Jagtar Singh

  Perception of discrimination getting reinforced again in Sikh political domain Ground Zero Jagtar Singh The peaceful massive Sikh mobilisation in Mohali today might not be unprecedented but more important dimension is the reinforcement of the sense of hurt and that of being discriminated against that it has signalled. The call for this gathering was given by the non-Akali organisations spearheading the campaign for the release of the Sikh political prisoners who are in jail for about a quarter of a century for their actions pertaining to the period of militancy lasting more than a decade beginning 1980. This is not the only demand. The issues taken up by these bodies concern both the government and the Shiromani Akali Dal dominated Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. An important dimension of the struggle is that these very people were among those sections who were part of the sustained farmers struggle at the Delhi borders that forced the Narendra Modi governmen...

  Bargari Bomb   without expiry date continues to tick for political establishment in Punjab Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Aam Aadmi Party MLA from one of the Assembly segments in the holy city of Amritsar Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh has done it again. Now he has resigned from the chair of   the Committee on Assurances of the Punjab Assembly and the issue is Bargari, the name associated with the Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege narrative. Bargari is a big village located on the Bathinda-Kotkapura-Amritsar highway in Faridkot district that hit the headlines in October 2015 when the pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found scattered in its streets in the morning. This narrative was part of the chain that had already been triggered in early May of 2007 within days of the Akali Dal-BJP alliance forming the government headed by Parkash Singh Badal in his fourth term. Former inspector general of police in Punjab, Kunwar Vijay Partap had resigned from the IPS before the February 20...

  Punjab should again seek custodial interrogation of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Ground Zero Jagtar Singh The Haryana government seems to have created record of sort of granting repeated parole to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim Singh   who is in jail following conviction in rape and murder cases. The Dera headquarters is   in located in Sirsa in Haryana. His name has figured in the cases relating to bomb blast in Maur in Bathinda district in Punjab killing several people close to 2017 Assembly elections and sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in Faridkot district in 2015. The Bargari narrative started with theft of Guru Granth Sahib on June 1 from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village adjoining Bargari on June 1, 2015. Yet another case against him relating to blasphemy registered in 2007 was withdrawn five days before the 2012 Assembly elections when Punjab was being ruled by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alli...

  Was Prime Minister  Indira Gandhi alone responsible for Operation Bluestar? Jagtar Singh Ground Zero The issue of categorical apology for army attack code named Operation Bluestar on Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) in June 1984 and the genocidal attack on   the Sikhs in Delhi and several other places in India In November that year has come up again with Bharat Jodo Yatra of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi traversing Punjab. All along, it is Indira Gandhi who has been held responsible for the avoidable Operation Bluestar by the Shiromani Akali Dal and other Sikh organisations. There are two dimensions of that narrative which although inter-related, have different layers and logic. The army was sent to Darbar Sahib complex at the time when a Sikh struggle, both peaceful and armed, was going on. The armed struggle was commanded by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The common issue between the two forms of struggles was implementation   of the Anandpur Sahib Resol...

  Sustained struggle on survival issues forces closure of Zira polluting factory in Punjab Ground Zero Jagtar Singh At the time when the saving of environment   has become a global concern forcing the planners to adopt new path of pro-people development, the closure of liquor factory at Zira in border district of Ferozepur in Punjab ordered today by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is a momentous victory of   farmers’ led struggle on survival issues. This factory was being blamed for pollution of ground water in the area impacting both animal and human life. Mann said “No one would be allowed to spoil the environment of Punjab…Hence a big decision has been taken in peoples’ interest after consulting experts…I have ordered closure of Zira liquor factory and in future none would be spared for playing with environment”. This is second major assertion by Mann within a week while it is second major victory in recent times for sustained peaceful mass mobilisation by the...

  Shiromani Akali Dal desperately seeking revival but without introspection Ground Zero Jagtar Singh “Aah Jihdi Rajashtan Nu Nehar Jaandi Hai Saara Paani Aapna Si… Rajasthan Nu Ik Boond Da Hakk Nahin Hai Paani Milan Da…Par Indira Gandhi Ne Udon Dhakke Naal Darbara Singh Da Raj Si, Uhno Kiha Aah Daskhat Kar Main Paani Dena Hai Rajasthan Nu Jihda Naa Likhia Indira Gandhi Canal…Darbara Singh Ne Sir Jhuka Ke Daskhat Kar Te.. Jinna Paani Si Adha Paani Udon Daskhat Kar Dita Rajasthan Vaaste.” This is from yesterday’s speech of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal in which he held then prime minister Indira Gandhi responsible for the construction of Rajasthan Canal that carries water from Punjab rivers to the desert state and takes off from Harike Barrage on Satluj river. He said Mrs Gandhi forced Punjab Chief Minister Darbara Singh to sign on the dotted lines to divert water to Rajasthan. She did forced Darbara Singh and it is too well known. However, the problem...

  SYL Controversial Canal issue is politics for Haryana, survival for Punjab   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Yesterday’s meeting on the controversial Satluj Yamuna Link Canal issue between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar in the presence of Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, as expected, ended in stalemate. This canal is to carry waters to Haryana from the Punjab rivers under the 1976 Award of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that was rooted in Punjab Re-organisation Act of 1966 that led to creation of Haryana. It is pertinent to mention that historically, this region was never part of Punjab but transferred to this state by the British colonial government along with Delhi in 1958 as punishment for the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. While Delhi was taken out after capital of colonial India shifted from Fort William, Calcutta, the Haryana region continued to be part of Punjab till 1966. The construction of this canal ...