On Guru Teghbahadar’s 350th Martyrdom Day, Panjab Declares Holy Cities

On 24 Nov, a special session of the Panjab Legislative Assembly was convened at Sri Anandpur Sahib, Rupnagar. Panjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria summoned the Assembly to meet at the Bhai Jaita Ji Memorial Park. The rare off-site session aligned with the state’s three-day commemorative events from 23–25 Nov, marking the 350^th martyrdom anniversary of the ninth Sikh Sovereign, Guru Teghbahadar. In the session, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann passed a resolution to accord the status of 'holy cities' on Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, and the Galiara (gallery) around the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The resolution was passed unanimously but controversy broke out over the inclusion of only the Galiara in Amritsar. Later Panjab Assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan clarified that not just the Galiara but the entire walled city of Amritsar which would be considered holy. By declaring them holy, the government intends to ban sale and use of meat, liquor, tobacco, and other intoxicants to fulfil the long-pending demand of the devotees in these cities. However, according to the Sikh Rahit Maryada (code of conduct) all these demands except meat are consensual. While earlier centenary events from Sikh history have also initiated long term infrastructure projects, this time the focus was on tokenism through light and sound shows and night sky drone events. in Srinagar, more than 400 Kashmiri Pandits families joined in the commemoration ceremony of Guru Teghbahadar and a three-day congregation also began at the Red Fort complex in Delhi to mark the event. In Hyderabad, the Prabandhak Committee, Gurudwara Saheb, Sitafalmandi, in coordination with Gurudwaras across Telangana, organized a mass Kirtan Darbar (devotional-singing at the Court) at the Municipal Grounds, Chilkalguda. Uttar Pradesh (UP) is also honoring Sikh history by advancing the integrated tourism development of Guru Ka Tal Gurdwara in Agra. The UP government has allocated USD 224K for the site’s development, a move that reinforces the sacred connection between Guru Teghbahadar and Agra—the city where he was earlier arrested for not following Mughal imperial orders (earlier coverage).

Panjab University (PU) administration had promised the striking students that they shall announce the schedule of the Senate elections on 25 Nov. If that does not happen, the students from the PU Bachao Morcha (Save PU Front)—backed by more than 50 student unions, employee bodies, social groups, farmer and labor unions—announced that the campus will observe a complete shutdown on 26 Nov, the 25^th day of the protest. The Front said, just like on 10 Nov, no administrative, academic or other functioning will be allowed. The students say the Indian union government’s now-withdrawn attempt to reconstitute PU’s governing bodies must be seen in the larger context of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which is accelerating privatization, centralization, and saffronization of public universities. On 21 Nov, the PU Registrar Yajvender Pal Verma said he and other officials were going to Delhi to meet with the Union Education Ministry and the PU Chancellor—the Vice President of India Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan. Later, PU notified all its teaching and non-teaching staff that they must attend the university on 26 Nov. However, on 25 Nov evening, in a climbdown, PU declared 26 Nov a holiday to avoid a confrontation with the students. Concurrently, a letter from 2007 has surfaced in which former Panjab Chief Minister from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Parkash Singh Badal wrote to the Ministry of Human Development, Government of India that the Panjab state has ‘no objection’ to PU being converted into a Central University. This contradicts SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s recent pro-PU stance. In another development, missing parts of trollies stolen after Farmers Protest 2.0 (2023–24) were evicted have been found buried in the official residence of the Executive Officer (EO) of Nabha Municipal Council. EO Gursharan Singh has said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Pankaj Kumar Pappu, who is a husband of Municipal Council chief Sujata Chawla, had occupied his home. The recovery of trolley parts strengthens allegations by farmers that the ruling AAP government had a role in the theft of trollies (earlier coverage).

