CHANDIGARH: A few days after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) objected to the Punjab government’s proposed programme to celebrate ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ in Ludhiana on December 12, the Akal Takht (highest temporal seat of Sikhs) has shot off a letter to all Sikh MPs, asking them to urge the Centre to rename ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ as ‘Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas’.

Sending these letters via email to the MPs, Akal Takht acting jathedar (high priest) Kuldip Singh Gargaj directed Sikh MPs to strongly represent Sikh sentiments in Parliament and press to officially declare the martyrdom day of the Sahibzadas as ‘Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas’.

These letters have been sent to eleven Lok Sabha MPs from Punjab -- Dr Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurjeet Singh Aujla from Amritsar, Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda, Malwinder Singh from Anandpur Sahib, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa from Gurdaspur, Gurmeet Singh from Sangrur, Sher Singh from Ferozepur, Sarabjit Singh from Faridkot, Charanjit Singh from Jalandhar, Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring from Ludhiana besides two Rajya Sabha MPs Vikramjit Singh and Harbhajan Singh. The letter has also been sent to Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.