BJP Celebrates Patel’s Birthday as Unity Day on Sikh Genocide Anniversary

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chose to celebrate 31^st Oct as Unity Day without consideration that the date is also the anniversary of the 1984 Sikh genocide; BJP started celebrating when it came to power in 2014 to mark freedom fighter and India's first Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary but this time the function was grand because it was Patel’s 150^th anniversary. After India's independence, Patel had united more than 560 princely states. However, for Panjab, Patel remains a complex character. Patel believed India was primarily a Hindu nation. He was the first to agree to the plan of India's Partition in 1947 and had proposed the transfer of population during the Partition. BJP chose to appropriate an Indian National Congress (INC) leader Patel who agreed to Partition of Panjab and Bengal and celebrate him on a day the Sikhs remember as the beginning of violence on them in 1984 and the gross injustice they have faced in Indian courts since shows the BJP’s arrogance towards both—Panjab and Sikhs. Yet, in Bihar which is going to elections soon the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi invoked the Sikh genocide to discredit INC. Meanwhile, Panjab’s popular singer Daljit alias Diljit Dosanjh appeared on popular television show Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who will be the millionaire?) hosted by film star Amitabh Bachchan to raise funds for the flood hit in Panjab. In the show, Diljit showed respect to Bachchan by touching his feet—a common South Asian manner of greeting elders. However, Diljit has come under attack from various sections of Sikhs because many have accused Bachchan of sloganeering khoon ka badla khoon (blood for blood) after then PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination on 31 Oct 1984. The Sikh genocide followed Gandhi’s death and Bachchan is considered to have abetted it though no proof exists because the state TV channel Doordarshn’s footage has been wiped out. Sikhs for Justice, the Sikh separatist group, has announced they will shut down Diljit’s shows in Australia. Sri Akal Takht Sahib's (Eternal Throne) Jathedar (leader), Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj, said Bachchan remains 'unexonerated' in the eyes of the Sikh community over the 1984 Sikh genocide, as the allegations made against him had never been properly investigated (earlier coverage).

The Indian union government's Ministry of Education issued a notification on 28 Oct under Section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 restructuring Chandigarh-based Panjab University’s two principal governing bodies—Senate and Syndicate. Their appointments will no longer be through elections but through nominations. The Senate and Syndicate of the 142-year-old university—originally established in Lahore in 1882—were constituted on 1 Nov 1966. To increase the say of the Chandigarh Union Territory—long contested capital of Panjab—the Chandigarh Member of Parliament (MP), the Union Territory’s Chief and Education Secretaries have been included as ex-officio members. The Senate, which historically had around 90 members, will now have only 30 members. The Graduate constituency, which was a 16-member body of alumni elected from all over Panjab and nearby, has been completely dissolved. Indian National Congress' Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari, also a lawyer, has argued that the union government does not have the authority to alter the university’s governance structure. He said doing so was 'patently illegal and a legal travesty'. The university students have started protesting and have closed the university gate and office blocks. An additional issue is the university authorities forcing students to sign an affidavit which makes it mandatory for students to seek prior permission to stage a protest. The university authorities have decided to withdraw the affidavit. Panjab University Campus Students' Council general secretary Abhishek Dagar went on a 7-day hunger strike demanding the affidavit be revoked. Meanwhile, Harjinder Singh Dhami has been re-elected as the president of the apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for the fifth consecutive term for the 2025–26 session. In the election held on 3 Nov, a total of 136 votes were polled, out of which Dhami secured 117 votes, while his opponent, Mithu Singh Kahneke, received 17 votes. This shows the breakaway Shiromani Akali Dal does not have enough support from members even in the SGPC (earlier coverage).

