Punjab CM Capt Amarinder pays tribute to Attariwala, skips address at state-level event

Attariwala attained martyrdom while fighting the British army during the Anglo-Sikh battle in Sabhraon in 1846.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday paid tribute to Sikh general Sham Singh Attariwala, but stirred a controversy after he did not attend the state-level function to commemorate the 172nd martyrdom day of Attariwala at his native Attari village.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh at the memorial of Sikh warrior General Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala on his 172th martyrdom day during a state-level function on the outskirts of Amritsar on Saturday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

The district administration had all the arrangements in place. A stage was set up with chairs for CM, minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Congress MLAs besides a banner reading it was a state-level function. Government advertisements in newspapers too said the CM will preside over the state-level function at Attari.

The CM’s media adviser Raveen Thukral later tweeted that the CM was not supposed to attend or address any function there and therefore he went to the martyr’s village to pay his respects at his tomb. In the evening, the government also issued a statement claiming that the state-level function was held at the memorial (India Gate in Attari) and not in the Sikh general’s native village.

“The CM decided to visit the village after attending the official function at India Gate only to pay his respects at Attariwala’s tomb. There was only one state-level event which the CM attended and it was specified in government advertisements in newspapers. The event organised by the General Sham Singh Attariwala Trust was not in the CM’s itinerary,” Thukral said.

However, invites by the department of information and public relations department too had termed the village function as a state-level event.

(Story has been updated)