To add salt to the wounds of the aggrieved Sikh families, the BJP re-nominated this former minister as a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections this year. However, the people’s court returned a resounding verdict and the candidate was defeated at the hustings.
Also by Partap Singh Bajwa
This is in response to Union minister Hardeep S Puri’s article, ‘Failing Sikhs Again’ (IE, September 16). The Sikh community has been the backbone of India’s armed forces and has nurtured the food bowl of the country. Earnestness and valour are its guiding lights. The community has a history of steadfast commitment towards human rights and the rule of law. Even during the turbulent phases in its history, the community has not compromised the teachings of its religion and has stood with the disadvantaged and the marginalised.
Over the past few years, we have noticed a pattern of subjugating minorities and those who hold a contrary opinion to the ruling dispensation. A gamut of arm-twisting tactics has been deployed by the current establishment to suppress voices and seek blind obedience. This ranges from hate speech, online abuse, physical violence, misuse of agencies, bulldozing houses and the pernicious trend of labelling dissenting voices as anti-nationals. The “othering” of minority communities is the default political strategy of the BJP to peddle a false sense of victimhood and pit one community against the other.
We seek to remind Puri that the son of his former ministerial colleague allegedly ran over Sikh farmers at Lakhimpuri Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. It was the intervention of the Supreme Court which instilled a semblance of fairness in the investigation process. To add salt to the wounds of the aggrieved Sikh families, the BJP re-nominated this former minister as a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections this year. However, the people’s court returned a resounding verdict and the candidate was defeated at the hustings.
In February, Shubhkaran Singh, barely out of his teens, was shot dead by the police at the Khanauri border between Punjab and Haryana. The lopsided investigation and attempts to suppress facts by the BJP-led Haryana government prompted the High Court to appoint an independent judicial panel to unravel the truth. During the farmers’ agitation, at the Punjab-Haryana border, the police reportedly used pellet guns leading to several farmers losing their eyesight. The high-handed tactics of the ruling party and its yearning to suppress contrarian voices pose a danger to our democracy.
During the two years of farmers’ agitation on the borders of the national capital, over 700 farmers reportedly attained martyrdom. The insensitive dispensation often labelled the protestors as “disruptors” and “terrorists” to de-legitimise the peaceful agitation against the farm laws which would have marked the death knell for the livelihood of the farmers and put them at the mercy of a handful of corporates. A diverse section of farmers protested peacefully but were met with police brutality. We did not hear a single word of empathy and condolence from the BJP.
This is coupled with the fact that a section of BJP MPs routinely use pejorative expressions for the Sikh farmers and seek to undermine their concerns as a foreign conspiracy of sorts. This hurts the sentiments of the community and is a recipe for further alienation. This can potentially lead to pervasive discrimination and stigmatisation of the community. Earlier this year, a young Sikh IPS Officer in West Bengal was allegedly humiliated for doing his duty and called a “Khalistani” by BJP activists in the state. Such incidents create a sense of bitterness among the minority community. The powers that be should take swift action against those who drive a wedge in society.
In his address in the US, Rahul Gandhi has brought to fore the larger context of the BJP ideology of divisiveness and discrimination against religious minorities. We have repeatedly highlighted that the ruling government’s majoritarian agenda is an anathema to our syncretic culture and is fraught with risks. Rahul Gandhi has a special affinity with the Sikh community and draws immense traction during his Punjab visits. This bears testament to his popularity among the general public. The BJP’s calumny campaign and open threats of violence demonstrate that the party is rattled by Congress’s growing popularity. Unfortunately, the BJP’s divisive agenda is sowing the seeds of alienation and it takes precedence over our cherished values of plurality.
Bajwa is the Leader of the Opposition, Punjab Assembly and Boparai is an Advocate and Spokesperson of the Congress party
