Today SFS discussed "The Politics of State Repression and Current Situation in Punjab". Participants condemned state brutalities, detention, mass arrests of Sikh youths, suspension of rule of law, application of NSA, banning, arrests, false cases and harassment of Punjabi journalists and sabotaging of remnant democracy in Punjab. It was argued that both the Central government and Punjab government for electoral gains are committing inhumane atrocities and diminishing remnant democracy by negating the rule of law and by resorting to the draconian National Security Act (NSA) to coagulate the majority religious vote bank.
The Indian state, its various organs and its lackey media have been treating the nascent reactions of the Sikh minority as a law and order problem and portraying it as a threat to "national integrity".
Denial of justice of 1984 Genocide, Bargari sacrilege, Behbal kalan sacrilege case, assimilating article 25 of the Constitution, interference and control of the central government in the management of SGPC and other matters concerning Sikhs, the release of Sikh political prisoners who have completed their punishment and continuous implication of Sikhs in false cases continue to alienate the Sikhs.
Furthermore, unemployment, drug issue, mass migration, farmer suicides, indebted of farmers and agricultural labourers, depleting groundwater table and its contamination due to excessive use of pesticides, exploitative water sharing formula, issues of Chandigarh, Punjabi speaking areas, lack of political autonomy, imposition of three linguistic formula, issues BBMB, debt-ridden Punjab economy, lack of need-based labour intensive industries among other issues are plaguing Punjab's political economy.
Instead of addressing the socio-economic and political demands of Punjab and Sikh minorities' issues, the Indian State and its lackey media are demonising the Sikh community and Punjab and in doing so it is also snatching remnants of state powers and further pushing these states into deep economic and political turmoil.
In the discussion, participants condemned all religious fundamentalism. But it importantly differentiated between State-backed fundamentalism and minorities fundamentalism. It was argued that the Indian state is using all its paraphernalia to give impunity to majority fundamentalism to further alienate minorities. It was affirmatively asserted that all religious fundamentalisms can not solve the socio-economic and political problems of the people. None have a socioeconomic and political model which can liberate people from the clutches of exploitative neoliberal economic policies Therefore, people all exploited, oppressed and discriminated sections of our society cutting across caste, religion and other identities must be united on class lines and real issues such as the perennial crisis of unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, access to education, health and intermittent economic crises. Such polarisation on class lines against centralisation, corporatisation, and communalism will materially help all of us.
In the end, it was agreed upon that despite differences in political opinions, we must condemn State Repression and the application of draconian NSA and continuous arrests and harassment of Sikhs and journalists.
