Jagtar Singh

  Bargari Bomb threatens Congress in 2022 after reducing Akali Dal to smithereens in 2017 polls Ground Zero Jagtar Singh     It was on June 1, 2015 that the Bir (copy) of Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib was reported missing from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village triggering turmoil in Sikh religio-political matrix.   Three issues relating to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib narrative needs answers from the people concerned: 1.       Who ordered the withdrawal of the blasphemy case from the court on January 27, 2012, just five days before the Assembly elections. 2.       Why did Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal summoned Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and two of his associates for a meeting at his official residence on September 16, 2015 in violation of the Sikh religious code of conduct. 3.       Who ordered the police to forcibly evict Sikh protest...

  Punjab Congress dissidents knocking at the door of comatose leadership Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   The power struggle in the Congress in Punjab could not have been more ill-timed. When the Covid-19 contagion has turned more ferocious and people are gasping for breath, a section of the Congress in Punjab has triggered the move for leadership change a few months before the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state due in February 2022. The apprehension is that Capt Amarinder Singh wont be able to deliver due to non-governance. Ironically, little notice has been taken of the ventilators gathering dust for months in Punjab until pointed out by the media. The ventilators are the most critical component in the   treatment of this infectious disease   that is Covid. It seems that the bureaucracy was more keen in bulk purchase rather than making these machines functional by recruiting the much needed staff. Health sector, like in the rest of the country, has...

  Shed arrogance, withdraw farm laws, save lives   Ground Zero   Jagtar Singh India is confronted with unprecedented catastrophe. Every life is precious. There is also a section of the population that is fighting at two levels. At one level is the fight for very survival and at the other is the immediate physical survival. They are the farmers, thousands of whom are camping at the gates of India’s capital demanding withdrawal of three contentious farm laws that in their perception threaten their very existence. Their apprehension is not misplaced. The underlying philosophy of these farm laws is to reduce the population of those who are dependent on agriculture as under the market mechanism, this is one of the mantras for taking the country to the higher tangent of development. This thesis is there in almost every write up by the economists who defend these laws on behalf of the Modi government. It is, thus, wrong to say that the farmers are misguided. It m...