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Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse

  Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, Dec 8: The Sikh religio-political domain has the tendency to dictate religio-political discourse of Punjab whose polity is different from other regions in the country. This is the state where a national dynamic minority is in majority. This minority was the third entity in all the political negotiations leading to India’s independence. What happened in Punjab on December 2 has to be reviewed in this backdrop as this development is going to have far-reaching impact not only on the future of the Shiromani Akali Dal but also the political tendencies at several levels. It is pertinent to mention at this stage itself that the Sikh religio-political discourse is presently affecting even India’s geo-politics, especially in the American sub-continent in the context of the activities of a section of the Sikh Diaspora. December 2 was unprecedented in the history of more than a c...
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Sukhbir Badal’s resignation from presidency could be first step in Akali Dal’s revival

  Sukhbir Badal’s resignation from presidency could be first step in Akali Dal’s revival Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, November 16: It is late by seven years. Had Sukhbir Singh Badal resigned in 2017 from the presidency of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the second oldest political party in the country, correctives might have been applied at the time when the party’s route had been triggered. This party that had all along dictated political discourse of this Sikh dominated state was pushed down to the third position in 2017 Assembly elections replaced by the rookie Aam Aadmi Party as the main opposition. This fall was to continue unabated with the party strength having been reduced to just three MLAs in 2022 Assembly elections and 10 of its 13 candidates lost their security deposits in the last Lok Sabha elections. Today’s resignation is culmination of developments sparked with the complaint submitted by a section of the rebel Akalis to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir...
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Akali Dal chief has only one while Akal Takht chief 3 choices in turbulent Sikh matrix

  Akali Dal chief has only one while Akal Takht chief 3 choices in turbulent Sikh matrix Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, November 14: The present turbulence in the Sikh religio-political matrix is unprecedented. At the centre of this turbulence is mainly the role of Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal over a decade but at a broader level, that itself is not the issue. The basic issue is that of the future of the 104-year old Shiromani Akali Dal that had evolved as the global voice of the Sikhs. That voice has now gone mute. Should the fifth largest religious denomination be voiceless at the political level? The situation has also to be viewed in the context of the global Sikh concerns as the Diaspora Sikh narrative has come to impact India’s geo-politics under the Narendra Modi government whose self-proclaimed muscular nationalism has come under suspicion. (Ghus Kar Marenge) The Shiromani Akali Dal has been virtually indifferent to this geo-political narrativ...
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Sinister and deep design to divide Sikhs and Hindus in Canada needs to be exposed

  Sinister and deep design to divide Sikhs and Hindus in Canada needs to be exposed Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh: Let us decode deeper design in what apparently seems to be deliberate distortion of facts in case of the so-called Sikh-Hindu clash in Canada to project it as confrontation between the two communities. The Indian media and the establishment gave it out as a communal conflict and attack on a Mandir, the Hindu place of worship. Let us first put the matter straight from the evidence available in the form of videos relating to every dimension of this narrative and the statements. It was neither a Sikh-Hindu clash nor an attack on the Hindu temple per se. It was a protest by the SFJ activists against the Indian consulate organizing a camp there. Such protests have been held against the consulate outside the gurdwaras too as per the record. The saner statement issued by the Hindu Federation of November 4 is very important in the interpretation of this narra...
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Canada Crisis: Forty years later, Operation Bluestar hits India’s geo-political relations

  Canada Crisis: Forty years later, Operation Bluestar hits India’s geo-political relations Ground Zero Jagtar Singh That India and Canada have expelled six diplomats each is now old story. Coinciding with this deepening crisis between the two countries is the media report that India has conveyed to USA that that ‘CC1’, code for Indian official who allegedly figured in the plan to assassinate US-based Sikh separatist activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has been arrested. The issue in general in both the cases is the same but the approach is diametrically opposite.   What is common in both the cases is the allegation of hand of Indian agencies in a murder in Canada and plan to murder on the soil of USA. What is again common in both the cases is the Sikh narrative relating to activities of the Sikh separatists demanding sovereign state of Khalistan in the land of Punjab that is part of India. These separatists operate from the lands of Canada, USA, UK and several other...
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Punjab subsidised India’s food grains consumers by Rs. 1,23,904.84 Cr from 1997, centre must pay

  Punjab subsidised India’s fiid grains consumers by Rs. 1,23,904.84 Cr from 1997, centre must pay Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, July 30: Free power to the tube wells in the farm sector in Punjab has cost the state government a whopping    Rs. 1,23,904.84 cr from 1997 till 2023 as per the report (TOI, July 29, 2024). At another level, this is the amount by which Punjab tax payers have subsidised the consumers of food grains in India. About 80 per cent of this power is used to produce wheat and rice that is procured from the state by the centre for the central pool at what is known as the minimum support price. The contribution of Punjab to the central pool of food grains is the highest among all states in the country. And this Minimum Support Price does not include this part of the cost that is born by the state government. Why should Punjab subsidized the food grains that is exported to the rest of the country? Invested in creation of infrastructur...
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History seems to be ominously repeating itself to drive Punjab into religio-political minefield again

  History ominously repeating itself to drive Punjab into religio-political minefield again Ground Zero Jagtar Singh This headline is not rooted in some sort of pessimism. The signals are loud and clear. The onus to counter such signals is on the Punjab government. History in Punjab seems to be repeating itself to push Punjab into yet another cycle of what can be termed as the avoidable toxic situation. That cycle has now impacted even geo-political relations of India with some countries, especially Canada where the Sikhs are settled in sizeable numbers. In the context of the Sikhs as a globalized people, it is pertinent to mention that even in United Kingdom House of Commons, the representation of the Sikhs is now in double digit after the recent elections. Punjab is still impacted by the tremors of religio-political   dynamics that got triggered in 1978 with the Sikh-Nirankari clash on the Baisakhi on April 13 at Amritsar, the religious capital of the Sikhs. ...
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