Politics
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Harsimrat Badal cites 150 stitches after baaz claim
The Indian Express··4 Sept
Harsimrat Kaur Badal says Guru's baaz protected Sukhbir Singh Badal after he was attacked outside a Nanded gurdwara on August 13. She cites 150 stitches from the cut on his hand. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann counters that sightings ahead of Punjab Assembly elections are political theatre. Punjab named the Northern Goshawk as State Bird in 2015.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Punjab mounted two official searches for the State Bird in 2018 and 2025 with no success.
- Both Akali Dal and AAP leaders now cite hawk sightings in campaign speeches.
- The bird is tied to Guru Gobind Singh, often called Bajanvala, the Master of the Hawk.
What's Happening
- Harsimrat displayed photos of stitches at rallies and said their children saw a falcon outside the hospital.
- Mann told crowds the bird was guarding eggs, not the Badals, and mimicked one circling overhead.
- Paramvir Singh of Punjabi University says the hawk symbolises Khalsa sovereignty in Sikh tradition.
Punjab's State Bird History
- Punjab first named the Eastern Goshawk as State Bird in 1989.
- Official records show two separate efforts, seven years apart, failed to locate the bird in Punjab.
- Guru Hargobind Singh fought the Mughals in 1634 over possession of a white hawk, scholars note.
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