Jagtar Singh

Jagtar Singh Two interviews of Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in the same paper within four days but by two different reporters in the rank of editor. In both the interviews, the headline relates to Bargari sacrilege. Headline on September 24, 2019: Badal not involved in sacrilege, no timeframe on SIT. Headline on September 28 in the same paper: Akalis definitely trying to scuttle Bargari probe, clearly have something to hide. In-between on September 25, the same paper carried banner headline on Punjab page: Capt comes under fire, govt in damage control. This story also carried clarification from the Chief Minister who asserted the headline on September 24 was misleading and there was nothing like giving clean chit to   Parkash Singh Badal. Despite this clarification, the same paper carried another interview but by Delhi journalist. Clearly, the Bargari sacrilege narrative continues to dominate religio-political discourse in this sensitive bor...

Punjab Assembly Speaker can take suo   motto notice of House contempt by CBI in Bargari probe Jagtar Singh The decision of the CBI to constitute special investigating team to probe the cases relating to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari and related incidents nullifies the unanimous resolution adopted by the Punjab Assembly after a 7-hour debate on August 28, 2018 that was boycotted by the Akali Dal, the party that was in power when these incidents rocked the state in 2015. Punjab withdrew the probe from the CBI following this resolution. The investigation to the CBI was handed over by the Akali Dal government. The CBI informed the special court at Mohali yesterday about the decision to constitute the SIT saying the basis for handing over the probe was the letter earlier written by Punjab Bureau of Investigation chief Prabodh Kumar. This letter was written objecting to the closure report filed by the central probe agency. It is significant that it is Prabo...

Jagtar Singh  Gurinder Singh Bajwa is among the first five persons who offered prayer on the banks of Ravi at the point that later was developed as Darshan Asthan to have view of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib about 4 km away in Pakistan. That was on April 14, 2001. The senior most leader among the five was Kuldip Singh Wadala, who after parting company with Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Parkash Singh Badal had formed his Akali Dal (Democratic).   Prayer has been held every month at this point since then without any break. The prayer was held after a conference on the issue earlier in the day in the grain market of Dera Baba Nanak. As it was restricted area then, only five persons were allowed by the Border Security Force to go upto that point. Over the years, the demand for direct access to the shrine in Pakistan where the founder of the Sikh Faith lived for more than 17 years and breathed his last there turned into a movement. The dream of the five has now been realis...

Jagtar Singh Unlike militancy in Punjab, the struggle in Kashmir has two dimensions. The   political struggle was triggered to maintain status quo under Article 370 that accorded special status to what earlier was the state of Jammu and Kashmir that acceded to India under treaty of accession. The Assembly elections rigged by Delhi over time to install stooges and in 1989 in particular was one of the reasons that sparked the armed struggle as the second dimension. In Punjab, the armed struggle initially was for the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 on which the agitation had been launched on August 4, 1982 by the Shiromani Akali Dal and taken over by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The two struggles were going on in different political spaces. In Kashmir, despite the fact that Article 370 has not been the agenda of militants, the struggles have been complementary. Despite other avenues available and the last minute talks, the army attack on Darb...

Jagtar Singh Punjab is repeating history in the context of Kashmir after more than 300 years. As the dominant political discourse in India’s political matrix has supported the revocation of Article 370 that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjabis by and large have taken a position contrary to it. The Narendra Modi government in fulfilment of its poll promise not only revoked Article 370 but administered yet another shock by reducing this only state dominant by Muslims to two union territories. Kashmir in particular has been shut since August 5 when the Kashmiris were interned and the action was touted as ‘for the welfare of Kashmiris who have been denied fruits of development’ as if the rest of India is far ahead of this state in the North sharing boundaries with Pakistan and China. However, the struggling sections in Punjab have extended vocal support to the Kashmiris in distress. The valley has been under lock down ever since. Now it is more due to what ha...