines as they belong to the entire
humanity. The Punjab government has been following the footsteps of
great Sikh gurus to carve an egalitarian and secular society by
observing days related with every community at state level functions,"
he said.
"Unlike my predecessors who behaved like monarchs by
maintaining a distance from the masses, I am always available to the
people to serve them," Badal said.