The invocation of Sant Jarnail Singh’s legacy, handling of elected representatives under NSA, and the approach to managing prolonged farmers' protests will likely remain contentious issues in Punjab.
Ever since our Sikh leaders managed to carve out the water and resource rich portion from undivided Punjab in 2nd half of 1960s, they have done everything possible under the sky to loot the state and build properties in Canada, UK, Australia, NZ. They take pride in locking horns with Central Govt. I am a Sikh and I can clearly see that there is no threat to Sikhi or Sikhs in India, while Sikh leaders have been selling this narrative for last few decades, only to make fool out of innocent common people in Punjab. Punjab leaders, particularly those spreading fakeries on religion and language lines, including SGPC, must review what they have done for Punjab in last 60 years. Are they not responsible for today's pathetic state of affairs in the state. Hindu-Sikh, Hindi-Punjabi, State-Center, Farmers-Industrialists are all fake narratives paddled by the State leaders and SGPC to keep the corrupt to core state under their control. They should take a lesson from Haryana at least, which, without any resources has done so well after partitioning.
There is only one way to recovery of the state, and that is, constructively collaborate with Center to fix the financial, law and order, infrastructure and education related issues.
Sorry to say, but your article is purely a Canadian view of Punjab, it does not reflect any on the ground reality of the State or the views of people in the state.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. What you’ve presented is a cogent and thought-provoking argument, and I truly value the engagement.
You will appreciate, however, that my article was limited in scope—focused specifically on developments triggered by the Honourable Union Home Minister’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha and the choice of the Honourable Governor of Punjab to deliver his address in Hindi. These events, in the political and linguistic context of Punjab, carried symbolic weight, and my intent was to analyse the perceptions that may have emerged—especially among a large section of the Sikh population—rather than to endorse or criticise any particular position.
Regarding the reference to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, I simply reflected how that particular line was received by many within the community. At no point have I taken a normative position on it; rather, I’ve tried to explore the range of reactions it evoked.
That said, I fully agree with you that constructive cooperation with the Centre—irrespective of the political party in power—is vital for Punjab’s progress. The state cannot move forward relying solely on grievance politics or entrenched binaries. In fact, I have written on precisely these themes—economic regeneration, federal cooperation, and institutional reform—in several pieces published over the past couple of years on the KBS Chronicle.
Space constraints did not permit me to delve deeper into the historical or economic context in this article, but I appreciate your reminder that we must address long-lingering issues with maturity and nuance. These debates cannot be reduced to binary choices of right or wrong—they require thoughtful, inclusive dialogue.
Ever since our Sikh leaders managed to carve out the water and resource rich portion from undivided Punjab in 2nd half of 1960s, they have done everything possible under the sky to loot the state and build properties in Canada, UK, Australia, NZ. They take pride in locking horns with Central Govt. I am a Sikh and I can clearly see that there is no threat to Sikhi or Sikhs in India, while Sikh leaders have been selling this narrative for last few decades, only to make fool out of innocent common people in Punjab. Punjab leaders, particularly those spreading fakeries on religion and language lines, including SGPC, must review what they have done for Punjab in last 60 years. Are they not responsible for today's pathetic state of affairs in the state. Hindu-Sikh, Hindi-Punjabi, State-Center, Farmers-Industrialists are all fake narratives paddled by the State leaders and SGPC to keep the corrupt to core state under their control. They should take a lesson from Haryana at least, which, without any resources has done so well after partitioning.
There is only one way to recovery of the state, and that is, constructively collaborate with Center to fix the financial, law and order, infrastructure and education related issues.
Sorry to say, but your article is purely a Canadian view of Punjab, it does not reflect any on the ground reality of the State or the views of people in the state.
Dear Mahender Singh ji,
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. What you’ve presented is a cogent and thought-provoking argument, and I truly value the engagement.
You will appreciate, however, that my article was limited in scope—focused specifically on developments triggered by the Honourable Union Home Minister’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha and the choice of the Honourable Governor of Punjab to deliver his address in Hindi. These events, in the political and linguistic context of Punjab, carried symbolic weight, and my intent was to analyse the perceptions that may have emerged—especially among a large section of the Sikh population—rather than to endorse or criticise any particular position.
Regarding the reference to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, I simply reflected how that particular line was received by many within the community. At no point have I taken a normative position on it; rather, I’ve tried to explore the range of reactions it evoked.
That said, I fully agree with you that constructive cooperation with the Centre—irrespective of the political party in power—is vital for Punjab’s progress. The state cannot move forward relying solely on grievance politics or entrenched binaries. In fact, I have written on precisely these themes—economic regeneration, federal cooperation, and institutional reform—in several pieces published over the past couple of years on the KBS Chronicle.
Space constraints did not permit me to delve deeper into the historical or economic context in this article, but I appreciate your reminder that we must address long-lingering issues with maturity and nuance. These debates cannot be reduced to binary choices of right or wrong—they require thoughtful, inclusive dialogue.
Warm regards,
Karan Bir Singh Sidhu
Thanks Siddhu Ji