Jagtar Singh

Akal Takht provides yet another legitimacy to Sikh militant struggle by honouring activists   Ground Zero   The memorial to Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his associates in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex symbolizes the Sikh militant struggle. This memorial commemorates the martyrdom of Sant Bhindranwale and his associates who died while confronting the army during Operation Bluestar in June 1984. The Akal Takht has now extended  legitimacy to that struggle at another level by deciding to honour three of its activists, one of them posthumously while another in absentia as he is stateless. Not that this has happened for the first time. Similar honour has been bestowed earlier on martyrs like Beant Singh, Satwant Singh, both assassins of Indira Gandhi and Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha who gunned down General A. S. Vaidya to avenge Operation Bluestar. It is the timing that is significant. Two of them Gajinder Singh and Harsimran Si...

  Deepening crisis in the SGPC calls for Panthic audit of its functioning Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   The probe report into the missing Birs of Guru Granth Sahib released by the high priests yesterday has precipitated the crisis that characterize the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, one of the two highest religio-political institutions of the Sikhs. The other institution that is Akal Takht symbolizes the sovereignty of the Sikh thought and state power, not a court to which it is being degraded. Under focus here is the functioning of the SGPC whose very concept stands undermined over the years after the passing away of Gurcharan Singh Tohra who commanded this institution selflessly for more than quarter of a century. First the concept on which the SGPC was constituted, not under the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 but the original body that was constituted in November 1920 at Akal Takht by inviting Sikh representatives even from the Sikh regiments. Basic to its functioning is Sev...

    Montek Ahluwalia committee report a potent weapon to finish Congress in Punjab Ground Zero   Punjab is virtually a theater of the absurd. This is the state where the same narrative gets repeated over time. The latest is the report submitted by Congress’s second top economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia recommending broad-based measures to revive the sagging economy of Punjab. Nothing new in it as its seeds can be traced to Raja J Chelliah report in the 90’s. At the political level, these recommendations have the potential to finish Congress in Punjab that even the army attack on Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) code-named Operation Bluestar in June 1984 could not do. The Congress presently has 80 seats in a House of 117 after winning the bye-elections, the highest ever. Ahluwalia is known to subscribe to the World Bank approach on the economy. It may be mentioned that the health and education in the public sector were severely damaged under this very approach of th...

    People’s concerns in Punjab are not so called security threat to leaders but governance Ground Zero   Nothing suits Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh better than his long time detractor in his own party Partap Singh Bajwa prioritising his so called personal security issues over that  of governance in the ongoing tussle between the two. The security threat to leaders in Punjab from top to bottom is more of a bogey. Raising this bogey from time to time facilitates the security forces from getting more funds. This should be  reduced to half beginning with the top in a single stroke. Even small time political leaders-dealers in Punjab enjoy security cover that is more of a status symbol. The strength of security to a leader is now also measured by the level of  security umbrella. Partap Singh Bajwa is a Rajya Sabha member. He was replaced as the state Congress chief by Capt Amarinder Singh before the 2017 Lok Sabha elections. Punjab is witnessing r...

  Drugs to spurious liquor: Punjab is jinxed as Congress and Akali Dal become same side of the coin   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh It has ceased to matter as to which party is in power in Punjab. From deaths due to drugs to the killer liquor, the narrative remains unchanged. For record, the Congress in 2017 replaced the Akali Dal-BJP combine that ruled for a record two terms. That has been the only change. Everything else remains the same. Change over a period is otherwise the law of nature and at that level, some changes can be observed. Along with the drugs, now spurious liquor is freely available. Earlier, the money used to change hand under the table. Now it is not uncommon to see officials accepting bundles transparently and brazenly. There has to be some change. Of course, there is now also a rag-tag organisation that is known as the Aam Aadmi Party that had been given the mandate by the people to function as the main opposition to marginalise the Akali...