On 22 Nov, an Indian financial newspaper published a story that listed 10 Bills to be presented in the Winter Session of the Parliament from 1–19 Dec. Among the Bills was 'The Constitution 131^st Amendment Bill, 2025 which seeks to bring the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh under Article 240 of the Constitution'. Through Article 240, the President of India acquires powers to repeal or amend any act of Parliament or law applicable to Chandigarh through a regulation, bypassing the Parliament altogether. As the news spread, the primary message was that the Indian union government intends to replace the Governor of Panjab as the administrator of the Union Territory with a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Union government. The move sparked fears of Panjab losing its claim on Chandigarh which was built as the Post-Partition capital of East (Indian) Panjab on the land of 22 Panjab villages. Upon trifurcation of East Panjab, according to Section 4 of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, Chandigarh was declared a UT. It was also supposed to be the joint capital of Panjab and Haryana for 10 years but the period has extended to 59 years. Under Article 239 of the Constitution, the union government can appoint anyone the administrator of a UT. However, since 1984, the Governor of Panjab has served as Chandigarh's administrator. This led to an uproar in Panjab among ruling and opposition parties except the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The uproar was accentuated by the ongoing protest by students of Panjab University to conduct elections to the Senate. However, on 23 Nov, the Union Home Ministry clarified that the Bill is ‘still under consideration’ and it had ‘no intention of introducing any Bill to this effect’ in the upcoming session of Parliament. For now, the issue is postponed but this sword dangles on Panjab’s head and can be resurrected anytime since BJP has the numbers in both houses of the Parliament. Since 1966, India has seen 13 new states created and every time the successor state makes a new capital. But not Haryana, despite having been paid to do so.

A report says the New York Police Department had been monitoring Nikhil Gupta—the accused in Sikhs For Justice legal counsel and separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's foiled assassination case—for a decade over his involvement in credit card fraud and heroin trafficking schemes. Prosecutors said, 'Gupta was introduced to the CS (confidential source), who was posing as an international narcotics trafficker, in or about 2013. Gupta told the CS that he was an international narcotics trafficker and money launderer.' US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were able to identify Gupta through their databases. DEA says India’s Research and Analysis Wing handler Vikas Yadav communicated his intentions and plans openly, using easily-monitored Gmail and WhatsApp accounts. The accounts have been seen by the prosecutors and establish Yadav was an employee of the government of India. Pannun says, Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar had warned him of an attempt on both their lives a night before his assassination on 18 Jun 2023. Acquaintances of Nijjar who frequented night clubs in downtown Vancouver had reported a group of men who had recently begun to show up at the clubs, looking for ‘a high and some weapons’ and inquiring about Nijjar and Pannun. In another case related to the Sikh protests in Ottawa in March 2023, India had accused truck driver Amarjot Singh of leading a mob of protesters who allegedly threw two grenades into the Indian High Commission. Ottawa Police Service said the event went off peacefully without incident. Concurrently, Canada has dropped all charges against 2 of 3 activists arrested on 19 Sep. They were charged with a dozen firearm offences. Both Jagdeep Singh and Arman Singh from the US were allowed to travel anywhere in Canada or return to the US. The third accused, Inderjit Singh Gosal of Brampton, Ontario and head of the Canadian chapter of Sikhs for Justice, is already out on bail. Meanwhile, Anmol Bishnoi, named in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, has been deported from the US and is now in India's National Investigation Agency's custody for his involvement in his brother Lawrence Bishnoi’s terror-syndicate (earlier coverage).

On 18 Nov, social media platform YouTube suspended the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) official YouTube channel—SGPC, Sri Amritsar—until 25 Nov over a video related to the 1984 Indian Army action on Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple), Amritsar. The SGPC statement said that the action was taken over a video uploaded on 31 Oct in which a Sikh preacher, while speaking about Sikh warriors, made certain references linked to the events of 1984, as part of Sikh history. According to sources, the SGPC preacher had also made comments on the assassination of former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. SGPC started relaying the Gurbani (singing of Sikh texts) live telecast from its alternate channel. In July 2023, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party had cast aspersions that the live Gurbani kirtan (hymns) telecast on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s PTC TV channel benefits Badal through advertisement revenue. Since then, SGPC has been relying on a public social media platform to transmit kirtan to millions of viewers worldwide in addition to it still being relayed on PTC channel. Critics wonder as to why the SGPC has not been able to create its own digital platform in over 2 years and is still dependent on a social media company. Rabindra Narayan, head of G-next who earlier used to handle kirtan telecast on PTC television channel says ‘the issue is now SGPC mixes katha (stories) with kirtan.’ That is true, but why can’t SGPC buy its own internet servers and host the channel on its website. That way, SGPC maintains full control on the telecast. Meanwhile, SGPC has sought action against newly elected Tarn Taran Member of Legislative Assembly Harmeet Singh Sandhu saying SGPC misused the Guru di Golak (donation box) at the behest of SAD to distribute money and influence voters. Concurrently, A 70-member jatha (group) of Sikh devotees, organized by the Kar Sewa Sampardai, Sarhali, Tarn Taran, Panjab departed for Bangladesh on 19 Nov to participate in the celebrations of the 356^th Parkash Purab (birth anniversary) of Guru Nanak and the 350^th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Teghbahadar (earlier coverage).

