Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has expressed grave concern over what he called the “deeply disturbing threat to peace, communal harmony and secular values in the country”.
Mr. Badal, who was addressing a party rally in Punjab’s Bathinda on March 1, where he described secularism as “the bedrock on which India as a nation stands” and said that the founding fathers had always considered it as a glue that bound people of diverse backgrounds, religions, languages and cultures in our country together.
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“We must build a strong India through an approach based on a genuine mutual respect and understanding among different communities,” he said. Mr. Badal called upon the State and the Union governments to take definite steps to improve communal relations.
He said the tragic happenings over the past fortnight in Delhi and the country in general were a cause of concern. “There is a growing climate of fear, insecurity and uncertainty in the minds of the members of the minority communities which must be addressed”.
