Gurdaspur Diary: Of Partap Singh Bajwa, deities and currency notes

Ever since Partap Singh Bajwa became the Leader of Opposition, he has perfected the knack of keeping himself in the spotlight. Rarely does a day pass by when he does not issue a press release. And to be fair to the man, the issues he takes up are genuine. On Thursday, media persons got one such release in which the Qadian MLA took the bull by its horns. He castigated AAP strongman Arvind Kejriwal for saying that photos of Hindu gods and goddesses should be on currency notes. He said Kejriwal’s sole aim was to project himself as a pan-India leader of the Hindu masses. Indeed, there is some logic in Bajwa’s statement. India is a secular country and we should leave it as such. Bajwa has remained a two-time MP and is now into his fourth term as an MLA. While he was in Delhi as Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MP, he served on several parliamentary standing committees. The man is a voracious reader and is well-travelled. Reason enough why no politician worth his salt in the Congress or in the Opposition dare initiate a discussion with him. He knows he will end up on the losing side. While still on Kejri and his Hindu gods’ rant, it is well documented that when the big boss speaks, his near and dear ones often jump to his aid. Punjab Minister for Local Bodies Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar backed his master by citing the example of Indonesian currency notes. He said the Rs 20,000 (Rupiah) denomination Indonesian currency bore the picture of Hindu god Lord Ganesha. He rather conveniently did not tell the world that this particular note had been demonetised way back in 2008. Ever since then, no currency note in Indonesia has the pics of any Indian gods. Dr Nijjar needlessly picked up a ghost. To complicate matters for himself, he failed to substantiate why currency notes should have pics of deities at all. Someone should tell him that whenever you back your boss, add your reason, and logic, for doing so. The doc failed to substantiate his statement. People say rather than having a discussion on gods and goddesses, we must debate the issues of education, health, industry, agriculture, farmers’ debt and job creation. This is apart from having a constructive discussion on the need to have a strong mechanism to deal with drugs flowing from across the international border (IB). Let Bajwa, Dr Nijjar and others of their ilk start talking about how the water table in the land of five rivers is depleting. Let them talk about how to give jobs to the unemployed youth. Let them debate on how to improve the lot of civil hospitals across the state. Let them talk about how to bring government schools at par with private educational institutes. And, finally, let them speak about how to develop a scientific temper, as envisaged in Article 51 A (H) of the Indian Constitution, among the masses whose literacy rate is among the lowest in the world. As for Bajwa, let us wish him all the best for picking up genuine faults in the government every now and then. For if he does not do so, there is always the possibility of the government riding roughshod over ordinary mortals like us. If Bajwa is the government’s Achilles’ heel, so be it. He has proved that he is a man of action. And men of action are always favoured by the Goddess of Luck!

Not much footfall at Kartarpur corridor

Things at the much vaunted Kartarpur corridor are not picking up at all. When the project was conceptualised in 2018, both the Indian and Pakistani governments, fearing a huge rush, had ordered that not more than 5,000 people will be allowed to cross over daily. As things stand, the daily figure rarely crosses 150. Immigration and security experts say the main reason for Baba Nanak’s devotees to stay away is the fact that the passport details get uploaded on the international immigration software. People fear that once the details are uploaded, other countries, particularly those in the Western hemisphere, will not grant them a visa. The other reason being attributed to the low turnout is the requirement of having a passport if one wants to travel. Now, in rural Punjab, 70 per cent of the villagers do not have a passport. That automatically bars them from paying obeisance at Darbar Sahib shrine in Pakistan. Till these two pre-conditions are given a waiver, the number of pilgrims crossing over will continue to remain on the lower side.

Contributed By Ravi Dhaliwal