Newspapers were not delivered in several parts of Panjab on 1 Nov. The news blackout was reminiscent of the days of ‘Operation Blue Star’ in 1984 when Indian Army attacked Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and March 2023 when police were searching for now Member of Parliament Amritpal Singh and the entire state's internet connection was disconnected. Newspaper agents claimed that the police stopped vehicles carrying newspapers, detained the drivers, and took them to police stations. Cities affected were Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Ahmedgarh, Amritsar, Faridkot, Muktsar, Patiala, and others. Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla said, 'Earlier, I also did not know what was going on. There is some clarity now. There was an intelligence input that some vehicles may have drugs and ammunition. That is why they were checked.' Chandigarh Press Club condemned the police action and called it ‘a direct attack on press freedom’. All India Congress Committee secretary Pargat Singh claimed the Bhagwant Singh Mann government blocked newspaper distribution across the state to prevent news about former Delhi Chief Minister and ruling Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal staying at his Panjab’s home from reaching the public. The Bharatiya Janata Party had recently alleged that an exorbitant amount of money has been spent on Kejriwal's home in Chandigarh and it is Sheesh Mahal 2.0 (Glass Palace). Such allegations of expenses in Delhi were made during Delhi Legislative Assembly elections in February 2025. 'This is not administration, this is a silent emergency being imposed in Punjab. Punjab will not tolerate it,' Pargat wrote on X. Meanwhile, Panjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria has granted sanction to prosecute former Shiromani Akali Dal minister Bikram Singh Majithia in a corruption case filed by the state Vigilance Bureau. The approval, issued under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, follows a 8 Sep recommendation made by the Panjab cabinet. The case accuses Majithia of possessing assets worth over USD 79M allegedly acquired through the laundering of USD 60M linked to a 2013 drug trafficking network (earlier coverage).

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The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF)—earlier known as Special Task Force—has arrested former Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Rachhpal Singh for falsely framing four people in a drug case. The case dates back to 2017 when Rachhpal as AIG had claimed to have seized 1 kg heroin in Amritsar. Investigation officer Jagjit Singh said the matter had been under investigation as one of the villagers Balwinder Singh from Patti district had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) had filed a chargesheet against 10 cops, including Rachhpal saying the accused had fabricated evidence to frame a resident of a border village. Among those chargesheeted were an inspector, two sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors, and two head constables. In another 2019 case, Rachhpal had arrested Amarinderpal Singh of Marhi Tanda village in Gurdaspur district and claimed to have recovered 200 g of heroin. Meanwhile, 66 panchayats (village councils) in Panjab recently passed resolutions requesting parole for Sikh militant Jagtar Singh Hawara, who has been convicted of the 1995 assassination of former Indian National Congress Panjab chief minister Beant Singh. The panchayats have appealed to Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta that Hawara be given parole on humanitarian grounds to meet his ailing octogenarian mother. Hawara is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Mandoli Central Jail. In October, Hawara’s mother Narinder Kaur had written to CM Gupta, requesting that parole be granted to her son. A separate plea was also submitted to National Commission for Minorities Chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura. Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne) officiating Jathedar (leader) Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj also publicly backed Kaur’s appeal. Concurrently, after the Supreme Court of India asked the Indian union government to decide on another Beant Singh assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana’s mercy petition pending for over 14 years, Rajoana said, ‘Even the Supreme Court has been asking the government for over five years to decide the matter. I want no further delay for the matter to be decided’ (earlier coverage).

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced sweeping changes to significantly restrict the issuance of Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) to immigrant workers with temporary work authorization. The rule changes the federal minimum eligibility requirements. For example, immigrants with pending asylum cases can no longer receive a CDL only with a work permit. Duffy’s comments were aimed at California, whose policies have been under strict scrutiny after Harjinder Singh was involved in an accident in Florida. Also, a toxicology report has cleared US Sikh truck driver Jashanpreet Singh of charges of driving under influence of intoxicants when he crashed his truck on a highway in California's Ontario on 23 Oct. Earlier, in September 2025, the DOT issued an Interim Final Rule (ITR) that changes the requirements that states must follow when issuing or renewing a Non-Domiciled CDL or Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP). The Sikh Coalition, along with the US legal aid and civil rights organization Asian Law Caucus, has co-developed an analysis of the ITR in both English and Panjabi languages. The Sikh Coalition said: this change is not based on drivers’ English Language Proficiency. Instead, it is an argument that non-domiciled CDL holders are inherently dangerous to the public, and an effort to remove approximately 194K of them from the workforce. Meanwhile, more than 7.2K commercial truck drivers have been disqualified across the US in 2025 after failing mandatory English proficiency tests. California attorney Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, who heads the Civil Rights Division in US President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice said, 'Those responsible for these tragedies must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Unfortunately, in the fog of outrage, some are using these tragedies as an opportunity to attack Sikhs and Indian-origin drivers.' She is now facing a wave of racist abuse from far-right Make America Great Again supporters. Concurrently, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that over 2,790 Indian nationals have been deported from the US for illegally staying in the country (earlier coverage).

