Sultan M Hali
A severe agitation is raging in India, in which thousands of Sikh farmers from Punjab and Haryana have marched to the capital New Delhi in protest to demand a repeal of the Centre’s new farm laws, which deregulate the sale of agriculture produce. They say that the laws will lead to the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system. Modi’s laws, enacted in September, let farmers sell their produce anywhere, including to big corporate buyers like Walmart Inc., not just at government-regulated wholesale markets where growers are assured of a minimum procurement price. But many small growers worry they will be left vulnerable to big businesses and could eventually lose the price supports for key staples such as wheat and rice.
All they are demanding is a special parliament session for withdrawal of the new farm laws but the Indian government tried to stop the agitators by placing barricades and barbed wire fencing on all major roads and arteries leading to the capital. When that failed, brute force was unleashed on them using baton charge, water cannons and tear gas. A number of Farmers Union leaders have been arrested and they are being linked with surreptitious charges of terrorism and anti-state activities. The protests, led by farming groups from the grain-producing states of Haryana and Punjab, pose a crucial test for Modi’s ability to reform India’s vast agriculture sector, which makes up nearly 15% of the country’s $2.9 trillion economy and employs around half of its 1.3 billion people.
The farmers’ right to protest has been supported by the expatriate Sikh community in different parts of the world. From New York to London, from Toronto to San Francisco, from Auckland to Berlin – Sikhs are protesting in front of Indian embassies in various cities around the world. The protesters are even marching in support of the farmers. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed his government’s concern over the harsh treatment being meted out to the Sikh farmers. Understandably, the Canadian Parliament has 18 Sikh MPs as compared to India which has only 13 Sikh Members of the Lower House of Parliament, the Lok Sabha. Thirty-six members of the British Parliament have also expressed solidarity with the ongoing farmers’ agitation in India and have written to the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab to raise the matter with New Delhi. Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has stated that farmers in India have the right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities should allow them. Renowned US scholar Noam Chomsky has opined that Indian BJP government is heading towards fascism and total disruption of its secular values and its democracy is in danger. In his ill-informed wisdom, Modi has poked a hornet’s nest which will come to haunt him and COVID-19 stricken India. The economy of India is dwindling and all boasts of the Modi regime to propel India into the big league, have proved to be a pipe dream. The last time, an Indian Prime Minister had messed with Sikhs was in June 1984. Indira Gandhi had forced her Army to storm Golden Temple also known as Harmindir Sahib Complex in Amritsar, Punjab. The attack had resulted in a deadly battle with armed Sikh groups who were demanding greater rights and autonomy for the Punjab. Sikhs worldwide had criticized army action and many saw it as an assault on their religion and identity.
In retaliation to Operation Blue Star, which was the codename of the attack on the holiest Sikh shrine, Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984 at her residence in New Delhi by her Sikh bodyguards. In the aftermath of the assassination, thousands of Sikhs were butchered by angry Hindu mobs while government forces stood idly watching. The genocide was reportedly organized with the support from Delhi police and government officials but following official investigations, the Government of India is yet to prosecute those responsible for the mass killing. Angry Sikhs sought asylum in Canada, the UK and USA, where they have thrived and prospered but never forgiven India for its brutal massacre of Sikhs. Last year the government of Pakistan’s gesture of constructing the Kartarpur Corridor, a visa-free border crossing and secure corridor, connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to the border with India was highly appreciated by the Sikhs. The corridor was completed for the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak on 12 November 2019. At the inaugural, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had said “Pakistan believes that the road to prosperity of the region and bright future of our coming generation lies in peace”, adding that “Pakistan is not only opening the border but also their hearts for the Sikh community”.
Contrarily, while Pakistan welcomes the Sikh devotees, India places impediments to their pilgrimage. Now the Sikhs, who are already incensed at the callous attitude of the Modi government, are agitated at the brutal treatment of Sikh farmers. Coincidentally, Ajit Doval, Narendra Modi’s current National Security Advisor who was serving in the Intelligence Bureau in 1984, had infiltrated into the Golden Temple disguised as a religious pilgrim and obtained details of the Sikh leadership and guided the deadly assault. Modi government has invited serious trouble and foolishly given grounds for another Sikh uprising. The Sikhs are looking towards Pakistan to provide moral and diplomatic support to their struggle but so far Islamabad has remained silent, which is an enigma for Sikh leadership.
—The writer is retired PAF Group Captain and a TV talk show host.