In a major economic ‘reform’, the Indian union government has enforced four new labor codes replacing 29 earlier labor laws. The reforms focus on mandatory appointment letters for workers across sectors, guaranteed minimum wage and social security for all (including gig and platform workers), compulsory wage payments, and opening up of night shifts for women in all industries. The Code of Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020), and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020) were cleared by Parliament in 2019 and formally brought into effect on 21 Nov. The reason for the delay in their implementation was that labor is a Concurrent subject of the Indian Constitution and the states needed time to formulate their own rules before the implementation of the codes. There is yet no clarity whether all states are now ready to implement the codes. The concerns raised by the labor unions have also not been completely addressed. The implementation was also delayed by the Farmers’ Protest of 2020–21 where they were opposed. The Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023–24 states that Panjab recorded the highest incidence of non contractual agricultural labor nationwide with 84.5% of regular wage employees lacking a formal appointment letter. The labor codes are being opposed by trade unions who have called for a nationwide wide strike on 26 Nov, India’s Constitution Day. In a joint statement they argued that while the government has framed the codes as a simplification exercise, they also enable easier hiring and firing and weaken several long-standing safeguards. Delhi Union of Journalists and Indian Union of Journalists (IUJ) has too opposed the codes as they ‘subsume and virtually abolish two landmark legislations—the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, and the Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958’. The IUJ mentioned that these acts have long served as protective pillars ensuring independence of journalism from employers, advertisers and political power centers.

On 18 Nov, Panjab Power minister Sanjeev Arora announced that the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) would now issue electricity connections without requiring a No Objection Certificate if the applicants furnish a mandatory undertaking, proof of identity and residence. However, PSPCL is struggling with a USD 280M financial crunch and has resorted to taking loans to pay salaries, pensions, and meet operational expenses as several government departments continue to default on payment of electricity dues. Four departments—Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Local Government, Rural Development and Panchayat, and Health and Family Welfare Department—account for over 90% of the total pending amount. That is why, on 21 Nov, the PSPCL Board of Directors deferred Power Purchase and Power Sale Agreements with two private players. Also, the Panjab government's recent decision to sell land parcels owned by PSPCL has pushed the Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers' Association to go on a strike from 26 Nov, India’s Constitution Day. Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)—an umbrella body of various farmer unions—says that the draft Electricity Amendment Bill has been framed for large-scale privatization, commercialization, and centralization of the Indian power system. ‘The removal of cross-subsidies will increase power tariffs for poor and rural households, deepen inequality, and push farmers further into distress. This move, driven by corporate interests, is anti-people, anti-farmer, and anti-worker,’ said SKM in a statement. The draft Bill constitutes a direct assault on the federal character of India's Constitution, turning electricity governance into a tool for centralized, corporate-driven policy imposition. SKM and Central (Indian) Trade Unions (CTUs) have asked farmers and workers from every district of the country to submit memorandums to Indian President Droupadi Murmu against the draft Electricity Amendment Bill on 26 Nov. The day marks 5 years of the beginning of the Farmers Protest 1.0 (2020–21). SKM will mark the day through countrywide protests to highlight the Indian union government’s breach of promise it made to farmers for consultations on Minimum Support Price, the Electricity Amendment Bill and other demands on 9 Dec 2021 after which the farmers withdrew their protest (earlier coverage).

