Monday evening when Prannoy Roy had asked former Punjab DGP, KPS Gill, that how he would have tackled the situation, the super-cop, with a smirk on his face had replied-‘I wouldn’t have let such a situation arise.’ 
Yes, as Punjab boils due to the silliest of reasons, the problem, it is emerging is purely because of unwillingness on part of the state government to tackle the situation with a stern hand as NurMahal by-poll knocks at its door.
How otherwise would you justify Monday’s ‘Bandh’ call given by the ruling party who seems well endowed towards its political obligations rather than constitutional? Ensuring peace and safety of people and their property remains the prime job of any government and if it fails to provide this, it definitely does not augment well on its functioning.
Traversing through the violence effected towns it is apparent that the violence is not directed towards any particular caste, religion or sect. It is not Dalits versus Sikhs as it is being made out to be.
The guys on the streets even don’t know in which country the incident occurred- ‘Bhaji joe Australia wich hoya na, uhde karke’ is the answer they give when asked about the reason behind this mindless carnage.
Majority of them even don’t know the name of the sect head injured in the firing but yet all of them are brandishing swords, iron-clubs, clubs, etc, etc.
So you see it’s all about ‘goondas’ wanting to have a field day using the firing incident in Austria as an alibi and the government letting them have their free will.
Free will to the extent that a group dared to attack the convoy of the Inspector General of Police, Jalandhar Zone. Punjabis known to be subservient to the Khaki take such an extreme step only when they know that the guy in front is simply a paper tiger.
Punjab police, a force that made a reputation for itself for having quelled terrorism has by its political masters been reduced to a state of impotency, struggling to secure even its own self. Whether it itself is to be blamed for its present status, is a separate question.
So what exactly happened in Vienna, Austria?
Apparently the genesis of the problem lies in the fight over Gurudwara offerings which finally catapulted into a gory firing incident.
Vienna that does not have a large Punjabi population only had one small Gurudwara located on Rudolfshein Street. It may be noted that since parts of guru Ravidass’s teachings, who was born in Benares in 1377 AD find place in the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib, dalits who have converted into Sikhism use the Sikh holy book as their holy scripture and are called Ravidasia Sikhs.
The non-sikh dalits also subscribe to the holy granth but only read Guru Ravidass’s or Kabir’s teachings from the Granth.
It was a few months ago that the followers of Ravidass who are also called 'Aadharmis' decided to set up their own Gurudwara. The new Ravidass Gurudwara incidentally is on the same street.
Aadharmis, being an affluent emigrant community, the offerings at the Sikh Gurudwara started dwindling much to the annoyance of hard-line Sikhs who have carried their caste biases along with them to their adopted countries.
The tension reached a flashpoint when Dera Sachkhand head Niranjan Dass was attacked in the Ravidass Gurudwara on grounds that he was not upholding the Maryada of the Guru Granth Sahib.
The hardliners were objecting to the followers of Nirnajan Dass touching his feet in the presence of the Holy Guru Granth, since no one can be supreme than the holy book.
Dwindling finances, caste bias and disrespect for each other’s religious customs ultimately formed a deadly combination and resulted in the firing incident which left two dead, including deputy head of the sect.
Coming back to Punjab- why is it that Punjab’s dalit population is reacting so sharply to something that happened thousands of miles away?
Five of Punjab's districts are under curfew (Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Patiala). Two people have been killed, train bogeys burnt and property worth crores and crores has been destroyed.
The logical explanation being given is that since the sect headquarters are based out of Jalandhar district which is part of the doaba (land between Satluj and Beas) that has about 29% dalit population, a reaction such as this, was imminent.
If it was imminent what was the government doing to take preventive measures?
I’ll tell you what- it was abiding by Kakaji’s and Babaji’s orders who thought it better to let the state go to hell than antagonise a large chunk of voters.
Goons have been once again allowed to set the political agenda for Punjab as Dalit organisations have condemned the carnage.
Yes, as Punjab boils due to the silliest of reasons, the problem, it is emerging is purely because of unwillingness on part of the state government to tackle the situation with a stern hand as NurMahal by-poll knocks at its door.
How otherwise would you justify Monday’s ‘Bandh’ call given by the ruling party who seems well endowed towards its political obligations rather than constitutional? Ensuring peace and safety of people and their property remains the prime job of any government and if it fails to provide this, it definitely does not augment well on its functioning.
Traversing through the violence effected towns it is apparent that the violence is not directed towards any particular caste, religion or sect. It is not Dalits versus Sikhs as it is being made out to be.
The guys on the streets even don’t know in which country the incident occurred- ‘Bhaji joe Australia wich hoya na, uhde karke’ is the answer they give when asked about the reason behind this mindless carnage.
Majority of them even don’t know the name of the sect head injured in the firing but yet all of them are brandishing swords, iron-clubs, clubs, etc, etc.
So you see it’s all about ‘goondas’ wanting to have a field day using the firing incident in Austria as an alibi and the government letting them have their free will.
Free will to the extent that a group dared to attack the convoy of the Inspector General of Police, Jalandhar Zone. Punjabis known to be subservient to the Khaki take such an extreme step only when they know that the guy in front is simply a paper tiger.
Punjab police, a force that made a reputation for itself for having quelled terrorism has by its political masters been reduced to a state of impotency, struggling to secure even its own self. Whether it itself is to be blamed for its present status, is a separate question.
So what exactly happened in Vienna, Austria?
Apparently the genesis of the problem lies in the fight over Gurudwara offerings which finally catapulted into a gory firing incident.
Vienna that does not have a large Punjabi population only had one small Gurudwara located on Rudolfshein Street. It may be noted that since parts of guru Ravidass’s teachings, who was born in Benares in 1377 AD find place in the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib, dalits who have converted into Sikhism use the Sikh holy book as their holy scripture and are called Ravidasia Sikhs.
The non-sikh dalits also subscribe to the holy granth but only read Guru Ravidass’s or Kabir’s teachings from the Granth.
It was a few months ago that the followers of Ravidass who are also called 'Aadharmis' decided to set up their own Gurudwara. The new Ravidass Gurudwara incidentally is on the same street.
Aadharmis, being an affluent emigrant community, the offerings at the Sikh Gurudwara started dwindling much to the annoyance of hard-line Sikhs who have carried their caste biases along with them to their adopted countries.
The tension reached a flashpoint when Dera Sachkhand head Niranjan Dass was attacked in the Ravidass Gurudwara on grounds that he was not upholding the Maryada of the Guru Granth Sahib.
The hardliners were objecting to the followers of Nirnajan Dass touching his feet in the presence of the Holy Guru Granth, since no one can be supreme than the holy book.
Dwindling finances, caste bias and disrespect for each other’s religious customs ultimately formed a deadly combination and resulted in the firing incident which left two dead, including deputy head of the sect.
Coming back to Punjab- why is it that Punjab’s dalit population is reacting so sharply to something that happened thousands of miles away?
Five of Punjab's districts are under curfew (Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Patiala). Two people have been killed, train bogeys burnt and property worth crores and crores has been destroyed.
The logical explanation being given is that since the sect headquarters are based out of Jalandhar district which is part of the doaba (land between Satluj and Beas) that has about 29% dalit population, a reaction such as this, was imminent.
If it was imminent what was the government doing to take preventive measures?
I’ll tell you what- it was abiding by Kakaji’s and Babaji’s orders who thought it better to let the state go to hell than antagonise a large chunk of voters.
Goons have been once again allowed to set the political agenda for Punjab as Dalit organisations have condemned the carnage.
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