The aftermath: A girl cries at the coffin of a women, one of the 25 who died in the Kabul gurdwara attack on 25 March 2020. – Photo: Reuters
By Asia Samachar Team | CANADA |
The Kabul attack killing 25 innocent souls have been a real shaker. The 25 March incident, followed by two consecutive days of more attacks in the Afghanistan capital have left the small band of the Sikh minority community living in heightened fear. Even before the attack, they were already almost living on egg shelfs.
What can the world community do to help the Sikh and Hindu minorities hammed by increasing attacks from the Muslim groups? At this point of time, leaving Afghanistan seems to be the only solution.
“It is too small a minority, unable to defend itself, and politically inconsequential. I’d still like to be able to help them get out, instead of having more killed,” Suneet Singh Tuli, the speaker of the Canadian branch of the World Sikh Parliament, tells Asia Samachar.
Canada is one of the options but it does not seem to be working out just as yet. Some 26,000 Syrian were resettled in Canada between December 2015 and February 2016. But the route does not seem to be open for the Afghan Sikhs.
“Although we’re trying to put pressure on the Canadian government, unfortunately it is unlikely they will act,” he said.
Suneet is the founder and owner of DataWind Ltd, a provider of wireless web access products and services. Here are excerpts from the interview.
AS: What is your view on the recent attacks on Sikhs in Kabul?
Suneet: The Afghanistan situation is really alarming as there are constant threats, and we believe that further attacks are imminent, and there is insufficient security to protect them.
Is Canada their best hope to seek refuge?
Although we’re trying to put pressure on the Canadian government, unfortunately it is unlikely they will act — very upsetting. Most likely, they’ll have to go to Pakistan or India — where they’ll be forced to languish as ‘non-citizens’ for many years. It’s very sad and frustrating.
Canadian leaders seem silent on the plight of the Afghan Sikhs. Is that proper reading of the situation?
Yes.
Suneet Singh Tuli
What are the ground challenges in getting the Afghan Sikhs to move out?
There are logistical issues, but we can charter a plane and bring them. Unlike the 20,000 Canadians stuck in India due to the curfew, we don’t have those movement restrictions in Afghanistan. And these people we need to move are mostly in Kabul.
Beyond logistics. Does it mean they have to leave everything they have and start afresh?
Yes, there is no choice. But, those in the Gurdwara have already been driven out of their homes — and they would congregate each night at the Gurdwara for safety.
A few Afghan Sikh families have moved to Canada some years earlier. What are their experiences ?
Only 15 families have made it here that were originally in Helmunt province — they all have jobs and are starting to get settled in. They’re not yet as established as the Kabuli Sikhs of Southhall, but that takes a generation.
The Afghan Sikhs in London are well established. They have flourishing businesses and real estate.
The Sikh-Afghani newcomers in Canada are living on rent, mostly uneducated (hence labour jobs). But they are safe and have a future.
If we bring them to Canada, then we’ll ensure they have jobs, training, education and support — starting fresh here will be easier than the risk they face in Kabul currently. Those that got out over the last couple of decades were generally those that could afford to get out, so, had some wealth. Those left behind are the most needy.
What can Sikhs in other countries do to help the Afghan Sikhs?
If there are immigration or refugee sponsorship programs in each respective country, then we should consider those too. Alternatively, help get signatures on the various petitions that are being circulated so that this becomes a global movement and the politicians respond to the pressure. And lastly, financially help the organizations that are working on this. World Sikh Parliament is not collecting any funds, we are routing our funds through other organizations.
Is it the end of the line for Sikhs in Afghanistan?
Sadly, that’s the case. It is too small a minority, unable to defend itself, and politically inconsequential. I’d still like to be able to help them get out, instead of having more killed.
Have you personally met any of the Afghan Sikhs who moved to Canada? What was your impression?
Yes. Good folk, grateful to be in Canada. They will make good Citizens of Canada. And they are our brothers, there’s an instant kinship when you meet them.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Food is supplied by langar officials in their vehicles to different parts of Hoshiarpur as well as other districts including Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Nawanshahr etc.
By Anju Agnihotri Chaba | THE INDIAN EXPRESS | INDIA |
A community kitchen organised by an NRI is serving langar to 1.25 lakh people in Hoshiarpur every day amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Local MLA and Cabinet Minister Sunder Sham Arora donated Rs 12 lakh to the cause on Monday.
