Ekta Punjab

Ekta Punjab Breakdown of Punjab issues in black and white.

For 25 minutes, the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh spoke and, while avoiding certain topics, rambled against M...
28/03/2023

For 25 minutes, the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh spoke and, while avoiding certain topics, rambled against Muslims, Christians, a one-sided media, and abuse of police power. He issued the following demands:

- All the innocent detained by police should be released within 24 hours.

- Confiscated vehicles should be released to their owners.

- Officers responsible for confiscating and damaging those vehicles should be made to answer for their actions in court.

- Media channels that are slandering the image and character of Sikhs should be brought to court.
-The Indian government should stop calling us terrorists.

- The practice of black laws (draconian laws such as UAPA and NSA) to arrest our youth should be stopped. Or it should be applied equally to those who ask for a Hindu Rashtra.

- The government should uncensor all social media accounts that have been censored/blocked.

He issued the following warning:
If the detained innocents are not released within 24 hours, we will start a Vaheer to let the world know Punjab’s high rates of unemployment, drug epidemic, and changing demographic while doing Amrit Sanchar and spreading the Sikh faith. And we will carry this message not just through Punjab but across India and the world.

Other important things to note in the speech:

- The Jathedar spoke repeatedly that the Sikh response should be a diplomatic response, not a slogan filled protest that goes on for months and years. It is important to note, the last major defeat of the Indian state was a Sikh led farmer protest that continued for over a year.

- The name Amritpal Singh was noticeably avoided. This is unusual since the police operation started with the objective of his arrest. His name was only casually mentioned twice by the Jathedar - once when describing a billboard in Mumbai, and second when the Jathedar was complaining about the media.

- When the Jathedar mentioned that black laws should be applied equally to everyone, an audience member led a series of jakaray. The jakara Raj Karega Khalsa was noticeably avoided.

The Jathedar is appointed by the SGPC, which is controlled by Akali Dal (Badal).

Earlier this year, Facebook and Google invested over $10 billion USD into Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of the Reliance co...
11/12/2020

Earlier this year, Facebook and Google invested over $10 billion USD into Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of the Reliance company controlled by Mukesh Ambani. Valued at over $60 billion USD, Jio Platforms hopes to dominate the digital space – including streaming shows, retail, banking, groceries, and, most recently, farming.

On February 4, Jio Platforms launched JioKrishi – the app for farmers. While being marketed as a way to help farmers maximize harvest & minimize losses, more likely JioKrishi will aggregate data from farms all over the country and provide real time insights to Reliance about crop yields. Ultimately, this access and data gives Reliance an advantage in pricing and buying crops directly from the farmer through the JioKrishi app. Reliance can then supply its over 11,000 stores that sells groceries, or store crops for sale at a later date, or export crops for higher prices on the international market.

The new farm bills seem to have taken JioKrishi into consideration, as they reference the term “electronic trading platform” almost 20 times but provide little regulation for it – simply saying they should follow “fair trade practices.”

The farm bills create a clear path for JioKrishi to scale into the farming sector, and the funding from Facebook and Google helps. Together, the two companies own nearly 20% of Jio Platforms.

The investment with politically connected Reliance was especially strategic for Facebook, who has been struggling for years to get WhatsApp payments past India's regulatory hurdles. But just two months after making the investment in Jio Platforms, Facebook received notification that WhatsApp payments was compliant with regulations on June 5.

Conveniently, the three farm bills became ordinances the same day – June 5.

JioKrishi integrates heavily with WhatsApp payments as the primary method of communicating and facilitating payments with farmers, giving Facebook an immediate foothold in a market worth billions (USD).

The funding and tech from Facebook & Google will help Reliance create a platform perfectly structured for an unregulated sector to exploit a vulnerable population – farmers.


pc: unknown/PTI

For over two months, trains in Punjab were shut down as a result of the ongoing farmer protests. Passengers needing to t...
10/12/2020

For over two months, trains in Punjab were shut down as a result of the ongoing farmer protests. Passengers needing to travel within the state switched over to private buses, and bus companies responded with a nearly 70% increase in fares.

The busing industry in Punjab has been dominated for the past decade by the family of politician and former chief minister Parkash S. Badal. The family has ownership of over 60% of the private bus companies in the state. Together, the companies make an estimated annual revenue over $30 million US dollars. The family's political connections have helped them grow their busing empire by extending route permits and creating favorable bus schedules at the expense of state-run bus companies.

These bus companies found a market opportunity when farmers, in an effort to bring attention to three farm bills deregulating the agriculture industry, began blocking railways.

Multiple organizations and personalities have come out in support of the famers and have provided them with services and supplies to manage the winter months. Of note, Khalsa Aid has been providing langar seva to thousands in multiple protest sites. Sarbat da Bhala has donated multiple ambulances and thousands of blankets, jackets, and sleepers. They have also sent 18 medical doctors to service any health issues that protestors may have. Singer Diljit Dosanjh donated nearly $150,000 US dollars for blankets and other supplies. Other personalities such as Kanwar Sandhu, Harf Cheema, Deep Sidhu, Ranjit Bawa, Harbhajan Mann and Amrit Mann have been active helping at protest sites and raising awareness on social media.

