“It’s not an issue anymore agricultural law, it has become an issue Sikh IdentityThis is how a senior Union minister and prominent BJP leader summed up peasant movement,
The leader had a point which was recently reflected in the must-see sights in Punjab. This September at a toll booth near Jalandhar, this reporter found a disturbing scene – cutouts of senior BJP leaders garlanding shoes. A group of Sikh farmers named Lakhbir Singh and Harpal Ahluwalia from nearby villages said in abusive words Narendra Modi He was betrayed with agricultural laws.
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Sikh revolutionary leader Jarnail Bhindranwale has always resonated in Punjab, but recently his presence has been pronounced in the state, with many cars and motorcycles flying black flags across his face, and many youths wearing ‘Bhindranwale’ T-shirts. Has happened.
Another Union minister recently told this reporter that she had to cancel an event in Punjab because of planning a major protest by farmers. “Have we become untouchables?” He asked.
The answer may lie in small shops across Punjab, which carried placards ‘We are with the farmers’ and ‘No farmers, no food’. Popular Punjabi singers united youth against agricultural laws and BJP. Sikh voices from abroad, who have supported the Khalistani cause, are finding some resonance among the youth, who felt that the Center had challenged ‘Sikh pride’ by not going back on the laws.
a veteran journalist of Ajit The newspaper, which covered Punjab for years, said in Chandigarh, ‘Kuch dena has to be made. Kendra knows that it cannot allow the situation to deteriorate. No mud is collecting on the farmer leaders too. Capt Amarinder Singh, who is siding with the Congress, can serve as a catalyst in convincing the Center that the issue of agricultural laws needs to be resolved or the country may have to pay a heavy price in Punjab. Another veteran journalist concurred with the analysis.
This sentiment was also reflected in the words of the PM on Friday when he announced the withdrawal of three agriculture laws, saying he failed to convince a section of farmers about its benefits. Government insiders say the emerging “national security” challenge in Punjab was also real and that trouble over the issue could turn “evil” during the election season as elements close to Khalistan or Pakistan were attacked by the ISI for anger among Sikhs. saw an opportunity to guide An unpleasant violent reaction.
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Amarinder Singh categorically told Home Minister Amit Shah last month that no chance should be taken in the border state and that the Center should resolve the issue of agricultural laws before it is too late.
NS Lakhimpur The Kheri incident also seems to have come as a wake-up call on this front as the involvement of a Union minister’s son makes Sikh farmers in UP, too, see the BJP government as an adversary.
In western UP, farmers say cane purchase prices are a bigger issue than agricultural laws, but here Jats had a reason to question the government. The growing presence of Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal in western UP was also a warning sign. Jats switched to the BJP here in recent elections, while Jatavs continued to vote for the BSP, and Muslims switched to the SP-Congress alliance in 2017, leading the BJP to victory in West UP in a triangular fight. This formula may not work this time. As elections in UP begin from the west, the momentum also builds from here.
Read also | BJP cites recent election victory to negate ‘political motive’ behind withdrawing agricultural laws
The big miscalculation, however, seemed to be that some in the government had previously thought that the farmers would be “tired to return home” and this turned out to be completely wrong. The support system only grew over time for the Sikh farmers protesting on the borders of Delhi, with no shortage of food or tents, and they managed to make the government stubborn and arrogant.
The wider opposition political ecosystem fueled this notion. In the end, it seems Narendra Modi has decided to cut the losses and not protest the Sikh community any more. He chose the day of Gurpurab to grow the olive branch. Those close to him say that Modi has always cared for Sikhs and with this decision, he says, he showed that he cared about the country the most.
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