The Guru Ram Das Langar is situated in Purhiran village of Hoshiarpur district. The man behind it is Manjit Singh, who has been living in the US for past 30 years, running his own business.
Food is supplied by langar officials in their vehicles to different parts of Hoshiarpur as well as other districts including Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Nawanshahr. Starting Saturday, they will also serve in Ludhiana district.
Two machines make 10,000 chapatis per hour, while nearly three dozen cooks start preparations at 3 am so that the food is ready on time. A total of 28 Bolero vehicles have been engaged by Langar officials to supply the food in big tiffins, which can keep the food hot for 14 hours, as each tiffin has the capacity to carry 1,000 chapattis.
A langar in Hoshiarpur is feeding 1.25 lakh people every day amid lockdown In a year, Rs. 2.93 crore was spent on this service.
“A US-based NRI has been running this langar service which is being managed by Buta Singh,” said Arora, adding, “I have contributed so that this langar can be served to the needy. No one should sleep hungry in our district.”
Read full stoy, ‘A langar in Hoshiarpur is feeding 1.25 lakh people every day amid lockdown’ (The Indian Express, 4 April 2020), here.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
What is the one thing that can make a difference to the Sikh Quam today?
“Embrace the poor,” said Ragi Bhai Nirmal Singh, former resident kirtani of Darbar Sahib, Harmandar Sahib.
The Sikhs need to embrace the poor – the Dalits and the many groups that have been sidelined or shunned for one reason or another.
“They’ve been pushed away,” he said in an interview with Washington-based Sikh activitist Dr Rajwant Singh last year. “It’s time to admit our mistakes and bring them back.”
The renown kirtani passed away on 2 April 2020 in Amritsar, a day after he was diagnosed with coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Coming from a poor Dalit family background, Nirmal rose to prominence as a well-respected exponent of Gurmat Sangeet.
He was performing duties at the Darbar Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, during the Operation Bluestar in 1984 as well as Operation Black Thunder in 1988, both times narrowly escaping death.
Ragi Nirmal said the minute the groups became a proper and vibrant part of the Sikh community, the number of Sikhs would immediately rise. He urged the Sikh leadership to go out and invite them into the fold after having hurt their leadership in the past.
“Why have we kept Sikhi limited to a small group? Broaden its reach…..Guru Nanak did not attract people into Sikhi with corruption, but love abundance,” he said.
Instead of a ‘jephi’ (embrace), the present default mode seems to be to ‘jephaa’ (horde).
In November 2019, Sikhs commentated the 550th birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith. How to make those celebrations worth the time and effort? Ragi Nirmal said Sikh leadership should put into practice the cardinal principal of equality.
“There is no need for a new hukumnama. We just need to apply Guru’s existing hukumnamas,” he added.
He also lamented on the flourishing of deras within his lifetime itself in the Punjab villages.
He noted that it had come an extent where some Sikh groups have created separate crematoriums for the different ‘castes’ and groups. “Dalits have been denied access to some Sikh crematoriums,” he said.
In an obituary for an Indian newspaper, Prof Pritam Singh, a visiting scholar at Wolfson College at University of Oxford, noted that Nirmal continuously performed kirtan for nine hours during Operation Black Thunder. He noted that it will perhaps go down in history as the longest performance ever by a musician in one go.
“His lectures, writings and music invoked the spiritual teachings of Gurbani to highlight the values of egalitarianism. In his musical selections from Gurbani, he paid particular attention to the teachings of anti-caste Bhakti saints such as Bhagat Kabir and Bhagat Guru Ravi Das whose poetry is included in Guru Granth Sahib,” adds Prof Pritam.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
FILE PHOTO: Traditional fire wood crematorium in Jalan Loke Yew, Kuala Lumpur. A cremation in progress in early 2016 – PHOTO / ASIA SAMACHAR
By Asia Samachar Team | MALAYSIA |
A century-old crematorium in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur city is prepared to accept cremations related to the novel coronavirus that is wrecking havoc globally.
The traditional wood-burner crematorium at Jalan Loke Yew crematorium will accept Covid-19 victims should the need arise.
“At this juncture, we have not conducted any Covid-19 related cremations,” Shamshan Bhoomi Parbandak Society (Selangor & Federal Territory) president Pretam Singh told Asia Samachar.
The society manages the crematorium for Sikhs, Gujrati, Sindhi and other North Indian communities in the Klang Valley. The crematorium, officially gazetted in 1921, began operations around 1890s.