Two youths from Panjab and Haryana who set out for the US through the dunki (illegal) route in search of jobs have been killed by human traffickers in Guatemala after being held captive for ransom. 21-year-old Saheb Singh of Moriya village near Dasuya in Hoshiarpur and 18-year-old Yuvraj Singh of Mohna village in Kaithal had started their journey in October 2024 and were killed in March 2025, but their families were kept in the dark. Meanwhile, eight youths from Panjab, mostly from the Rupnagar district, are stranded in Kazakhstan after allegedly falling victim to a travel scam. The stranded Panjabi workers are enduring extreme distress, including freezing cold, hunger, and abuse. They are allegedly forced to carry heavy loads over long distances in mountainous terrain and live in cramped metal containers without adequate food or safety measures. One of the victims, Harvinder Singh, recently contacted Bharatiya Janata Party district president Ajayvir Singh Lalpura. Seven youths from Rupnagar district, who were stranded in Tajikistan after allegedly falling victim to a travel fraud, returned to India on 27 Oct. Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament, RS) member Vikramjit Singh Sahney has claimed the youths were repatriated due to his efforts. Concurrently, a woman (name withheld) from Moga district, was able to return in September from Iraq after she approached AAP RS member Balbir Singh Seechewal. The woman claimed she was duped by a travel agent from Jagraon who had promised a tailoring job abroad but she was forced to work as a domestic servant and was often beaten by the owner. She claimed that around 20–25 Panjabi women are still trapped in Iraq. Tejveer Singh, a farmer leader from Bharatiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), blamed the recent Agniveer (short service commission for soldiers) scheme to be a driver for such illegal migrations. He said, 'The trend picked up in Haryana post-Covid. It was obvious for the youth to feel astray when there was no scope left in the Army. It is high time, the union government to reconsider this policy and begin regular Army recruitment' (earlier coverage).

On 18 Oct, in an address at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir said Pakistan’s expanding military capabilities could 'shatter the misconceived immunity of India’s geographical warspace.' He also cautioned that there was 'no space for war in a nuclearized environment.' Muni also said that Pakistan had achieved a 'clear victory' in its brief May confrontation with India. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeps mentioning Operation Sindoor (vermillion mark) in speeches but has never refuted US President Donald Trump's repeated claims that he brokered the ceasefire between the two countries. In fact, Modi has even avoided meeting Trump at the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia in October. Pakistan’s Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Naveed Ashraf, has also undertaken a visit to Pakistan’s forward posts in the disputed Creek Areas along the maritime boundary with India, a move designed to assert Pakistan’s operational preparedness and stance on the contentious Sir Creek issue. Meanwhile, India-Pakistan Panjab border has become the new frontline for drone warfare. As of 13 Oct 2025, the Border Security Force (BSF) intercepted 200 drones carrying 174 weapons, 12 hand grenades, and over 10 kg of explosives. The trend shows a rapid escalation: 294 drones were recovered in 2024, 119 in 2023, 22 in 2022, one in 2021, seven in 2020, and two in 2019. Concurrently, India has restored the status of its Technical Mission in Kabul to a full-fledged embassy, signalling renewed diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan. During Taliban leader and Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visit to India, when a delegation comprising Afghan Sikhs and Hindus met him, he said they were most welcome to return and restart their businesses. However, a member of Afghan Minorities Council who led the delegation, Guljeet Singh, said 'there’s no point of return now.' The delegation raised several demands including the safety of their Gurdwaras and Temples, freeing their personal properties from encroachers, and grant of multiple entry and exit visas from both India and Afghanistan, among others (earlier coverage). 

Panjab farmers continue to face considerable difficulty over paddy procurement. The yield remains low, moisture is high, and grains are turning black. In Giddarbaha, Muktsar district, paddy is not being procured because of shortage of jute bags. At the same time, even for the next wheat crop, farmers in the state are facing a dearth of fertilizers. On 2 Nov, a delegation of farmers led by the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha (a farmers union) met Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Gursahib Singh Patti to apprise him of the problems they are facing in procuring fertilizers, especially Diammonium Phosphate (DAP). The farmers said cooperative societies are forcing farmers to purchase fertilizers from private dealers who are selling bags of DAP and urea for USD 18 and 4.5, respectively. They are also forcing them to buy unnecessary tagged items along with fertilizers. They demanded all farmers should receive DAP and urea at USD 15 per bag which is the government rate and tagging unwanted items should be stopped. Earlier, on 28 Oct, the union Indian government approved USD 4.283M as fertilizer subsidy for the ongoing winter season. The subsidy on phosphorous (P) and sulphur (S) fertilizers has been increased by USD 83M. Meanwhile, between 29 Oct–3 Nov, Panjab has recorded 2,518 stubble burning cases in 17 districts. The figure is less than 4,132 cases during the same time period in 2024, and 12,813 in 2023. Concurrently, on 17 Oct, the Khanna police busted fraudulent investment scheme Generation of Farming in which 23K investors had invested at least USD 30M. The police arrested 8 people. On 27 Oct, the police lodged the fourth First Information Report against the owner of the firm Bikramjit Singh and others. The firm lured innocent people by promising them 8% monthly returns on investments, claiming that money invested in the firm would double in 25 months. In March 2025, mainstream media had even covered the farm’s success, writing about the firm in glowing terms (earlier coverage).

