The Panth and Punjab Need Thinkers, Not Cockroaches

The Panth and Punjab do not need any external revolution; our problems are internal. We lack a Panthic leadership that understands the pain of the Panth and Punjab, as well as the solutions. We need thinkers, not cockroaches. But we must empower those young people who have stood up for the Panth and Punjab from time to time.

Today, I will not speak only about the present, nor will I take my thoughts too far back into the past. I want to draw attention to those young people, the Gen Z, who stood against the act of imitating the attire of the Sikh Gurus. Those young minds stood firm during the hunger strikes of Bhai Gurbaksh Singh Ji and Bapu Surat Singh Ji for the release of Sikh political prisoners. Those young minds stood against the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in Bargari. Those young people came forward through every difficulty for Sarbat Khalsa 2015. Those young people remained at the forefront of the Bargari Morcha. Those same young people stood up for the rights of farmers.

The awakened youth of the Panth and Punjab do not need any cockroach revolution. Our youth are already awake and aware. They only need the right leadership and political power, not only in the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections but also in the SGPC elections.

Today, when some young people in India have brought forward the idea of a Cockroach Janta Party because of the NEET paper leak and the statements of a senior judge about journalists and activists, and when people are viewing it as a Gen Z revolution, I only want to say this: our Panth- and Punjab-centered young minds have already seen so many smokescreens that such things no longer affect them.

We, as young people, have already contributed. Now it is the turn of the common people, the voters, to bring good young leaders into power through the democratic electoral process. Our issues are very different from others and have been pending for a long time. We need strong Panth- and Punjab-centered political voices. We need Panthic unity and mature leadership.

Our struggle is for our institutions, our identity and dignity, equality and peace, better development, and protection. We are in a long struggle. We do not only feel this today; we already know that we must bring change to the political field of the Panth and Punjab.

We are not cockroaches. We are the arms and eyes of the Panth and Punjab, and we proved our strength in the recent farmers’ movement.

Even if we speak in terms of the spirit or symbolism of animals, we are grateful to the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who blessed us with words such as Singh, Bhujang, and Nihang in this sense.

Singh means lion, Bhujang means serpent, and Nihang means crocodile.

We are not cockroaches, and we should never want to become cockroaches.

I have one question, dear cockroaches: I did not see any major reaction when farmers struggled for two years. I did not see any widespread outrage when minorities faced violence, leaving aside the past, or when women of a particular faith were targeted in schools for covering their heads. I did not see public outrage when hate speech against a particular community spread and continued. Apart from this, I did not see any special reaction when bulldozer justice was carried out.

I extend my best wishes to those who are protesting now, but I must strongly say that their concerns and our collective wounds are not comparable in scale.

Angad Singh Khalsa