Current Events
Narendra Modi Wants Gujarat's Sikhs to "Go Back" to Punjab
ZIA HAQ
A report by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), India's minority rights watchdog, has said the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government had "prima facie" discriminated against the state's 500-member Sikh community in Kutch by ordering them to sell their land and return to Punjab because they were not Gujaratis, citing the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948.
The commission has strongly disapproved of the Gujarat government's interpretation that only Gujarati farmers could own or buy land in the state under the Act, a move which could dispossess 500 farmers, while their land accounts have already been frozen.
In his report, commission member Ajaib Singh, after a field visit on June 24-28, 2013, said, "There appears to be discrimination against Sikh agriculturalists by the Gujarat government".
The report quoted Ajaib Singh's statement that "Modi, who has the habit of suppressing and terrorising the minorities of Gujarat, was in this case targeting and victimising the Sikh farmers of Kutch".
The minority commission said the order of the state government, asking farmers to sell their land and return to Punjab, was struck down unanimously in the Gujarat high court unanimously, but the state government had now challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court. The commission itself could not do much since the issue was under judicial consideration, the report said.
In a recommendatory letter to Modi, the commission has asked the Gujarat government to accept the verdict of the high court. He also requested him to administer a national minority scholarship programme and urgently set up a state minorities commission.
Ajaib Singh has also written to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to intervene in the matter.
"This is indeed very discriminatory," said the NCM member.
He said Sikhs told him during his field visit that the community had migrated to Kutch after being invited by former prime minister late Lal Bahadur Shastri, who felt these swathes of white marshy land should be inhabited as a buffer against invasion from the sea.
[Courtesy: Hindustan Times.]
July 31, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Devinder Pal Singh (Delhi, India), July 31, 2013, 1:59 PM.
The Akalis thought that BJP was secular and would support them more than the Congress. If they still cannot read the writing on the wall, then they are blinded by their own petty squabbles and myopic thought and greedy pursuits. It's a tragedy that Rajnath of the BJP minces no words in projecting Modi as the next big figure happening for the BJP. The more we learn of his sleazy ops the more we shirk from accepting his credibility. Can a democracy accept such a leadership? They and, for that matter, the BJP are no different from the Shiv Sena and other regional parties which have seeded isolating ideologies and methodologies and region based politics. When the need arises they would lean on people from other regions for succor and support, however as soon as the purpose is over they are ready to dispense with them. This trend is feared; the citizenry should be wary of such practices which sow discontent among the masses. It is time Gujarat, or for that matter, every other region introspected and reviewed possible consequences of such belligerent abuse of the constitutional rights of the citizens of India. The fear is that such practices would take the country further downhill. It seems nobody gives two hoots. The showmanship created by Modi has bear-hugged almost every business house in the country, all the prominent business icons have not hesitated to unabashedly hail Modi as an avtar but of course with personal motives and greedy agendas. This trend should be arrested before it spreads uncontrolled in the Union of India and makes mockery of the equality promised for one and all without discrimination.
2: Rup Singh (Canada), July 31, 2013, 5:46 PM.
Sikhs from Punjab are not allowed to buy land in a lot of states in India, but people from those states can and are buying in Punjab. Where Sikhs do own land, they are told to sell and leave for Punjab. Yet the SAD (supposedly representing the Sikhs) is in partnership with the very people wanting the Sikhs to leave, so are unable to say or do anything to help the Sikhs in Gujarat. Central Government again stays silent on matters concerning the rights of minorities. With migration to Punjab from other states at a high level and Sikhs wanting to leave for foreign countries the Sikhs will become a minority in Punjab one day, then what? Comes down to lack of strong leadership that will work for the best interests of Punjab and all Punjabis. When will the people of India wake up and who will awaken them so they can realize that law and order, good quality education and equality among all citizens is the foundation of a strong and civilized nation? It seems Sikhs enjoy more freedoms and rights in foreign countries then they do in Punjab and India. The people have to stand up against communalism and the religious fanatics who divide and rule them. When will the Sikhs realize that the very political party they think is their representative is actually against them (as proven with the SAD being silent against the Modi government) and that their religious institutions have been hijacked and the money they donate there is used to further the cause against Sikhi and Sikhs?
3: N Singh (Canada), July 31, 2013, 6:26 PM.
Why am I not surprised! This man needs to be tried for crimes against humanity with the death penalty firmly on the table. He is India's Hilter and will lead the Indian sheep to destruction. Nature and History dictates that ethnic cleansing does not work, and it has never worked. Hitler tried it, Indira tried, look where it got them!
4: Amar Grewal (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), July 31, 2013, 11:36 PM.
I feel sad reading these type of stories. Narinder Modi needs to read the history of India.
5: Beant Singh (New York, USA), August 02, 2013, 4:08 PM.
What Modi has done to Sikhs in Gujarat is only a trailer of the things to come. If this Nazi Hindu thug and mass-murderer grabs power in New Delhi, expect another and worse period of persecution and genocide.
6: Raj (Canada), August 02, 2013, 5:06 PM.
Not only Modi, but the whole Indian Hindu majority shows attitude and unfounded superiority complex - with no substance whatsoever to back it. Just go visit India. They think they are a world power, just watch if and when they buy themselves a UN security council seat. Every minority will be the target ... Watch out!
7: Gurwinder (India), December 22, 2013, 5:16 AM.
Every state need Sikhs. The Sikhs are less in number but contribution in development is much much BIGGER.