As AAP could not gain much success in Punjab it is out to woo Khalistani elements again

The farmers of Punjab looking to camp in Delhi and threatening to cut off the entry points (Tikri Border, Gurgaon Border, Badarpur Border, Ghazipur Border, Singhu Border) to enter the national capital have been given a warm welcome by the Delhi government headed by none other than the AamAadmi Party (AAP).

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party is infamously known for supporting anti-national elements—whether it be Tahir Hussain to Umar Khalid to Kanhaniya Kumar to Sharjeel Imam, one would find AAP supporting such elements in some capacity or another. However, the reader might ask, this is a farmer’s movement and supporting it is a noble cause, innit? Perfectly sound reasoning and it is indeed coming straight from the heart of the reader who is concerned about the farmers– we all are, after all, they are the hands that feed us.

However, as reported extensively by TFI, the farmer’s movement has been hijacked completely by the non-state actors which include secessionist forces like Khalistan supporters who are trying to fan the flames of anarchy in the state. There has been more than enough evidence out in the public eye to suggest that the farmer’s protest was long diluted and now it has metamorphosed into a campaign to smear the central government and settle political scores. And if not stopped, can turn into the ‘Seige of Shaheen Bagh 2.0’.

The Delhi government welcomed the protesting farmers as their “guests” on Friday and made elaborate arrangements for their food, drinking water, and shelter. Just the way a rabid ShaheenBagh was allowed to prosper by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AamAadmi Party—the anti-national forces; not the actual farmers, are being protected by the Delhi government. And if a power-hungry Kejriwal continues to tread this path then another siege-like situation is waiting to occur in the capital. The kudrati biryani is once again being prepared in the capital and distributed with fervour amongst the Khalistani supporters masquerading as farmers.

AAP, who is sponsoring these protests and looking to gain a major foothold in Punjab for the 2022 Assembly elections. In its debut assembly elections in Punjab in 2017, AAP had bagged 20 seats, way below the expectations of the party, and therefore what better way to rectify the mistakes of past than by igniting the farmers to go on an offence against the centre.

There were reports in 2017 which stated that AAP was funded for the assembly elections by a banned Khalistani group. Gurcharan Singh, a member of once banned Dal Khalsa claimed that his group campaigned and even funded AamAadmi Party during the 2017 Punjab state assembly elections.

Read more: Banned Khalistani group funded AAP campaign, Republic TV sting operation reveals

He accepted the same during the Debate at 10 with Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. When Arnab Goswami asked Gurcharan Singh whether his group funded the AAP or not, Gurcharan Singh replied, “Aam Aadmi Party was just a tool. It was a meaningless tool. It is an irrelevant party. Aam Aadmi Party is an irrelevant party brought in Punjab by a rogue. We used the AAP as a tool to expose the political system and Electoral machines. AAP got 90 seats in Punjab. We used them as a tool to expose how fraud the electoral system is in the state.”

Reported by TFI, in 2018 former AAP member of parliament from Patiala, Dharamvir Gandhi in Punjab had come out in support of the Khalistan referendum. In an objectionable statement inciting susceptible elements, he had stated that people have the democratic and legal right to demand a separate homeland.

Read more: AAP is providing a platform to radicals in Punjab

Another former senior leader of AAP, Sukhpal Khaira had supported a referendum for Khalistan. Khairahad reportedly said, “I support the Sikh referendum 2020 movement as Sikhs have the right to demand justice against atrocities suffered by them”.

For almost two decades, Punjab suffered the curse of strife and terrorism. Policies of Congress party and the politics played by the Akalis soaked the fertile soil of the state with the blood of its own people. Kidnappings, murder, and ransom became the everyday ritual of the state. Terrorists demanded a separate homeland for Sikhs- Khalistan but on the other hand, the Armed Forces went all out to crush the secessionist forces. An entire generation of Punjab was lost in the wanton bloodshed. With a combination of political measures, the response by armed forces and the voice of the civil society, normalcy returned in Punjab.

And now, a party like AAP is trying to make a field for itself by supporting such forces so that it can polarise the elections by making a terrorist like Bhindrenwala a martyr and cash in on the votes of the radicals. Supporting the farmer’s movement is a means to an end for AAP, nothing more, nothing less, and those who believe otherwise should take a good, hard look at the cold facts.