Jagtar Singh

  Why supreme and unprecedented martyrdom of Sahibzadas can’t be Veer Bal Diwas Ground Zero Jagtar Singh The decision of the Government of India headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to officially observe an important event from the Sikh calendar is highly appreciable. The supreme and unprecedented martyrdom of two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh, aged about eight years, and Sahibzada Fateh Singh, at about six years, who were bricked alive on the order of Sirhind Governor Vazir Khan, is the most tragic and at the same time the most inspiring event not just for the Sikhs but every person on earth fighting against tyranny of the rulers and the repressive regimes. The then rulers used both allurement and torture to convert them but failed to make them submit. Earlier, they had been detained and confined to the open tower (Thanda Burj) along with their grandmother Mata Gujri after their domestic servant Gangu informed on them to the authorities wit...

  Non-ideological targeted gangster-terrorism emerging as serious threat in Punjab Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh: Latest to come under RPG attack in Punjab is the Sarhali Police station near Patti on Ferozepur-Amritsar national highway in Tarn Taran district. This is part of the region that one time was the hotbed of militancy that was triggered in 1980 and came to be known as the “liberated zone”. Earlier, the headquarters of the Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police had been targeted in Mohali and it was subsequently traced to gangsters linked to some militant leaders purportedly operation from abroad. A group of gangsters had earlier gunned down Dera Sacha Sauda activist Pardeep Singh in Kotkapura town in Faridkot district who was on bail in the case of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari and had been provided police protection. He was killed in the morning in his shop on the highway. Of late, Punjab has witnessed emergence of a new killer architecture t...

  Himachal hills question myth of invincibility of Modi phenomenon Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh present two different scenarios at every level, from hills to arid lands of Rann and contrasting political narratives. Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is laboratory of Hindutva. A major region of Himachal Pradesh has been part of Punjab from the times of the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh till 1966. Gujarat at one level symbolises commerce. Economy of the hill state is entirely different. As one of the main players in these two elections has been the Aam Aadmi Party, it is pertinent to bring in Punjab too. The religio-political dynamics of Punjab is different from the rest of India and this factor must be taken into account in the context of performance of AAP. The Hindutva narrative failed to enthuse the people in the hill state to vote the BJP to second successive term, despite aggressive campaigning in the name...