Latest developments - with 20 updates. Friday 12th Feb : Be Informed, Be Active
1. Nihang Singh Baba Kashmir Singh Ji has passed away at the morcha in Singhu border. Baba Ji was responsible for langar Sewa and been carrying this Sewa at the morcha since December 2020.
2. Due to international pressure, bail has been granted to 80 year old farmer Gurmukh Singh and 70 year old Jeet Singh. Both served in Indian army in the Indo Pak war, but as veterans they have been shown no respect, instead tortured at Tihar Jail. DSGPC lawyers helped them. They will be released tomorrow due to paperwork issues.
3. Nodeep has been granted bail in one out of the three FIR’s on her. She has got bail on FIR from dec 2020, another FIR number 25 was earlier rejected by court. DSGMC will submit bail petition on remaining two FIR’s as well to free Nodeep.
4. An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Tajikistan on Friday night, sending tremors in Delhi-NCR, Jammu, Uttarakhand, Lahore and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
5. A sikh at the morcha has been repairing the shoes of the street children for free.
6. Farm leaders know 50% of India’s population work in agriculture. Many are too poor to come to Delhi, do more Maha Panchayats are being scheduled.
7. Another massive Maha Panchayat today. This policy of going to the regions allows farm leaders to educate snd motivate the population.
8. Farm leader Rikesh Tikait attended a massive #Mahapanchayat at Bahadurgarh today, he said that “We will march nation-wide, go to Gujarat & set it free. It's controlled by Centre. India is free but people of Gujerat are imprisoned. If they want to join the movement, they are jailed.”
9. Farmer Suicides are a big issue in Indian agriculture that govt is steering clear off with its eye wash policies. Implementation of Swaminathan report will relieve the stress on farmers but govt is adamant on taking away the basic safety net of MSP as well. Farmer named Ajeb Singh (55) took his life by jumping in a canal in Haryao village of Punjab.The farmer owed 15lacs to two banks that he had taken for tractor & seeds in 2018-19. His son Kuldeep Singh said that family owns 2.8acre of land & is lost land from 3.2 acres due to debt. It is important to understand that farmers anywhere in india are not subsidised enough that govt can take away the safety net of MSP unless the prices of pesticides, seeds, machinery are regulated. No Kisan credit card can save the lives. Kisan credit card is death warrant. (Amaan)
10. Dr Vandana Shiva tweeted, “The #GreenRevolution was the reason for #farmersprotests in Punjab in 1984. It continues to be the context for the protests in India today. It increased rice & wheat but destroyed our soil & water -millets, oilseeds , pulses & rich biodiversity of crops.”
11. Labour MP Claudia Webbe has received horrific abuse on Twitter for standing in solidarity with Indian farmers, who are protesting against a new law that would see their incomes ravaged by big business. Some of the responses read: “Ugly N***** wydling,” “Black bitch,” “Keep you [sic] f*cking nose out of my country” and “I stand with chimps.”London deputy mayor Rajesh Agrawal also tweeted criticism of Ms Webbe’s support, which he deleted after The Skwawkbox approached the mayor’s office for comment, according to the online publication. Appalling behavior from the London Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal.
12. The Indian government is cracking down on independent media, such as NewsClick, amid massive protests against highly contested agricultural laws. "The main idea of doing this is to send a warning .. to say that you guys are not immune," says @PSainath_org.
13. Time magazine article - The Farmers' Protests Are a Turning Point for India's Democracy—and the World Can No Longer Ignore That.
14. After Simranjeet Singh article in Meena Harris tweeted, ““This is not just India’s fight. In a world grappling with rising authoritarianism, propaganda, human rights abuses, and anti-democratic practices, quashing right-wing nationalism is in everyone’s best interest.”
15. The Guardian article - Roaring crowds, roti and Rihanna: the view from a Delhi farm protest camp. As rhetoric rises on both sides, Indian farmers at the Singhu camp say they are going nowhere.
16. UK BJP supporters start an online petition against Sikhs supporting farmers. The petition asks for their OCI cards to be removed so they cannot visit Punjab and their loved ones.
17. *Annihilation of Caste* is a new discussion series from the Panth-Punjab Project featuring Bahujan thinkers and activists from across the subcontinent.Register for the first session with Gurdeep Singh, president of the Ambedkar Students Association (Punjab University).
18. Canadian NHL match player has a picture supporting farmers protest.
19. A Godhi media outlet tried to take a shot at @BaazNewsOrg by saying they appear too well "organized" and "funded". BJP struggle with farmers and sikhs being educated and capable of presenting a truthful counter narrative to their dirty propoganda.
20. Many sikhs in UK are waking up to the bias reporting in the BBC. The responses people are receiving to complaints submitted to BBC about the reporting of Farmers but Geeta shows no acknowledgement of concerns if those complaining. Many were upset that infamous India today reporter Lovleena Tandon was in the reporting. She is well known in Uk for hate reporting in sikhs. One particular incident where she complained to Charity Commission about Singh Sabha Gurdwara Slough having a Khalistan sign. This gurdwara has had that sign since 1984, like many western Gurdwaras. It’s the choice of the Sangat what signs they put in Gurdwara, not the choice of Mrs Tandon and Indian Government. Sikhs in UK question how BBC is maintaining neutrality, when it’s allows right wing reporters like her to drip-feed untrue references to “Sikh extremism” on BBC when there is none, but no discussion on fascism of BJP and Modi with so much evidence of it. Very poor from BBC, especially Geeta Gurmurthy who allowed such bias reporting.