In Canada, Darshan Singh Sahsi, a 68-year-old businessman and philanthropist, who hailed from Panjab’s Ludhiana district, was shot dead near his home in Abbotsford, British Columbia on 27 Oct. Darshan ran Canam Group—a successful cloth and textile recycling business. Hours later, a social media post surfaced from an account linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claiming responsibility for the attack. The post by Gurpreet Singh alias Goldy Dhillon, a known associate of the Bishnoi syndicate, accused Sahasi of being involved in the drug trade and claimed the gang had demanded money from him. When he 'refused to pay and blocked our number,' the post said, 'we took revenge.' Sahsi’s son Arpan Sahsi denied the claims made in the unverified social media post. He also denied his father receiving any 'extortion or threat calls.' Meanwhile, Lakhvinder Kumar, a key associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was arrested in the US on 27 Oct after the Federal Bureau of Investigation detained him and deported him to New Delhi. Also, the Rajasthan Police Anti-Gangster Task Force detained Jagdeep Singh alias Jagga, an active member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang currently associated with the Rohit Godara gang in the US. Meanwhile, retired Chandigarh police Deputy Superintendent of Police Dilsher Singh shot an Aam Aadmi Party leader Nitin Nada on 29 Oct at a private function in Agampur village, Anandpur Sahib district. Nanda had earlier been a Shiv Sena leader from Rupnagar. Rupnagar Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana said Dilsher had a longstanding enmity with Nitin over a 20-acre property. Dilsher has been arrested. Nitin is in hospital but stable. Concurrently, a 25-year-old kabaddi player, Tejpal Singh, was shot dead in Jagraon, Ludhiana district. Tejpal had come to Jagraon for personal reasons and was walking with two friends on Hari Singh Hospital Road when a group of five to six men intercepted them. The assailants first beat him brutally, and during the scuffle, one of them pulled out a revolver and shot him in the chest (earlier coverage).

On 2 Nov, the captain of India Women Cricket team Harmanpreet Kaur lifted the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Women's World Cup trophy after defeating South Africa (SA) at Dr Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai, India. India won the trophy for the first time in the last 53 years. Harmanpreet from Moga, Panjab forged through heartbreaks in 2017 and 2022, matured into calm authority in this tournament. Another player from Panjab Amanjot Kaur from Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar is the daughter of a carpenter who also made her first bat. Amanjot made her India team debut in 2023 and is a crisis specialist which she proved by catching SA captain Laura Wolvaardt who was steady at 101 in the 42^nd over. The catch proved to be a turning point in the match. Harleen Kaur Deol is an opener from Chandigarh. The women’s cricket team has long been overshadowed by the men’s team. Despite the discrimination, women persisted and have reached their current position through sheer hard work and this win should inspire generations of young women. India is currently placed 131^st among 148 countries on the Gender Gap Index, 174^th among 181 nations on female representation in government or executive roles, and accounts for 40% of the world's child brides. The Board of Control of Cricket India had earlier brought women players at par with men players on match fees and has now announced a USD 4.48M reward. Amol Mazumdar became  coach of the team in October 2023. In an India divided by bigotry earlier when Jemimah Rodrigues thanked Jesus Christ for her match-winning 127 runs in semi-final against the mighty Australia, she was targeted by the Hindutva trolls. However, after their final win Harmanpreet thanked Vahiguru (Awesome-Wisdom, God) and player of the match Shefali Verma too thanked Bhagwan (Adorable One, God). For players under pressure, it is natural to seek solace, and it was petty on the part of those who criticized them over their individual sources of strength (earlier coverage).