Jagtar Singh

  Gen Z asserts secular republic, counters divisive agenda Ground Zero Jagtar Singh The unprecedentedly angry challenge from sections of society that the Sangh Parivar has nurtured over decades has shaken the very foundations of the Mandir-Masjid political dynamic, forcing the Narendra Modi government to capitulate. Earlier agitations, including the farmers’ protest and the movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act, challenged government policies but did not fundamentally disrupt the political framework unleashed by the Sangh Parivar and the BJP with the Ram Mandir mobilisation beginning in 1989. The Gen Z protesters, however, are rooted in the very middle class that had emerged as the most fertile ground for this divisive politics. The saffron leadership appears to have realised the threat posed by the proverbial cockroach to this carefully constructed framework. A cockroach is known for surviving the most hostile conditions; it can even feed on materials as inhospita...

  Quiet flows the Satluj in turbulent Punjab   Punjab was widely perceived to have returned to "normalcy" after a prolonged phase of violence during which the blood of more than 30,000 people was shed. Through it all, the mighty Satluj continued its timeless journey, flowing silently as it had since the dawn of civilization, altering its course only marginally over the centuries. Long before this region came to be known as Punjab, and long before India emerged as the name of a nation-state, the Satluj had borne witness to successive waves of conquest, conflict, migration, and resistance. As a silent spectator to history, the river has come to symbolize not merely continuity, but also the recurring turbulence that has shaped the destiny of this land. In that sense, the name Satluj itself has acquired a powerful metaphorical association with the cycles of upheaval and resilience that have defined Punjab across the ages.   For the last about a week, ‘Satluj’ has been ...

  Why should biggest democracy in the world fear human rightist Jaswant Singh Khalra Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   Chandigarh: Human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra ceased to be an individual   the night the Punjab police eliminated him after brutal torture after picking him up from his home in Kabir Nagar of Amritsar on the morning of September 6, 1995. World’s biggest democracy then feared him and now continues to be haunted by him more than 30 years after his extra-judicial killings going by the pulling down of Diljit Dosanjh starrer Satluj (original name Punjab 95) and directed by Goindwal Sahib born Honey Trehan from ZEE5 just two days after its screening. Trehan deserves credit for truthful depiction of that period and truth is bitter most of the times. Going by the newspaper reports, the centre has cited security concerns. The continuing security concerns associated with the border state of Punjab should be seen in the context of the claims of the centr...

  BJP design could be assimilation of Ek Onkaar into Om Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh: Lots of heat and dust have been raised on the social media platforms at the presence of BJP-ruled Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan at the function organised by the Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal to commemorate army attack on Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) code-named Operation Bluestar on June 6 last. Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale, who symbolises resistance to this attack and whose associates fought valiantly and opted for martyrdom, headed this very seminary whose lineage is traced back in history to the Sikh warrior Baba Deep Singh who was associated by Guru Gobind Singh with the compilation of Guru Granth Sahib at Talwandi Sabo now known as Damdama Sahib. He attained martyrdom in the Darbar Sahib complex while fighting the forces of occupation. Sant Bhindranwale represents that tradition. Sant Bhindranwale survives as an idea rooted in this tradition of martyrdom after h...

  Punjab enters domain of politics of confrontation close to elections Jagtar Singh Ground Zero May 17: Developments in Punjab are moving at a rapid pace. The land of the Gurus is entering domain of confrontational politics. It cannot be ruled out that both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governs Punjab, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules at the Centre, stand to gain politically from the escalating confrontations that began last month with the defection of seven AAP Rajya Sabha members to the BJP. At the same time, the Bhagwant Mann government has entered into direct confrontation with the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal institution of the Sikhs, over the sacrilege law enacted by the state government on April 13. The narrative emerging from these confrontations is reshaping electoral equations at a time when the Assembly elections are only months away. At least one of these developments is unprecedented and did not receive the attention it deserved: the...

  Defection in AAP and fast changing political narrative in Punjab Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   Seven of the 10 Rajya Sabha members belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party hit party chief Arvind Kejriwal hard with the announcement to shift their loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Rajya Sabha chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan approved their merger with the BJP on Monday morning. What is all the more important is that six of these MPs had been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. The logical corollary would be the likely impact of this revolt on the electoral dynamics of this border state whose religio-political dynamics is unique as compared to other states in India. Of course, the religio-political domain in Punjab has historical tendency to erupt. The eruption on April 24 was confined purely to political domain. The tremors this time are strong and would continue to be felt in the days to come. At the same time,   this revolt is not rooted in Punjab but in Delhi. This...