Akali Dal stalwart and former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday returned his Padma Vibhushan award in protest against the Centre''s new farm laws. “I am who I am because of the people, especially the common farmer. Today when he has lost more than his honour, I see no point in holding on to the Padma Vibhushan honour”, Badal said in his letter to President Ram Nath Kovind. A SAD statement said Parkash Singh Badal returned the Padma Vibhushan in protest over the “betrayal of farmers” by the central government and the “shocking indifference and contempt” with which it is treating the “peaceful and democratic agitation of the farmers”.
