Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Crusader-who-has-put-Punjab-govt-in-a-bind/articleshow/27875508.cms
JALANDHAR/KURUKSHETRA:
Another crusader from Haryana has shaken yet another state government. A
farmer from Kurukshetra district, Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, whom
even people from his area didn't know, has left the Badal government
Punjab jittery with his over-a-month-long fast at Mohali since November
14 to seek the release of six Sikh prisoners who have completed their
jail terms.
His stand has won him support from all quarters, including top Punjabi
singers, and has had Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal hasten to
assure that he supports parole for assassins.
Till 40 days back, nobody knew Gurbaksh, a small farmer from Thaintal
village of Kurukshetra. The SAD-BJP government, which initially ignored
Gurbaksh and even sent him to jail after the police picked him up in a
midnight swoop on December 5, is now bending backwards to assure its
support for his cause.
After the authorities opposed the release of three of Sikh convicts even
on parole, Badal is not only advocating their release but has also
fast-tracked the processing of their applications. He has even spoken to
CMs of UP, Karnataka and Gujarat to ensure release of three other
detainees.
A follower of Damdami Taksal, the most influential Sikh seminary that
guided the militant movement in Punjab, Gurbaksh has been convicted in
an arms recovery case and is currently out on bail.
Despite his Taksal moorings, he has stuck to the Gandhian path and
swears by the power of the pen and peaceful agitation. He has already
made it a point not to raise any separatist issue, frustrating some
protagonists of Khalistan.
He made it amply clear on Monday evening. Gurbaksh grabbed a pen from
Dal Khalsa leader Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, who was standing near him,
and held it up before the people and said, "Identify its might, you can
change the government with this. Now the change will come with the pen."
Farmer turned crusader Gurbaksh Singh has stuck to Gandhian methods and
swears by the power of the pen and peaceful agitation. Though Gurbaksh's
grit is akin to that of Maharashtra's Gandhian social reformer Anna
Hazare, the difference lies in the fact that multitudes have come to
lend him support despite the national TV news channels staying away from
his protest.
Not just the political class, even the Sikh clergy has faced heat over
his agitation. Breaking his initial silence on the issue, even Akal
Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and other Sikh high priests have
come out in his support. While hundreds of Sikhs from Haryana are now
visiting Gurbaksh, even those living in Shahbad block of Kurukshetra
were unaware of him intil sometime back. "I have been active in Sikh
politics in Kurukshetra for the past 12 years. I never saw Gurbaksh
taking part in any movement. I always saw him as a simple farmer and man
of few words. He spent most of his time in religious activities," said
Kanwal Jit Singh Ajrana, a Sikh leader who had been associated with
various Sikh bodies.
Persons close to him say he felt anguished by the plight of Sikhs
languishing in jails even after completing their sentences, as he too
was allegedly jailed without any valid reason. Villagers are surprised
at his ability to mobilize thousands in a day.
A veteran Sikh preacher, Giani Sahib Singh Shahbad Markanda, who has
known Gurbaksh for long, said, "I remember how a simple youth like him
was put behind the bars, considering him to be a terrorist. But nothing
was found against him."
Prof Sumel Singh Sidhu, a lecturer of history at Khalsa College, Delhi,
who has been working on social history of Punjab, said Gurbaksh posed a
major moral question to the Punjab government and people of the state
with a well-defined issue and a non-violent protest. "It is a welcome
step, which demonstrates the importance of non-violent method of
agitation," he said. Former Punjab DGP (prisons) Shashi Kant, who is
spearheading a movement against drugs, said, "His hunger strike has
exposed the government, which remains immune to issues of the people and
even basic human rights, and people of Punjab need to support the cause
cutting across community lines."