It has released a set of guidelines for Covid-19 related cremations. See below.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) president Jagir Singh said in Covid-19 deaths, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) procedures state that the body will be sealed in plastics and then sealed in a coffin.
He said a small number of family will be allowed to the cremation without viewing the body or opening the sealed coffin. A granthi can also be present to do the Ardas (supplication).
“The MOH will allow one family member to view body from afar without touching it before it is sealed with plastic,” he told Asia Samachar in a text message.
GUIDELINES FOR CREMATION
The Shamshanbhoomi Parbandhak Committee has decided NOT to turn away any request for the use of the Loke Yew Crematorium for Covid 19 or Non Covid 19 cremations.
We would follow the interim guidelines issued by WHO on 24 March 2020 on Infection Prevention and Control for the safe management of a dead body in the context of COVID-19. These Guidelines inter alia provides that people who have died from COVID-19 can be cremated with national and local requirements that may dictate the handling and disposition of the remains. Please get the required movement permit from the police for covid or non covid cremations may also be required. Information obtained from Hospital Sg. Buloh Forensic Dept is as follows:
(a) If anyone passed away with positive of virus, they will inform the family and further recommend to do the cremation at Cheras Crematorium, but they also allow you to bury or do your traditional cremation at your request.
(b) You shall not be allowed to see the dead body; they will wrap the body and place it in the coffin and thereafter seal the coffin.
(c) No one is allowed to open the lid of the coffin.
(d) Their staff will escort the dead body to the crematorium to ensure that their instructions are followed.
(e) We have to inform our caretaker to lay down the woods and at least make 12 ‘chule’. In each ‘chule’ place 1 packet of fire starter with few pieces of camphor.
(f) Once the coffin is laid on the fire wood, he with the helpers can lay the woods by side till the height of the coffin. Then lay by the woods on the coffin, and pour at least 2kg Ghee on the woods.
(g) The Granthis or the Pandit Ji can recite the prayers only from a distance, as no is allowed to go near.
(h) The family members can light the fire to the camphor which is laid on piece of woods and pass to their people who will light up all the ‘chules’ with the help of our caretaker.
(i) Next during the collection of the ashes, the Granthi or Pandit Ji can do their prayers. Ground Guidelines during the Cremation
(j) We are making arrangements for face mask, gloves and gown. We can limit 2 / 3 sets to be used for a cremation as those tasked with placing the body on the funeral pyre, etc, should wear glove, mask and wash hand with soap and water after removal of the gloves once cremation is complete.
(k) Family and/or friends may view the cremation at a distance approved by the authority after it has been prepared for cremation. They are strictly not allowed to touch the casket and are advised to maintain proper personal hygiene, ect, wear mask and wash their hand with soap and water after viewing the body.
(l) Those attending the funeral are advised to keep the number small as only 10 chairs subject to authority approval, are allowed at sitting area and to be placed at least 5 / 6 feet apart.
(m) The entire cremation area will be sanitized after the cremation is complete.
(n) For non covid cases the existing rules would apply except the need for police permit, the need to have small crowd and to maintain distance and proper hygiene to be maintained at all time
Pretam Singh Darshan Singh, President (+6 012-284 9402)
Janak Raj Sharma, Vice President (+6 017-332 0818)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
From the left, Justine Chadwick (CWLEP Growth Hub), Taran Kaur and Daya Singh (Exeter Analytical) and Cllr Jim O’Boyle (Coventry City Council) – Photo: BDaily
By Matt Joyce | BRITAIN |
A specialist laboratory in Coventry which has won new contracts and extended its workforce after investing in a state-of-the-art instrument is planning to target more world-wide business.
Exeter Analytical, based at the Venture Centre at the University of Warwick Science Park in Canley, provides an analysis service for quality control testing for household names in the pharmaceutical, food, beverage, fine chemicals, pigments and coatings sectors as well as carrying out university research and selling equipment to other laboratories.
The business, which was established in 1994, contacted Coventry City Council’s business support team for advice and help on available grants to expand the seven-strong business.
Managing director Daya Singh was assigned a business development advisor who contacted the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub to give advice on further business support services.
The result was Exeter Analytical investing £22,000 in an ICP-OES instrument after receiving a £10,000 grant from the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Investment Fund Programme which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Daya said buying the instrument will allow the company to push into new markets in the UK, Europe and America.
