Ajay Bhardwaj
Why is it that when it comes to Punjab, the Modi government takes one step forward and two steps backward.
Be it the bills on farmers, be it the call of reforms in Panjab University, or the move to redefine the status of Chandigarh ? And the latest being, neutralising the demand of Haryana for a separate piece of land in Chandigarh to have its own Assembly building!
Biting the dust after taking a call , howsoever positive it might be, seems to have become a norm for the Modi government which has been sending confusing signals to the state and to the Punjabis. More significantly to the entire region.
Is the Modi government battling with trust deficit in the context of Punjab?
If, after all , a call has been taken with inputs from all segments concerned, be it IB or the party henchman, then why retract? That too after an uproar catches up violently.
Are the sources of information failing Modi one after the other ?
Punjab has lived through turbulence , turmoil, violence and has been seeing a gala play of Pakistan ISI that keeps breathing it in and out.
Isn’t it time to touch the nerve of the Punjabis with a sense of concern?
With three successive terms in office, Punjab wonders why Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he served as an RSS volunteer to the BJP, is failing to don the turban that he did during the Emergency days ?
Punjab must not go into the hands of anarchists. If it does, it simply means the nation is giving Pakistan a good playfield, which we have done already, regardless.
Punjab needs love and care. There has been a very strong feeling of alienation that needs to be addressed urgently. Why must even an iota of this exist among the people? It has been more than a decade since Mod
Why and how this feeling of alienation has captured the imagination of Punjabis, that too for so many decades, needs a sensitive and has been in the helm. No meaningful solution to the any of the contentious issues. And Punjab decided to play a dice in favour of chaotic AAP. Must a state sharing a culture and borders with Pakistan remain on tenterhooks ?
The nation adores and worships the sacrifices made by the Gurus. With all reverence, indeed. I had a Punjabi ( Hindu) friend in Amritsar who went all the way to Tarn Taran Sahib Gurudwara to name her daughter.
The enthusiasm among the non-Punjabis to rush to the Golden Temple , when they visit the holy city, stands as a stark example of brotherhood and undiluted reverence to the Gurus.
But the way Modi government has been constantly failing to embrace the state is a matter of serious concern.
Building a Kartarpur corridor when Navjot Sidhu was embracing the Pakistan army chief completely neutralised the essence of it.
Subsequently as well, series of initiatives taken could hardly help Modi come even an inch closer to the Punjabis. It’s a good cosmetic exercise to don a turban, but it doesn’t touch the core at all.
Why must Punjab, like J&K, remain an intricate call for the Modi government?
Or for that matter, any government at the Centre?