However, with the protest shutting trains down, Badal owned bus companies almost doubled bus fares, profiting millions (in USD) in additional revenue. With families fighting for their survival at the farmer protest while struggling to manage day to day expenses at home, the additional financial burden has only made life more difficult.


pc: unknown

Kapil Mishra, in a letter to the President of India, called for government intervention for a “concrete and decisive” en...
10/12/2020

Kapil Mishra, in a letter to the President of India, called for government intervention for a “concrete and decisive” end to the farmer protest because Delhi was being “held hostage” by the protestors. Mishra's previous involvement in peaceful protests has ended in violence.

In contrast to Mishra's statement, the city seems to have embraced the farmers. The peaceful farmers are letting all emergency vehicles pass through the protest unhindered. Furthermore, in solidarity with the protestors, taxi and transport companies located in Delhi have offered their support by threatening to strike if the farmer demands are not met. Other businesses and local residents are providing the protesters a variety of supplies and services for their continued stay in the capital city.

This is not the first time Mishra has involved himself in a peaceful protest. Earlier this year, on February 23, Mishra convened a pro-government rally down the street from a peaceful group of 500 women protesting government legislation that risked the disenfranchisement of millions of Indian Muslims. (Citizenship Amendment Act)

Following his speech, mobs of extremist Hindus killed innocent civilians in the streets for seven days. The violence occurred in the poor and majority Muslim neighborhoods of Yamuna Paar in northeast Delhi. Common methods of violence included the beating and burning of people alive.

Thirty-year-old Musharraf was dragged out of his house and into the street. They beat him, even as his 11-year-old daughter Kushi fell to the mob's feet and begged them to stop. They killed him and threw his body in the gutter.

All that remained of fifty-eight-year-old Anwer Qassar's was a charred leg, who was shot and set on fire. Gulshan, Qassar's daughter, had to get a DNA test to confirm whether the burnt and unidentifiable body was actually her father.

The Delhi Minorities Commission reported that the violence was “one sided and well planned”, resulting in 53 deaths and hundreds more injured.

Mishra's attempt to manufacture sentiment against the farmer protest is sparking fears of similar violence by militant Hindu organizations against the peaceful farmers.

Paul Mudahar
pc: unknown

On December 4, law student Rishabh Sharma filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with the Supreme Court against the cu...
10/12/2020

On December 4, law student Rishabh Sharma filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with the Supreme Court against the current farmer protest. Sharma sought “immediate removal” of the protestors in the 40-page writ, saying the protest was intruding public movement and was a covid-19 health risk.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court created a precedent with a ruling on the Shaheen Bagh protest took place in Delhi. The court stated that “public ways and public spaces cannot be occupied in such a manner and that too indefinitely." It has also said that protests need to be only in “designated places.” The Shaheen Bagh protest was also blocking a major highway.

At the same time, government officials failed to show any level of urgency to resolve the issues brought up by the protesting farmers. Despite this being the fifth round of talks over the past nine days, Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash were unprepared and had no concrete proposal ready for the farmers.

At the end of the four-hour meeting, the ministers requested the next meeting not be held until December 9 – a disturbing 4 days later. Union leaders suspect government officials are stretching talks in an effort to quell the growing momentum of the protest and wait for a favorable Supreme Court ruling.

If the Supreme Court rules that the protest be moved to a government appointed designated area, the state could exercise physical force against the peaceful protestors in enforcing the ruling.

Furthermore, the ongoing stall tactics could be an effort by the government to wait for a covid-19 outbreak, which would strengthen the government's case for removal. They could point to the protest as a public health risk and therefore necessary to disband.

This PIL filing could be the first step in the government's effort to end the farmers' protest under the guise of a judicial ruling.

Paul Mudahar
pc: Ravi Choudhary/PTI

Over the past two decades, Indian companies like Reliance have made significant investments in contract farming, storage...
10/12/2020

Over the past two decades, Indian companies like Reliance have made significant investments in contract farming, storage facilities, and retail grocery chains. With the new farm bills now in place, these companies are well positioned to create a seamless supply chain across state lines: buying low, selling high, and exporting crops to locations where prices offer the greatest profit.

Like most other industries in India, only a handful of corporations control the processing and distribution of food to the public. Benefiting from limited competition and no longer hindered by regulatory hurdles, these corporations can now push down prices paid to farmers and increase prices in the grocery aisle to the consumer.

In contrast to these massive but few buyers of produce, the farming sector is significantly fragmented with small farmers. Seventy percent of farmers have less than 2.5 acres of land. Despite 70% of India's population relying on an income from agriculture, the industry has suffered from years of poor government policies and political corruption. As a result, these overlooked farmers have been crippled by debt and su***de.

Farmers in Punjab have been protesting the farm bills for months, eventually marching on New Delhi on November 26 in an effort to open a dialogue with the union government. Farmers from Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Utter Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat have joined the protest site in New Delhi, which has now swelled into the hundreds of thousands.

The farmers dissidence of the farm bills remains the last hurdle in the corporate takeover of the food supply.

Paul Mudahar
pc: Altaf Qadri/AP

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