He said: “Buying the instrument is a key part in our future growth because we are able to offer larger quantities of analysis service and it allows us to take on more customers.
“We have already been successful in securing more work with well-known pharmaceutical manufacturers and will be able to compete with larger laboratories to offer our bespoke work as well as up-sell to organisations we already work with.
“There is certain legislation which restricts companies from analysing their own products for elements such as mercury or lead so that there is no conflict of interest which is why a number of independent laboratories are needed so this is one of the areas we are going to focus on not only in the UK but in Europe and America.
“We have also recruited a business development manager to drive our business growth and sales.”
He said the help from the CWLEP Growth Hub and Coventry City Council had been invaluable in being successful in its grant application.
See full report, ‘Specialist laboratory wins new contracts’ (Bdaily, 3 April 2020), here.
RELATED STORY:
(Asia Samachar, 2 April 2020)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Afghan Sikhs and military service: A 1973 photo capturing the first ever Sikh doctor from Jalalabad. Prof Dr Bhagat Singh Hakimzada (left hand side) and Prof Dr Saran Singh Motizada (slightly on the right hand side) in military uniforms. Both graduated in 1972 and went for military service which was compulsory for every Afghan male from the age of 22. It was a one year service for postgraduates upon their graduation, and two years for the rest. In early 1970s, after military service, every post graduate was granted permission to wear military uniform on some special occasions. Sikhs would wear especially on Nagar Keertan (Sikh religious procession). – Photo & Information courtesy of Dr Joginder Singh Tej Khurana
By Asia Samachar Team | BRITAIN |
As you read this article, the fate of Sikhs and Hindu minorities in Afghanistan stand in the balance.
The 25 March attack on the gurdwara in Kabul may just the defining marker for the end of the long and cherished history of Sikhs in this part of the world. In that attack, 25 men, women and a child, were brutally murdered by gunmen.
The ISIS/Daesh have claimed responsibility. It was an attack with a simple purpose: wiping out the so-deemed ‘infidel’ community out of Afghanistan.
“Their politics is horrendous. Sikhs are but a small pawn in this whole scenario. In fact, Sikhs are not even a player in this whole thing. They are too small, too insignificant,” Inderjeet Singh, author of the Afghan Hindus & Sikhs – History of a Thousand Years, told Asia Samachar.
“It will be a feather in their cap if they can chase Sikhs out of the country. They will consider it a victory,” he said.
Here are excerpt of the interview with the author of the first English book on Afghan Sikhs.
What was the first thing that ran through your mind when you heard about the Kabul attack?
The possibility of something like this happening was always at the back of my mind. So, when it came, I felt sad, but not shocked. If you follow the series of previous bombings, you knew that the Kabul Sanggat were sitting in a precarious area.
Many Sikhs may not have ground knowledge of those incidents. Some may think this only happening onto Sikhs. Not at all. Taliban has blasted a lot of bombs to gain an upper hand in the negotiations with the US. People condemn the killing, but no one condemns the killers. We are talking about people in Afghanistan.
Their politics is horrendous. Sikhs are but a small pawn in this whole scenario. In fact, Sikhs are not even a player in this whole thing. They are too small, too insignificant.
It will be a feather in their cap if they can send Sikhs out of the country. They will consider it a victory.
The ISIS/Daesh has claimed the responsibility for the attack. If Sikhs are small and an insignificant minority, why the attacks upon them?
Their ideology includes the killing for kafirs/infidels, including Sikhs. Some may not know that ISIS include Shia Muslims in their list of infidel community who should either be brought into Islam (strict form of Sunnism, their interpretation of Islam) or be killed. ISIS has declared an unofficial war against Shias in Afghanistan. Their places of worship, weddings, tuition centre and any gatherings have been targeted numerous times in past five years. Sikhs are also infidels in their eyes. This is a continuation of their war on infidels. The whole world knows of the carnage they unleashed on the Yazidis.
ISIS have claimed that this is their ‘revenge for Kashmir’. What are your thoughts on that.
It is a human tendency to justify their actions. Sikhs were targeted and killed on 1st July 2018 in Jalalabad when there was no Kashmir issue or the Delhi riots. Sikhs are a small minority in India and recently it was well recorded that during recent Delhi riots, on number of instances, Sikhs had saved Muslims from the rioting crowd.
