It’s been almost two weeks now since Justin Trudeau lit that fire over the Nijjar killing. What should be the next steps from the Modi government now? Let’s divide this into two planes.
On one, the Modi government should press on as now. On the other, it would be wise to declare truce, call “troops” to the barracks and not risk adding spark and fuel to what is a long-dead fire.
The first is the response to international questioning and criticism, by Canada and allies. This the diplomats led by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar are handling more than adequately. They should continue to do so. It helps, of course, that there is near unanimity in Indian public opinion. The political class has also closed ranks in the larger national interest.
On the second plane is the response at home. Or, more specifically, in Punjab. It has come in the form of raids on exiled (mostly to Canada) gangsters’ and separatists’/terrorists’ connections and seizure of their assets. That’s where our call to declare a truce and call troops back to the barracks might raise eyebrows.
We are, in fact, going a step further in even suggesting that the government and the BJP pipe down on propaganda in domestic media, especially the warrior TV channels, and social media.
Just because Trudeau in his juvenility has declared war on the Modi government, it is no reason for India to launch hostilities with their own people in Punjab.
A reasonable question would follow: if these are really such bad guys — and they indeed are — how does it help India’s cause to go soft on them? The argument goes: Trudeau has given us an opening; we have been complacent for too long, so, might as well finish the problem once and for all.
A counter-question could be: so, what is the problem?
A man we charge with engineering organised terror hits in our Punjab was killed in Canada in June. We shed no tears for him. Good riddance, would be more like the Indian response if diplomatic hypocrisies (read niceties) didn’t come in the way.
Also Read: Punjab’s Sikhs have 99 problems but Khalistan ain’t one. They’re very proud Indians, but angry
The question is, why should this crackdown in Punjab come now – 15 weeks after his killing, if not merely in reaction to Trudeau’s provocation. However irritating Trudeau’s charge might have been, it hasn’t suddenly made us realise that a problem has festered in the remnants of radical Sikh politics in Punjab.
The only time it looked like a real threat was rising in Punjab, and that separatism had found a new radical preacher with mass following, that a Bhindranwale lookalike of sorts had risen, the state acted.
Amritpal Singh had descended on Punjab from Dubai in somewhat mysterious circumstances and was attracting droves to hear him speak fully in the Bhindranwale metaphor, but with one difference.
Bhindranwale never used the expression ‘Khalistan’, never gave a call for it. Amritpal wouldn’t complete any conversation without it.
The government let the crisis fester and was only jolted into action once this new “main bhi” (me too) Bhindranwale had stormed a police station and freed his henchman detained there. We have taken note of this inaction in National Interest columns as well, especially this one.
It was widely believed — and, perhaps, correctly — that the governments were hesitant to take strong action as Amritpal’s popularity on the ground seemed real. Did they really want to arrest him, risk violence, and then, the return of something like a Bhindranwale-phase sequel?
Finally, in April this year, the central and the state governments had had enough. They moved in tandem, arrested Amritpal and his core team after several weeks of chase. Amritpal and his men are now locked up in distant jails. Many of them, including Amritpal, are in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh jail. It didn’t result in any violence or mass protests – not even a whimper.
It was as if the people of Punjab were silently sighing in relief. The Amritpal episode briefly created concerns, but in the end, these were buried.
The lack of reaction to his arrest proved yet again that the talk of his mass popularity was just that: talk. It reaffirmed the belief that the Sikhs have no nostalgia for the malevolent decade of 1983-93.
If in that bloodied decade it was the Punjabis — mostly Sikhs — themselves who defeated separatism and terror, even now they were the bulwark against its return. We must stop being paranoid.
That is the only fact on the ground that matters. Anything that happens in Canada, anything that a Trudeau says or a Gurpatwant Singh Pannun brags about doesn’t matter. And if there are no demons on the ground in Punjab, who have we launched a war on?
And if they exist, why not earlier? Or why can’t it be done in the course of time? What’s the haste, the desperation for headlines, a dozen prime time “debates” every evening tossing around the K-word? Why are we intent on rebuilding a brand that’s faded away.
As we argued last week, there is no Khalistan sentiment in Punjab. Zero. Brampton is not in Punjab. The more we talk about it, the more we attack it, the more we risk raising a long-buried ghost. What’s worse – the loosely used epithets such as terrorist, extremist and anti-national will be seen by the Sikhs as nasty, insulting and provocative trolling. It will put some backs up.
We need to understand the risks. Policy should always be run by politicians, never by the police. The cops can help a national political objective. But once you leave such a sensitive old issue to the police and intelligence people, they act from muscle memory.
So do the recipients of their “attention”. And know that in a police excess, an innocent may be victimised, even the family members of really bad guys (likely those based in Canada) may be unfairly targeted. That can then spark another cycle of anger and revenge. We’ve seen this play out before. It will be silly to get carried away, and cede Punjab to the same people and institutions who fought a full-blown insurgency before. There is no such thing to fight right now.
Also Read: Punjab’s in 2-decade stall. Lift the kohrra, or people want out
To be called a bleeding-heart liberal or peacenik isn’t such a good thing these days. It would also seem counter-intuitive if you’ve been following my writings on these issues. That’s why we have argued our case in some detail.
First of all, gangsters in Punjab, the nexus of drug smuggling, gun-running, extortion, complicity with stars of the popular culture (mostly Punjabi music) and targeted terrorist killings are an ongoing and familiar phenomenon. It has to be tackled all the time, as organised crime, not a separatist insurgency. The risk now is a state gone into overdrive, provoked by Trudeau.
Much of this flurry of action is to make a point to Trudeau and his supporters, to remind them that there is indeed a problem for India to fight in Punjab and that its fountainhead lies in Canada. We are not saying be kind and forgiving to the really bad guys. Just deal with them as you would in the normal course. Not like today, because nothing new and threatening has happened on the ground in Punjab, nor is anything likely to.
There is no point or counterpoint to be made to Trudeau. India is too big and experienced to let a declining leader of a distant nation of three and a half crore, just about the population of our Punjab, knee-jerk us into unleashing action and forces that could amount to painting the devil on the wall. That’s why we dared to suggest that it is vital to call troops back to the barracks, and declare a quiet truce in the warrior media.
Also Read: Four reasons the Sikhs are hurting. And it’s not about the K-word