web-dark punjab

It is disturbing that during the police search for separatist leader Amritpal Singh, it was thought best to shut down mobile internet in Punjab. It is clear that the demand for a Sikh state should not find listeners. A return to the turmoil of the 1980s will only lead to misery. A large crowd mobilized by Singh last month to defy law enforcers may have sparked fears of greater solidarity with him. Singh had argued, “If one can talk about a Hindu Rashtra and raise slogans for it, if communists aspire to form a communist state,” why have the peaceful aspirations of Khalistan been criminalised? For one, that mob was armed; It stormed a police station and interfered with law enforcement. For another, nationalism based on religion – which should play a private and not a public role – is an inappropriate concept: it is likely to be fragile and radical. The important thing is that the map of India cannot be redone in blood. National integrity demands that no preference be given to any armed rebellion. Our constitution provides space for diverse aspirations. But the web snap-off was a bad decision for the concern that hoaxed on the news going around. Singh was not arrested. Instead, it was about Punjab and beyond.