Washington Post reported that one of the terrorists who attacked the Gurdwara Guru Har Rai Sahib at Kabul was an Indian Muslim from Kerala. Indians know the difference between Sikhs and Hindus. The first person these terrorists killed was an Afghan Sunni Muslim security guard outside the Gurdwara Sahib. ISIS will kill anyone who comes in the way to creating their so called ‘Islamic Caliphate’.
Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib, Kabul, attacked on 25 March 2020, killing 25 people
What is the solution to this problem?
ISIS will not come to a negotiating table. They are the closest thing we have to pure evil on this earth. Their propaganda videos were so powerful that many Muslim youngsters in the West left their homes to join ISIS in Syria. Where is the counter narrative? It must come from Sunni Muslims clergy. Every ISIS terrorist believe that he will get ‘martyrdom’ after killing infidels and get 72 hoors (virgins) in next world. The Islamic Hadith clearly states that killing a human is a sin and non-Islamic population should be treated as dhimmis. We have lost the propaganda war. Where is the counter narrative? Where are the videos from intelligent Sunni Muslim clergy who can refute ISIS and related organisations interpretation of Islam? Unless you defeat this evil ideology, we can’t win over them. The world must work together to combat this wickedness. They are a threat to world peace and humanity.
At this juncture, what is is the future of Sikhs in Afghanistan?
Very bleak. There are about 800-850 Sikhs in Afghanistan and they are ethnically Afghan, but most Afghans refute it. There are many are widows with children who have never left their houses (which is Gurdwara). Who will provide shelter and food? In India they will be relatively safe, but the state does not provide welfare. The Sikh community need to set up an organisation with proper planning, funding to decide for their food, shelter and schooling for children. There is a cost to this. Some may be able to migrate to Canada. At this juncture, they have officially made a request to the Indian authorities to allow them to seek refuge in India.
Tell us more about the gurdwara that was attacked?
Guru Har Rai Sahib (1644-61), the seventh Sikh Guru, had sent Bhai Gonda to Kabul to preach Sikhi. He built a Dharamsaal (earlier name for gurdwaras) at that time. This Gurdwara Sahib was taken over by Ahmed Shah Masood in the early 1990s as it was the strongest structure in the area, and it became his base where he attacked and defended from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The Gurdwara Sahib was very badly damaged. The Taliban was removed in October 2001. In the subsequent years, resilient Afghan Sikhs abroad provided funds and the Gurdwara Sahib was renovated again by 2014. It houses 150 Afghan Sikhs who have lost their homes during the 1980s and the early 90s to the war and illegal occupation by powerful neighbours or warlords.
AFGHAN SIKHS DOCTORS FROM NANGARHAR PROVINCE: (L-R) Dr Nirmal Singh Nagpal, Dr Tara Singh Wadhwa, Late Dr Raghbir Singh Bir, Dr Kulbir Singh Darwesh, Dr Saran Singh Hakimzada and Dr Joginder Singh Tej Khurana Ji. They graduated with Mds from Medical College of Nangarhar University, Jalalabad, in the 1970s. This photo was taken in London in 2015. Dr Khurana is writing biographies of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus doctors which should be published in a few months.
Tell us about the history of Sikhs in Afghanistan.
Guru Nanak visited this part of the world in the first decade of the 16th century. We have historical Gurdwaras and places in Kabul, Jalalabad, Sultanpur, Kandahar and in other cities. His son, Baba Sri Chand, who started the Udasi sect has also visited Afghanistan and we have Gurdwaras commemorating his visit in Kabul and Kandahar. Bhai Nand Lal, a close Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh (1675 – 1708), whose Persian verses are sung by Sikhs in Gurdwara Sahibs with great devotion, was born in Ghazni. We have a Gurdwara Sahib there as well. During the 1980s, as per the Afghan authorities, the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus were close to three lakhs (300,000). As a Sikh, I would not like my historical heritage to be abandoned but security is a huge issue. We can leave few caretakers and rest if, they wish, could migrate to safer countries.
Is there a hope for peace, with Taliban – USA deal? What does it means for minorities?
It all depends if the Taliban is able to control ISIS? If not, then you will continue to have attacks on minorities. Taliban was particularly harsh on women during their rule from 1996-2001 and women parliamentarians are genuinely worried. Sikhs found a way to deal and live under Taliban by giving them a payment (perhaps Jaziya). Everyone is concerned living under their rule. Personally, I was really disgusted when over the past 18-24 months Taliban attacks have resulted in the killings of many innocent (Sunni) Muslims civilians, just to have better negotiating power with USA. This is not a trait of an organisation that wants to rule the country. The Afghan media in the country and Europe condemn the killings but not the killer.