The Indian government’s Draft Seeds Bill, 2025 is the latest attempt to overhaul regulations governing the seed sector and aims to replace the Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seed Control Order, 1983. As with previous similar attempts in 2004 and 2019, the Bill has drawn sharp criticism. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)—an umbrella body of various farmer unions—argues that the proposed law is better suited to seed companies and agri-businesses than ordinary cultivators, particularly those relying on traditional and chemical-free farming. SKM, seed experts and civil society organizations are also urging the government to reject proposed expansions to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). They expressed fear that the treaty could undermine India’s sovereignty over its agricultural genetic resources. The 11^th session of the ITPGRFA governing body is being held between 24–29 Nov in Lima, Peru. Meanwhile, agricultural officers across Panjab are raising concerns over chronic delays in the supply of Berseem (green fodder), lentil, gram, and wheat seeds, which are meant to be free for flood affected villages and on subsidy for other villages. These worries come even as the Punjab Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department has recently begun sending these seeds procured under the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM). This is an instance of how centralized control of seeds through more Bills will lead to further control and inequity of seeds distribution. Meanwhile, the US–India Bilateral Trade Agreement is likely to be announced before the end of November. India will likely allow duty-free import of soyabean, corn, and certain dairy products. The reciprocal tariffs will be less than 20% from the current 50% but India is insisting on bringing it down to the European Union’s tariff rate of 15%. Import of these products will severely impact India's food production leading to instability in the rural sector. Panjab, primarily an agrarian state, will particularly suffer. Farmers and dairy owners will be unable to compete with largely genetically modified and cheaper products (earlier coverage).

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) chief Dr. Mangi Ram Jat has said, ‘Panjab farmers are not to be blamed for Delhi’s air pollution’. However, even as Panjab and Haryana saw a sharp drop in farm fires, pollution levels in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) remained alarmingly high on 24–25 Nov, with Ghaziabad, Hapur, and Noida topping the list of most polluted cities in India. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the daily average Air Quality Index (AQI) in these cities fell in the ‘Severe’ category at 437, 420, and 418, respectively. Delhi too continued to reel under hazardous air, recording an AQI of 391 in the ‘Very Poor’ category. Environmentalist Sanjiv Gupta warned Delhi's air quality has reached hazardous levels with pollutants like PM2.5 and PM10 far exceeding safe limits. Protestors took to streets demanding action against the rising levels of pollution. ‘Our lungs are getting damaged. The government should declare it a health emergency until they find a solution to it,’ a protester remarked at India Gate. Some of the protestors were arrested and taken to Parliament Street police station. Meanwhile, as the COP30 UN Climate Summit concluded in Belem, Brazil on 22 Nov, climate observers remained unsatisfied as the roadmap to phase out fossil fuels remained unfulfilled. The strategic adviser to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Harjeet Singh said, ‘While the developed countries are responsible for putting a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, South Asia has become the epicenter for most polluted cities with 83 out of 100 most polluted cities in the world being in India.’ The blame for air pollution must fall on weak waste management, unregulated construction, and vehicular emissions. Even as the city chokes and Out Patient Departments in hospitals complain about overwhelming numbers of patients, fifteen thermal plants in a 300 km radius of the city continue to operate without Flue Gas Desulphurization systems, which are critical for reducing sulphur dioxide emissions (earlier coverage).

The People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)—one of the earliest civil society bodies to respond to the 1984 Sikh Genocide and co-author of the seminal report Who Are the Guilty?—has released its new report Delhi 1984: A Long Aftermath on the denial of justice to the victims. The report is an attempt to bear witness to this long aftermath of 1984 and its three key dimensions include—the four decades of Commissions of Inquiry and Committees and Special Investigative Teams; the role of the police and judiciary and the entire criminal justice system (in and since 1984); and recording the journeys and lives of the women survivors of 1984. The report records struggles of women as survivors and witnesses, their struggles for justice, and the human cost of these struggles. The report mentions, 'Only 20 cases are being fought in court out of approximately 650 First Information Reports registered against perpetrators of the massacre.' In its conclusion the report says, 'The impact of the carnage can be gauged through how families have spiraled deeper into a web of poverty and precarity. The question of justice therefore varies across generations.’ It says that while for the direct victims, the carnage has come to be ironically identified with the abuse of the legal justice system, for their children—who have carried the psychological, material, and sociological burdens of the carnage, and make up the 'second generation'— securing access to secure and dignified work has been the largest challenge. For the teenagers and adolescents today, the 'third generation', ensuring access to quality education along with a clear path towards upward socio-economic mobility remains the largest priority. Justice, if it is to be served, must be attuned to such nuances while striving to enable the people to secure it.’ Meanwhile, The Quint’s documentary The Kaurs of 1984 has won the Laadli Award 2025 for Web Documentary (English)–North. According to The Quint, 'this is a recognition that belongs first to the women who refused to be erased' (earlier coverage).