Indian Media's Anti-Sikh & Anti-Panjab Bias

This week two Indian media houses—The Tribune and The Print—displayed their bias against Sikhs and Panjab. In a piece titled Cops face jail terms for militancy-era killings, as Bandi Singh walk free, The Tribune equated those responsible for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances during Panjab's militancy years with Bandi Singh (Sikh prisoners). The article said 129 police personnel from constables to Deputy Inspectors General have been convicted over the past two years by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar. Another 60 officers remain on trial. While 82 of the 96 Bandi Singhs identified for release in 2014-15 were freed over the past five years. The remaining 14 include seven convicts in the 1995 assassination of former Panjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The comparison is preposterous because the police officers engaged in human rights violations by killing innocents and claiming rewards and promotions. The Bandi Singhs took a position in a political struggle against the state and served multiple jail terms; their release is a matter of humanitarian concern. The officiating Jathedar (leader) of Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne) Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj said the Punjab Police Welfare Association standing in favor of convicted police officers is unethical and unconstitutional. Similarly, on the US truck driver Harjinder Singh case, The Print published a column titled Should the govt get involved in the Harjinder Singh case? He’s no victim. The column asks: how involved should the Indian govt get when Indians abroad are charged with criminal offenses? It raises the point that since Harjinder does not stay in India, and was living in the US illegally, India should not care about him. It omits the fact that nationality is through birth unless changed by the individual. Apart from the human angle, remittances from truck drivers are a major line of sustenance for families in Panjab. It is not clear whether India intervened or not but there is little hope that Indian intervention will resolve anything in this case. India anyway has to resolve the high 50% tariff the US has slapped on India (earlier coverage).