How do local Afghans treat Sikhs?
The 40 years of civil war have made Afghans bitter and in some cases, more fundamentalist. Sikh boys are bullied in school. At times, they are taunted and asked to convert. Their houses have been illegally captured by warlords and powerful neighbours during the Mujahideen era. They are mostly living in Gurdwara Sahib. The regime is sympathetic to Sikhs and has allotted 5 million for repair of Gurdwaras and Temple. The government is currently renovating the premises of Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar in Jalalabad but no government has done anything to free the illegal occupation of the houses of Afghan Sikhs in Kabul.
I personally know Afghan Sikhs who lived during 1960s to 1992 and they all state that Afghans would treat them very tolerably. Dr Joginder Singh Tej Khurana, a former Member of Afghan Grand Assembly (1990-92), has compiled a short biography of some 40 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus doctors and physicians. Some 90% of the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus left the country in 1992 just before Mujahedeen captured the last bastion, Kabul city. Sadly those days are gone now and may never return. I feel privileged that I am the first person to write their rich history in English.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Punjab underground water – Photo: Videograb from Punjabi documentary ‘Final Assault’ (Akhri Hamlaa)
By Gurmukh Singh | OPINION |
A recent government report warns that at the current rate of groundwater usage, Punjab will become a desert in 15 to 20 years. And so, as in the past, the topic will get headlines and the report will be shelved. The situation has been created entirely by misguided agricultural practices, policies and vote-bank politics over the decades. Yet, recent reports in the Indian media seem to blame mainly the farmers.
Despite continual reminders by agricultural experts over the years, no government has taken any action. To quote a well-known scientist, Dr H S Virk, “The Green Revolution brought prosperity as well as present misery in Punjab due to excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides and groundwater for irrigation.”
Lack of diversification of crops, market-driven sowing of paddy (rice) and supply of free electricity by the government to extract groundwater to irrigate paddy fields is one combination which means short-term gains but the ultimate demise of the proverbial goose which lays the golden eggs.
Today, three-quarters of Panjab is dependent on underground water for agriculture and only one-fourth on the canal water. There are 14 lakh (1.4 million) tube-wells for which the farmers are receiving free electricity. So, even though canal water is better for crops than groundwater, not surprisingly, farmers have been switching over from canal to groundwater. Also, drains from the canals to the fields have been neglected and are blocked with weeds and the farmers find it easier to use tube-wells.
SEE ALSO: FINAL ASSAULT, a controversial and fact-driven documentary about the water crisis in Punjab.
The underground water level fell by about 10 meters (33 feet) between June 1984 and June 2016. More recently, in many areas it is going down by as much as 2 meters (over 6 feet) each year.
According to Dr Virk, “The worst part of the Picture remains untold. Due to over-exploitation of groundwater, the presence of Uranium in Malwa belt; Arsenic in Majha belt and Selenium in Doaba belt have reached dangerous levels much beyond World Health Organisation limit.” Due to the presence of heavy metals in the groundwater, he had cautioned the government about the spread of cancer type of diseases. Despite such dire warnings by experts no resolute action has been taken by the central or state authorities to save Punjab.
According to one farmer, “ There is no check on wastage and contamination of the groundwater due to industries. The provision of penalty for washing cars in households and other wastage checks remain on paper. The seepage of toxic leachate into groundwater near garbage dump yards is a grave area of concern.”
Misguided pricing and marketing mechanisms and the diversion of river waters away from Panjab are related issues. All share the blame for the pending disaster in Punjab: the farmers on the one hand and the state and central government agencies on the other. Yet, we need to bear in mind that the overall agricultural policy has always been in the hands of the state and central administrations. It was enforced in the marketing area when it suited the government.
There is always hope that survival sense will prevail and Panjab saved from the brink of disaster.
Gurmukh Singh OBE, a retired UK senior civil servant, chairs the Advisory Board of The Sikh Missionary Society UK. Email: sewauk2005@yahoo.co.uk
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
KIRTAN | NEW RELEASE: An ongoing attempt to heal through music….Music and Oneness abounds despite the spreading pandemic related to Covid-19. I am recording some simple tracks while we are quarantined in California. This album will be my humble attempt to make love proximate, even as we are all physically distant due to the concerns of spreading of the virus. I believe this album will provide strength, peace and joy at a time when grief, fear and uncertainty has gripped the world. The making of the album will be public and I encourage musicians and singers to contribute if they want to this project … or just play and sing along for fun!
