Obituary | Parkash Singh Badal: The end of an era in Indian politics

Parkash Singh Badal was one of the tallest leaders in Punjab. He had the distinction of being the youngest chief minister as well as the oldest, in Punjab. His passing away marks the end of an era in Indian politics in general and Punjab politics in particular. I recall numerous one-to-one meetings with the patriarch with nostalgia.

My father, Col Harkaran Singh Singha, accompanied my wife’s uncle Hari Singh (ex-Major) to the Ludhiana jail to meet the latter’s father, S Rattan Singh, (my wife’s grandfather) who was in jail with the patriarch during the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement launched by the Akali Morcha in 1983. The duo thought they should take some fruits for the old man. When they reached the jail, they found the environment of a carnival. The wards were allocated district-wise and one of the sevadars accompanied my father and uncle to the ward where supporters from Kapurthla were lodged.

On meeting Rattan Singh, they realised that he was in good health and in high spirits. He was so enthused that he told them how he kept himself occupied the whole day and exercised and played Badminton in the evening. The visitors were served fresh fruits, milk, dry fruits and sweets which were stocked in abundance. My father and Hari uncle were rather embarrassed and hid the small packet of fruits that they had brought for grandfather.

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Parkash Singh Badal, throughout his stay in jail, had a customary tea every evening with the party workers and followers of one particular district. The districts were rotated every day. This gave him an opportunity to closely meet all the important workers of each district at least twice a month. My wife’s grandfather took Hari uncle and my father to the evening tea ritual and made them meet the grand old man. My father recalls that meeting with great pleasure and pride. Parkash Singh Badal was a very charismatic personality and in spite of his huge size, he was totally grounded. He had a great liking for army officers and spent considerable time talking to Hari uncle and my father.

Years later, my late father-in-law Major Jiwan Singh Chan (affectionately called Major Saab) became a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member (Jathedar) from Kapurthala. Whenever Badal toured the border districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur, he and his entourage would invariably take a break to refresh themselves at my in-laws’ house in Kapurthala. Although, I personally never met him then, as I was commanding my unit 5 RAJRIF (Napier’s) on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir; the family found him to be a very humble and easy-going person. He had very limited personal needs and was always cheerful and energetic. He was so impressed by the organising abilities of my father-in-law that during the 300 years of birth of Khalsa celebrations at Anandpur Sahib in 1999, he made Jathedar (Major) Jiwan Singh Chan responsible for the lodging, boarding and transportation for the mega event. A twist of fate brought an end to a promising political career when my father-in-law, after valiantly fighting brain cancer for nine months, passed away in 2001 in harness.

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My first one-to-one meeting with Parkash Singh Badal was in 2015 at his official residence (allotted to his daughter-in-law) at 12 Race Course Road, New Delhi, when I had just returned from a United Nations Peacekeeping Mission at Golan Heights between Syria and Israel. I was the Head of the Mission and Force Commander of UNDOF and on return, was posted on my last leg as Director General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement. One of my students from the Officers Training Academy, Capt KJS Cheema, after leaving the Army as a short service officer, joined IAS (Bengal Cadre) and was on deputation posted as Principal Secretary to the chief minister of Punjab. I was received by Capt Cheema at the porch who told me that Badal was being conferred with Padma Vibhushan later that day.

I was in uniform and as I entered the drawing room, the chief minister who was already seated there, got up and greeted me. He complimented my uniform and said that it looked very good on me. I congratulated him on the prestigious award that he was going to receive from the president. Amongst other things, we talked about drip irrigation in Israel as he had also visited the country twice. I also told him about my meetings with the president and the prime minister of Israel. He was very interested in hearing about my two tenures with the United Nations Peacekeeping. While having tea, he suddenly changed the subject and told me that the Punjab government had employed a few retired Generals from the Corps of Engineers but was now looking for a retiring General from the Education branch. He asked me to recommend someone capable. I could immediately remember the then ADG Education who had served under me in the Brigade Headquarters as a Captain when I was a Brigade Major.

Capt Cheema told the chief minister that we shall meet the officer on our next trip to Delhi. The patriarch asked me if he could meet him the same day. Such was the urgency in the man to do service to the state. The CM was scheduled to go to the Rashtrapati Bhawan for the ceremony at 11 am and it was already 9 am. I assured him that I will ask the General to come immediately after our meeting.

The second meeting I had with Parkash Singh Badal was when he came to Amritsar to inaugurate the War Memorial in 2018. I was amongst a few veterans who were invited from Chandigarh to attend the function. I was pleasantly surprised and a bit embarrassed when I was made to sit in the front row along with two ex-Chiefs of the Indian Army. That, of course, was the handiwork of my old student Capt KJS Cheema. Badal was looking tired and spoke to me in a soft voice with a welcome smile. But when he got up to address the gathering of veterans, he had a surge of energy and roared like a tiger. He was 91 years old then.

At lunch, Capt Cheema made me sit opposite the chief minister. His son, Sukhbir Badal and his brother-in-law, Bikram Singh Majithia were also present at the same table. The old man had a wonderful memory and remembered most of the anecdotes from our first meeting two years earlier in Delhi. I complimented the father and son duo for the ongoing renovation of the Golden Temple complex. A beaming Sukhbir Badal told me that he had seen Jerusalem and Vatican and had tried to create a similar walking plaza around the sanctum sanatorium. The patriarch smiled proudly acknowledging my compliments.

Parkash Singh Badal touched millions of lives in his five tenures as the chief minister of Punjab. Every person who met him would remember him for his lifetime. Irrespective of age, he addressed everyone respectfully, calling them ‘Kaka Ji’. Such was the aura and charisma of the towering political leader of Punjab. May his noble soul rest in peace.

The author was the Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission and Force Commander at Golan Heights between Syria and Israel from 2012 to 2015. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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