Why alarm bells are ringing in Punjab over Deep Sidhu and Lakha Sidhana’s growing support base

The two have emerged from the farmers’ agitations and are known to harbour extremist views. With the protests prolonging, police fear the duo are gaining a following in Punjab.

File photo of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu | Facebook

Chandigarh: As the farmers’ agitation on Delhi borders entered its 100th Saturday, security agencies in Punjab are closely watching actor–turned–activist Deep Sidhu and former gangster Lakha Sidhana who, they believe, are gaining popularity among a section of the youth. 

Their big fear is that Sidhu and Sidhana may exploit growing anger among the youth due to the protracted farmers’ agitation. 

Following the 26 January incidents of violence in Delhi and hoisting of Khalsa flag at the Red Fort during farmers’ tractor rally, farmer unions had distanced themselves from the two, blaming them for tarnishing the protests. 

The Delhi Police is investigating possible links between Sidhu and Sidhana, and have booked the two for the violence that broke out at Red Fort on Republic Day. 

While Sidhu was arrested from Karnal on 9 February, Sidhana is yet to be detained. 

Though wanted by the police, he spoke at a rally in Bathinda last week, which was widely covered by the media. 

A large number of the farmers carrying out the protests hail for Punjab. Early on, there were attempts from some right-wing groups and individuals to paint the protesters as Khalistanis with links to separatist elements based abroad. 

More recently, international attention on the protests, sparked by tweets from pop star Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg, gave rise to the ‘toolkit case’, allegedly engineered by separatist interests.

The controversial Sidhu 

Sidhu had raked up a major controversy during the early days of the agitation, after saying that slain militant Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s supporters formed the majority of the farmers participating in the movement. 

In video messages posted on his Facebook page, Sidhu makes no bones about his admiration for Bhindranwale.

In calling for the raising of the Khalsa flag (Sikh religious flag) at the Red Fort, he seemed to be partially carrying out the challenge announced by Sikhs for Justice, a group based in the USA that advocates the cause of the creation of Khalistan. 

The SFJ had in January announced that it would reward $2,50,000 to anyone who raised the Khalistan flag atop the Red Fort on Republic Day. 

Apart from raising the flag, protesters had climbed the ramparts of the Red Fort and clashed with police.

Despite the criticism from supporters of the agitation, Sidhu has managed to gather more followers on social media. 

He now has 546k followers on Facebook and 86.9 k followers on Instagram. 

Sidhana’s criminal antecedents 

Sidhana who has commanded the youth participating in the agitation has had an uncomfortable relationship with the farmer union leaders from the beginning. 

His antecedents as a criminal and his sudden emergence in the movement along with Sidhu led to his rejection by farmer leaders. He has been held responsible for inciting protesters to break barricades and enter Delhi on Republic Day. 

He is supported by a larger section of the youth involved in the protest. His rally at Bathinda on 23 February was organised with the help of the Dal Khalsa, an Amritsar-based Sikh organisation that advocates the creation of Khalistan.  

Kanwarpal Singh, spokesman of the Dal Khalsa, said that while Sidhana’s rally had their support it was not an “official” Dal Khalsa event. 

“Sidhana’s rally was the outcome of pro-farmer and anti-government sentiment,” he said. “Arrests of farmers and activists and witch-hunting of youth added fuel to fire.”

“Sidhana has exerted moral pressure on the current leadership of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (umbrella organisation of farmers) that they should not compromise with the government and settle for anything less than the repeal of the three farm laws,” he added. “In case, the state uses violent brute-force to crush the movement, militancy can resurface in this region. It will be a natural reaction.”

Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a Congress veteran from Majha, the area that had seen the worst of militancy in the 1980s, told ThePrint that the government of India was taking the farmers’ agitation very lightly. 

“It seems the government does not understand the gravity of the situation. This will lead to major economic unrest in the state,” Randhawa said. “It is not a question about the three farm acts alone, it is about the survival of the farmer and the future of farming. When all hope dies, people resort to extreme measures.” 

Former education minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema told ThePrint that while there did not seem to be an immediate threat of the farmers agitation branching out into a more radical movement in Punjab, lingering unrest is open to exploitation by various forces. 

“In any case, it is not good in the long run for any state or country to have a set of people living with a feeling of being wronged or bitter about how they have been treated,” he said.

No support on the ground

Experts, however, say there is hardly a groundswell of support for such radical ideas.

“The Sikh diaspora in the West may want to keep it alive (Khalistani issue) but it’s not the case here. At best, Lakha Sidhana or Deep Sidhu are distractions,” said Bhupinder Brar, former professor of political science, Panjab University.

Noted historian Chaman Lal said larger forces were at work behind the events of 26 January and the subsequent rally organised by Sidhana. “There is absolutely no chance of the farmers’ agitation taking a more radical turn in Punjab,” Lal said. “Though Khalistani forces would like to exploit the movement to their advantage, it is the BJP and the RSS that would want to encourage such a development.”

Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur of the department of political science, DAV College, Chandigarh, said that “in the dynamics of such a movement”, Sidhu and Sidhana represent only “random events”.

“One has to draw the distinction between what Sidhu and Sidhana represent. Sidhu had a clear agenda from day one and after the incident of the Red Fort on 26 January, he is largely seen in Punjab as somebody who ruined the movement,” she said. “His fan base is from a section of the Sikh diaspora that has been trying to push the Khalistani agenda for the past 40 years. Sidhu is their new poster boy.” 

As for Sidhana, he “represents the voice of dissent within the movement”. “His rally shows the beginning of a sense of dissatisfaction with the current leadership of the movement,” Kaur added.

Prof Manjeet Singh, former professor, department of Sociology, Punjab University, said it was too early to say if the farmers’ agitation could branch out into a radical movement in Punjab.

“It is quite natural that during the course of such a movement they will emerge groups or leaders from within the movement who will take a different view of things,” he said. “If such forces are able to shift the focus of the movement, it only benefits the government who is in any case looking for an opportunity to move in and act against the movement.”

Dr Singh further explained that if the government takes a hard line and cracks down on such movements, it only creates more of a radical response, leading to a vicious cycle. 

“A new binary emerges of the state versus the radical element. The more civil liberties are curtailed, the more the radical element justifies its emergence,” he said. “In the end nothing comes out of either the original movement or its radical aspect.”