Jagtar Singh

  Barnala rally rebuffs design to communalise farm struggle, asserts its non-religious content Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   Such massive assertion of people’s power used to be witnessed in Punjab till eighties but the content of those rallies used to be religio-political in nature. It is after decades that this border state has witnessed similar phenomenon but with a difference. The stellar rally of farmers and farm workers at Barnala on February 21 organised under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) was different in tone and tenor. The Barnala rally has taken the fight against anti-people model of corporate development introduced by the nationalist Narendra Modi government to a new level. Punjab returns to the command position from where it had been forced to make a shift following the January 26 distortions in the battle during the tractor parade that provided the much-needed handle to the government to attack this struggle purely on issues of existence t...

  Modi unrelenting as farmers struggle triggers volcanic turbulence in BJP’s support base in Cow Belt   Jagtar Singh Ground Zero Chandigarh: The farmers struggle that initially was sparked in Punjab against the three agri marketing laws has started hitting at the very support base of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party nurtured diligently in the Hindi heartland. This was perhaps never visualized by the party in power while making moves to sabotage from within this unprecedented peaceful massive struggle that started in Punjab driven by the Sikh psyche. In the process, the leadership role is witnessing a shift. The arrest of actor-turned activist Deep Sidhu on Tuesday morning in the case relating to hoisting of Nishan Sahib on January 26 is part of the narrative that has set in motion this tectonic activity that can impact the 2022 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The announcement of Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait that the ongoi...

  Nails at Tikri: Normandy fortifications had failed Hitler Jagtar Singh Ground Zero Operation Overlord was launched by the Allied forces against Germany at fifteen minutes past midnight on June 6, 1944. That was the turning point in World War II. Hitler had never dreamt that the highly fortified beaches of Normandy would be the main theatre of attack in the Western sector. The Red army had already started the main push from the East. The highly fortified iron and concrete defences on the beaches of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword on the French coast started falling under combined sea and air offensive from the Allied forces. This was the beginning of the fall of Hitler. Germany after overrunning neighbouring countries undertook in 1942 to 1944 an extensive programme to construct coastal defence system as Allied offensive was expected from the sea. Hitler opted for what he called ‘Atlantikwall’ stretchin Germany   g for over 4000 kilometres having bunkers, pillboxe...