Archive for May, 2021

2
May

Farmers Protest: Jamhuriyat

   Posted by: aman    in Other, Punjab

Day 158

Toll 424

#FarmersProtest

Jamhuriyat

I took the title from a friend’s film in process on the farmer protests. I just saw the stills and they evoked such memory of the last few months in me. I am placing the link below.

Today, the results of our Jamhuriyat’s vote from five states will be declared. Given how we are crumbling under the outbreak of the virus and the state has failed us, I am wondering what is the point of electing governments.

The fact that Farm Laws were bulldozed through the Parliament and all democratic were consigned to the dustbin is clear evidence to me that all political parties today stand exposed.

Yet, our society is not where out mind is. Society moves slowly and frankly we do not have an alternative. So we need to endure these elections, participate in them, watch governments being elected and politicians exploit us. That is what we are going to do today.

If that be the case, I once again hope the BJP loses. While the south states are hopefully sorted, I hope it loses Bengal which in many ways is an opposition bastion. I feel, BJP’s loss in Bengal will have a direct repercussion on the farmers protest.

A BJP win in Bengal will also change the composition of the Rajya Sabha. With more seats in the RS, the BJP will alter the Constitution and we can say goodbye to the India we all grew up in – however flawed it was. This would be much before you have a chance to boot out BJP in 2024 which is still 3 years away.

All eyes now on the results: TMC is winning Bengal, LDF is winning Kerala, DMK is winning Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, do have a look at Novita Singh’s work. She and her team have been on ground for months. You do not have to log in to the website to see the stills. Best wishes to her with the film.

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1
May

Farmers Protests: Guru Tegh Bahadur

   Posted by: aman    in Other, Punjab

Day 157

Toll 415

#FarmersProtests

Guru Tegh Bahadur

Today is Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 400th birth anniversary. For those who may not know, Guru Tegh Bahadur gave his life in 1675 for the protection of the right of Kashmiri Pandits to practice their religion.

When the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ordered that Guru Tegh Bahadur be beheaded at what is now Gurdwara Sis Ganj at Chandni Chowk, he also decreed that no one was to touch the body or the severed head. But Bhai Jaita made away with the head, and left for Anandpur Sahib in Panjab. With the Mughal army in pursuit, Bhai Jaita stopped to rest at Badh Khalsa. Here, Bhai Kushal Singh Dahiya, a Hindu Jat, offered his head in place of the Guru’s to fool the pursuers, enabling Bhai Jaita to leave with the Guru’s head.

At the same time, Bhai Lakhi Shah Vanjara removed the Guru’s headless body and with the help of his son Nagahiya hid it on a cart loaded with cotton and took it to his home at Raisana. As it was dangerous to openly cremate the body, Lakhi Shah Vanjara placed the body in his home and set fire to it. He concealed the cremation of the Guru’s body.

The farmers protest at Singhu border is located next to the Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial. The protests site extends until Badh Khalsa and beyond. Given the pandemic, the celebrations today were muted at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. On the Singhu stage the farmers marked the Guru’s birth anniversary.

It is fascinating that 400 years later, the farmers are walking the same path that the Guru lit. The power structures that seek to crush the farmers are also exactly the same. The charities that were supporting the farmers are now supporting the nation with oxygen and food.

A few months back, a singer sang, ‘Barse koi noor elahi, Dilli de badr te – may the divine light shine on Delhi’s borders’.

The need now is for that divine light on the whole country dealing with the pandemic. Wish you a meaningful Gurpurb.

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