Punjab Under Floods: Resilience Amidst Neglect
Punjab has become a victim of natural disaster at this time and most of the villages of Punjab are in the grip of floods. Farming has been completely destroyed. Most of the houses, shops, goods and even animals of the people have been washed away in the water or have died. Despite this, the spirits of Punjabis are seen to be completely high because this is not the first time this has happened to them. If anyone suffered loss of life and property in the partition of the country in 1947, it was the people of Punjab, but in a few years, with their hard work and toil, they made themselves so capable that the highest production of grain in the entire country started happening in Punjab. Punjab saw a dark period in the 80s which gave rise to the trend of the young generation of Punjab moving away from farming and running abroad.
If any kind of disaster occurred in any state of the country, Punjabis were the first to extend a helping hand. During the Corona period, Punjabis even set up langars of their own breaths, but sadly today when a disaster struck Punjab, no other state came forward to help. Punjab is being helped by the Punjabis themselves. Every kind of help is being provided by Gurvinder Singh Bawa, who is associated with many big religious organizations including Delhi Gurudwara Committee, Shiromani Committee, Takht Patna Sahib, Takht Hazur Sahib, Shiromani Committee from Mumbai. Ambulances have been sent by Jatinder Singh Shanti of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sevadal so that there is no problem in medical services. Punjabi singers and artists have also come forward to help. Even most of the Indians living abroad, who still have Punjab in their hearts, have left their work and started coming to make their Punjab prosperous again.
Sikhs do not have freedom in any other country except India: The Sikh community has got as much freedom in India as they can not get in any other country of the world. In India, the people of the Sikh community live their lives with the dignity and tradition given by Guru Sahiban. They can go anywhere with Kirpan, one of the five Ks of the Sikhs. Sikhs can even enter the Parliament and highly sensitive places with Kirpan because the Indian Constitution allows Sikhs to keep Kirpan. However, this is not the case in other countries. Sikhs can travel wearing Kirpan in airplanes within India, whereas they are not allowed to carry Kirpan while traveling in international flights. In Gurudwaras or Nagar Kirtans, the Sikh community performs Gatka with Kirpan and now Gatka has been given a place in the Olympic Games as well. But there is no freedom to carry a kirpan in foreign countries, the latest example of which was seen when a man from Los Angeles, America, suddenly stopped his car in the middle of the road and started performing 'Gatka' (traditional martial art of Sikhs). The incident took place near a place which is usually crowded. People present there got scared and immediately called the police. When the police reached the spot, they repeatedly asked the man to put down the kirpan but he kept swinging the kirpan and started moving sometimes towards the police and sometimes towards the passing vehicles, after which the police fired several bullets at the Sikh youth, which led to his death. Till date, no Sikh has been treated like this in India, yet people of Khalistani nature like Gurpatwant Singh Pannu call Sikhs slaves in India, whereas if seen, Sikhs do not have the freedom to live their lives with their religious symbols in any other country except India. Need for Hindu Sikhs of Canada to campaign against Khalistan: 40 years ago, a bomb was prepared by Khalistanis sitting on the soil of Canada and with the same bomb, an Air India plane coming from Canada to India was blown up in the air, in which 329 passengers were killed, including 82 innocent children. At the same time, another bomb exploded at Tokyo's Narita Airport, which was meant for another Air India flight AI-301. This bomb exploded before it could be loaded, in which two Japanese baggage handlers died. But it seems that the people of Canada have not yet learned any lesson from this incident that happened 40 years ago, due to which even today the Khalistanis are openly carrying out their activities. The mastermind behind this incident is being presented as a hero, yet it is not known why the Canadian government has been encouraging these people, far from taking any action against them. As a result, the morale of the Khalistanis is high and they openly carry out activities against India.
A man named Sanjay Lazar, who lost his entire family in the Kanishka bombing incident, was only 17 years old at that time and is 57 years old today, has appealed to the people of the Hindu-Sikh community living in Canada that the tribute to those 329 people would be to come forward openly to oppose the Khalistanis so that the government also understands that no Sikh, no matter where he is in the world, was ever a Khalistani supporter and never can be. Referring to this incident, Takht Patna Sahib spokesperson Harpal Singh Johal says that till date we are unable to understand what the Khalistanis actually want because on one hand they demand a separate country for the Sikh community and on the other hand they torture the Sikhs, because most of the people who died in the Kanishka air accident were from the Sikh community, from which one thing Sikhs all over the world should understand that the aim of the Khalistani supporters is nothing more than creating an atmosphere of terror in India at the behest of Pakistan.
Demand raised to open Kartarpur Corridor: In the past, the government had again closed the Kartarpur Corridor amid the declaration of war, the demand to open it has now started rising again. Actually, water had accumulated in the entire complex including the main hall of Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara and after the water was drained, the accumulated water was cleaned by the Pakistan administration, due to which a lot of anger is being seen in the Sikh Sangat. The Sangat believes that if the Sangat had been allowed to go there, then the Sangat itself would have performed this service with dignity. Due to this, former Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib and newly appointed President of Shiromani Akali Dal, Giani Harpreet Singh has appealed to the Modi government of the country that the Kartarpur Corridor should be opened for the Sangat as soon as possible. Actually, there is anger in the Sikh community because on one hand, the community is being deprived of the darshan, while on the other hand, there is agreement between the two countries for other sports including cricket. So, now the community wants that the corridor be opened without any delay so that the community which has not been able to have the darshan till now, can do so.