Cutting across party lines, the top leadership of Punjab’s all opposition parties on Thursday come together on one stage to raise their voice against the Vigilance action against the Padma awardee and Editor-in-Chief of Punjab’s top vernacular newspaper Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard.
 
As a mark of protest against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led State Government, the leaders of Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party, Lok Insaaf Party, among other prominent leaders displayed solidarity with Dr Hamdard, who was issued summons by the Vigilance Bureau in an ongoing probe into Jang-e-Azadi memorial. The call for an all-party meeting was given by the Congress.
 
At the same time, Dr Hamdard also got a respite from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday with the Bench directing the issuance of a seven-day notice in case of an FIR against him.
 
Notably, the state Vigilance Bureau had summoned Dr Hamdard on May 29 in connection with an inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds during the execution of the Rs 315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial dedicated to the freedom fighters at Kartarpur. However, the summons were deferred after Dr Hamdard sought 10 days’ time.
 
Dr Hamdard, being the member secretary of Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Foundation and as its managing committee president, played an instrumental role in the conception and construction of the project since 2012. On April 10, he had quit from all positions accusing the AAP Government of “repeatedly maligning the name of the memorial by sending police and vigilance teams”.
 
The state vigilance had initiated a probe in March this year taking note of the complaints of alleged misuse of funds in the construction of the memorial—a dream project of the then SAD-BJP Government, headed by the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
 
In the all-party meeting, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu among others were joined by SAD president and former deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma, senior BJP leader Sunil Jakhar, BSP’s Punjab unit president Jasbir Singh Garhi, Lok Insaf Party’s Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Bains, and Akali veteran Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, among others, were present. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Dhami and former Union Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, and Bibi Jagir Kaur were also among the attendees.
  
Sidhu-Majithia share a hug
The all-party meeting in favour of Dr Barjinder Hamdard not only brought all the rival opposition parties on one stage raising voice in favour of one issue, but also the arch rivals Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bikram Singh Majithia together.
 
In a rare bonhomie, the cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu and SAD’s former Minister Majithia shook hands and share a warm hugs leaving behind the bitterness between the two.
 
When Sidhu was addressing the gathering at the all-party meeting at Ajit Bhawan, Majithia walked towards the Congress leader. Seeing Majithia approaching him, Sidhu too moved towards him. Both the leaders first shake the hands and then hugged one another, amidst the thundering applause by the attendees.