It's not just Muslims. If you are a Sikh, your patriotism will
be questioned if you do not toe the line of the Hindutva brigade. Even if you
happen to be a decorated officer of the Indian Army.
Lieutenant
General (retired) Harcharanjit Singh Panag is one of India's most distinguished
army officers. A recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati
Vishisht Seva Medal, he has served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
of the Northern Command as well as the Central Command.
But
in the past few days, right-wing trolls have crossed all limits in insulting
this veteran of the 1971 War. They hurled unspeakable abuses at him and called
for him to be thrashed, lynched and humiliated. Even worse, they called him a
traitor, a terrorist sympathiser and of course, “Khalistani”.
All
this because Lt Gen Panag tweeted that the image of a Kashmiri, tied in front
of a military jeep will "haunt the army forever".
This was an extremely bold statement for a former armyman, that
too one who has had five stints in Jammu and Kashmir and been the head of the
Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command. But it was also typical of Lt Gen
Panag, given his track record as a soldier - he never shied away from speaking
his mind and following his conscience. He is said to have ordered as many as
120 Courts of Inquiry into alleged corruption in the Army. Even last year, he
wrote in favour of autonomy for Kashmir.
What
followed his tweet on Saturday was a barrage of bile, abuse and accusations.
But it wasn't just right-wing trolls but some prominent supporters of the BJP
who targetted Lt Gen Panag.
Among
the first off the block was former Infosys honcho TV Mohandas Pai, who fired a
thread of rhetorical questions at Lt Gen Panag.
A number of officers spoke against the use of a civilian as a
human shield and the complete alienation of Kashmiris from the military. But it
was only Lt Gen Panag who was targetted by the right-wingers. It does seem that
this was partly because of him being a Sikh. This is evident from the fact that
part of the abuse, comprised "Khalistani" barbs. Take these
distasteful tweets for instance:
Some even compared him to Shabeg Singh, the Indian Army Major
General who joined forces with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
It wasn't just Lt Gen Panag, even his family had to face similar
slurs. This is a sample of what his son Sherbir Panag, a Delhi based lawyer,
had to go through.
Unfortunately, the Aviator Anil Chopra, who "liked" a
tweet calling Sherbir a Khalistani, happens to be a retired Air Marshal.
Even
lawyer Navdeep Singh, a former military reservist, who fights cases for the
welfare of soldiers, was abused for supporting Lt Gen Panag.
This
is not the first time in the recent past that Sikhs are being targetted by the
Hindutva brigade in this manner. Recently, Delhi University student Gurmehar
Kaur was hounded on social media and given death and rape threats for speaking
against ABVP's hooliganism. Aam Aadmi Party leaders like HS Phoolka and Jarnail
Singh have also been called Khalistani in the past.
Several Sikhs
observed that the right wing brigade's frequent use of the
"Khalistani" label to target Sikhs, has become a dangerous trend.
They voiced their anguish at Sikhs being branded as traitors
The pattern is
exactly like the manner in which the Hindutva brigade has targetted the Muslim
community. Even in that case it labelled as traitors several prominent Muslims
ranging from Vice-President Hamid Ansari,
to Shah Rukh Khan,
Aamir Khan and Sania Mirza.
The
message for the two communities is clear - you might be a Hamid Ansari or a HS
Panag - no matter how much you have done for the country, you will be labelled
a traitor if you don't submit yourself to the Hindutva Right. Minorities with a
voice and a spine are not allowed.
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