The staged protest by the farmers of Punjab is taking a wrong turn as pro-Pakistan sloganeering was heard yesterday. Moreover, the Khalistani elements have become super-active, seeing this as an opportunity to gain credibility and popularity in the state. Capitalizing on the opportunity, America based Khalistani group Sikh for Justice (SFJ) announced 1 million dollars support for the Sikh farmers.
“From October 1 to October 8, any farmer — irrespective of his faith — can register 25 votes for the Khalistan Referendum 2020 and get a grant of Rs 5,000 as assistance to repay their agricultural loans,” SJF said.
In one of the videos from the protests, one of the demonstrators can be seen threatening PM Modi with dire consequences if an immediate solution is not reached in the upcoming meeting between the farmers and the Centre on December 3 over the farm laws. An alleged farmer was heard saying,“December 3 ko meeting hai, agar hal koi hua toh thik hai nahin toh…aap jaante nahin…hamare shaheed Udham Singh ne goro ko Canada me jake thoka…Indira thok di…Modi ki chhati mein…”(If no solution is reached at in the December 3 meeting, you don’t know, our shaheed Udham Singh shot the colonisers in Canada. Indira Gandhi was taken down. Similarly, in Modi’s chest…”).
Braveheart Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a Shaurya Chakra awardee, who fought the Khalistani terrorism tooth and nail for the better part of the last three-four decades in Punjab, was shot dead by two unidentified assailants at his residence-cum-school premises in Tarn Taran district last Friday. Apparently, the attack on Sandhu took place after the Congress government withdrew his security cover, raising suspicion over the timing of the decision.
Since the last few months, the Khalistani elements are on the rise in the state once again, thanks to the vicious politics of Congress and the Akali Dal. The Modi government must deal with the Khalistani elements in the manner KPS Gill, the man who dealt with the Khalistani insurgency in the 1970s and 80s.
KPS Gill, who was given the charge of Punjab in 1984, was active in the state until 1995 when he retired from the civil service. In the tenure of more than a decade in the state, he wiped out the militants and brought normalcy in the state.
Known for his “unconventional” style, Gill put a bounty for killing terrorists. This was an eye for an eye approach succeeded in Punjab and by the time Gill retired, Khalistani insurgency was on death bed in the state. “Militancy was at its peak in Punjab and at one point of time, it was being debated if India would be able to retain Punjab or lose it. It was his unconventional style of functioning and his iron fist that saved Punjab. Those who criticised Gill’s methods of dealing with terrorism were nowhere in sight during that turbulent period. His contribution in curbing terrorism in Punjab will go down in history as one of the greatest feats,” says former BSF director general Prakash Singh, who was guarding the state’s borders as the Inspector General, Border Security Force (Punjab Frontier) and worked in coordination with Gill to wipe out terrorism from the state.
The Modi government must deal with the Khalistani sympathisers in the state with an iron fist, and before the state descends into chaos due to the foolishness of Congress party, the Union government should take the matters in its hand. The duo of PV Narasimha Rao (Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996) and Gill ended insurgency in the state before the retirement of the later, and so the Modi government must find its own KPS Gill to tackle the Khalistani elements in the state, seeing the current scenario.