This shabad is about Guru Harkrishan, the eighth Guru.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
A respected kirtani is denied cremation in a village near the hospital in Punjab, India, where he passed away due to the novel coronavirus. Surprised?
Well, probably not. We have stupid people all around. This stupidity is driven by fear and ignorance. We have them amongst Sikhs as we have them amongst people of the other faiths, and those professing no faith in God. Stupidity and fear pretty much reigns across the board and governs many things we do.
Bhai Nirmal Singh, a famous and respected raagi, died on Thursday (2 April) of a heart attack. He had tested positive for Covid-19 the day before. He was admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) in Amritsar. To avoid further contamination, it is accepted procedure to have Covid-19 victims to be cremated at the nearest crematorium. That would have been at Verka, just 7km from the hospital. But the people of the village had denied his family access to the local crematorium. In the end, they had to cremate the remains of the 67-year old former hazoori ragi of Darbar Sahib elsewhere.
Imagine that. A well-known figure dies and the people of Punjab could not give him a proper and fit cremation. What made the people of the village behave in that fashion? It’s probably unfounded fears fueled by ignorance.
The world is gripped with fear and anxiety of the infectious disease caused by this new virus. We have every reason to be on our guards. The disease causes respiratory illness with symptoms such as a cough and fever. In more severe cases, people have difficulty breathing. We need to understand it and we take appropriate measures.
The villagers are not alone. Some 3,600 km to the west, families in Baghdad are facing a similar conundrum. For over a week, cemeteries across Iraq had refused to allow burial of an elderly man who had died of the virus, according to an AFP news report released three days ago. Fearing the respiratory illness could somehow spread from the corpses to nearby population centres, Iraqi religious authorities, tribes and townspeople have sent the bodies of Covid-19 victims back to hospital morgues, where they are piling up, the report added.
In Mumbai, another run around. A man who died after struggling from Covid-19 infection was denied burial at a Muslim cemetery. Eventually, he was cremated at a Hindu crematorium.
There is every reason, medically, to be cautious when handling the remains of a Covid-19 victim. While health authorities say the virus cannot be transmitted posthumously, it has been reported that it can still survive on clothes for a few hours. In Italy, this meant that corpses were sealed away immediately.
There is a need for an SOP on how handle the remains. If they have not done so already, Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) should produce a guide for families on how to do so.
Precautionary steps driven by sound science is fine. But Ragi Nirmal’s family was probably shunned by the community out of fear, and fear alone.
Here, too, they are not alone. Fear plays out in all of us in different ways. Guru Nanak presented Sikhi to help us rise above unfounded fears. We are not talking about fearing snakes, needles, storms or fire.
Let us not be quick to judge the people of the village. We carry our own set of fears. We have people who fear continuing a journey should a black cat cross their path. We fear taking a hair bath on certain days. We fear making mistakes when reading Gurbani. We fear questioning people who go around in the name of God and Guru. We fear making changes to the way things are done. We fear the consequences if we don’t obey some ‘baba’s’ orders to do such and such thing. The list goes on.
In the ignorance-driven fear, the villagers have denied Bhai Nirmal Singh the send-off that he deserves. Not that it will make a difference to him. But it reflects the hold of fear upon us all.
(Note: Article was edited for clarity)
Hb Singh is a Kuala Lumpur-based journalist with some experience in dealing with Sikh organisations, both from within and outside.
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Fauja Singh personifies the indomitable spirit of the human. The oldest marathon runner turned 109 years-old on Wednesday (1 April).
Contemporary artists The Singh Twins shared on their Facebok page a wonderful illustration of Fauja. “Here We pay tribute to him in our artwork ‘EnTWINed’ (commissioned by and on display at Museum of London),” said the twins who has been cited as representing ‘the artistic face of Britain’.
Fauja also recently made it into the children’s illustrated book. He is on the cover of ‘Fauja Singh Keeps Running‘ that recently hit the market. Enjoy!
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Hb Singh is a Kuala Lumpur-based journalist with some experience in dealing with Sikh organisations, both from within and outside. 
