Insightful newsletter of Drishtikone: Issue #322 - At Singhu, dismembered and bled to death
One man was beaten up, dismembered, and hung to bleed to death. While those who presumably swear to a lofty spiritual path rejoiced. Remorseless. What have we become and why?
Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay
“The place in which I'll fit will not exist until I make it.” ― James Baldwin
When you lose the basis of the spiritual path - your Sadhana and replace it with confidence and arrogance, what remains is death, destruction, and plain evil.
When the copy of a book becomes more important than humanity, then no matter how significant the book and who had written the original book, there is no spirituality left anymore.
No book is ever bigger than the reader. In that, no book can ever be spiritually significant. In other words, in spiritual terms, books are useless companions. They simply reinforce or enhance the biases and prejudices the reader has anyway.
No reader in the history of mankind has ever received a book at a level of consciousness higher than at what s/he is. So how can it ever be a useful companion? Leave alone a Guru.
This killing for a book is a criminal fetish that has come from cults that had no way to inspire devotion. So obsequiousness enforced via violence became a useful egotistical alternative.
The osmosis of those criminal practices in the Indic spiritual ways shows the rot of the current times.
Dismembered he lay bleeding to death - all for the insult to the copy of a book
On October 15th, Singhu border in Delhi woke up to a very gruesome sight. A man with his hand and legs cut off was tied upside down on a metal barricade as he bled to death. (Source)
This was the work of Nihang Sikhs who were in the so-called Farmers protests.
According to police sources, Lakhbir belonged to the Dalit community and had no criminal history or political affiliation. The Nihang group claimed responsibility for the murder and said they killed him because "before the Prakash Prayer [offered around 3 am], he removed the cloth to cover the holy scripture and insulted the Pothi Sahib [translation book]." (Source)
Two Nihangs, Sarabjeet Singh and Narain Singh, have been arrested.
Sarabjit Singh, arrested on Friday for the brutal killing of Lakhbir Singh, was produced before a Sonepat court in Haryana and remanded in police custody for seven days. Hours later, Narain Singh was also arrested by the Amritsar Rural police at Amarkot village near Jandiala Guru in Amritsar district, police said. (Source)
Two more Sikhs, Govindpreet Singh and Bhagwant Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib, have surrendered as well.
Narain Singh was one who cut Lakhbir Singh.
According to sources, two names -- Baba Amandeep Singh and Baba Narayan Singh -- are coming across as the alleged killers of the Dalit man on Singhu border. Sources said that one cut the man's hand and the other cut his leg. (Source)
When Narain Singh attacked Lakhbir Singh and hacked his leg, while others hung him to die, the victim was still alive. He remained alive for 45 minutes crying out in pain all the time.
This man, Narain Singh, despite his unimaginably evil crime, is remorseless and unrepentant. On the other hand, the Nihangs have doubled down on the crime and have been seen exhorting others to do the same.
Nihang group ‘Nirvair Khalsa-Udna Dal’ has admitted to the killing of a Dalit man at Singhu border over sacrilege. In a video, Balwinder Singh, Panth - Akali, Nirvair Khalsa-Udna Dal, have taken responsibility for the incident. "Whoever indulges in act of sacrilege, we will treat them in this manner only. We won’t approach any police, administration," Nihangs said. (Source)
When asked by a reporter, the Nihang Sikh, who sat next to the place where Lakhbir Singh was hung while he bled to death said
“those who had love of the Guru in their hearts had such outpouring of that devotion that they caught the man and tied him up and killed him”
He then goes on to say:
“If anyone shows disrespect to Guru Granth Sahib or insults it, then if he is killed or even burnt alive, there is nothing wrong with that.”
Again, no remorse.
The sheer evil of this group of men who call themselves as Nihangs is difficult to even fathom!
Criminal violence - way of the Nihangs now
This is not the first time that in recent times, the Nihangs have attacked with swords and chopped the limbs of their victims. In April 2020, they did that to an Assistant Sub Inspected when his hand was chopped off.
In a shocking case, four Nihang Sikhs cut off the hand of an assistant sub inspector with a sword in Patiala, Punjab on Sunday morning. The incident took place at a vegetable market in Patiala. According to sources, the four nihang Sikhs tried to enter the vegetable market but were stopped by the mandi board employees as do not have pass. They thrashed them and entered the market but were intervened by the policemen. Enraged they chopped off the left hand of an assistant sub-inspector and injured other cops including a station house officer. Punjab police have arrested 7 people in connection with the incident. (Source)
Then in March 2021, Nihang Sikhs had entered a village in Tarn Taran district, after they had murdered a person in Maharashtra. When the police went to capture them, they chopped hands of two officers. Both of the Nihangs who attacked were eventually shot dead.
A clash broke out between police and Nihang Sikhs on Sunday in Punjab's Tarn Taran. The Nihang Sikhs attacked the policemen with swords and reportedly chopped off the hands of two officers. Two police officers have been seriously injured in the incident which took place in Sur Singh village of Punjab's Tarn Taran district. The confrontation, according to sources, erupted after police received information that two Nihangs had entered the area after carrying out a murder in Maharashtra's Nanded. Sources said that the police officers had gone to nab the Nihangs after receiving information that they were holed up in the area. This is when the Nihangs attacked the cops, they said. Both Nihangs were shot dead. (Source)
It is apparent - from the vicious and criminal statements and acts of Nihang Sikhs in recent times, that:
they are no longer a force for good
not socially adjusted to a law-abiding society
are pure evil in how they look at handling actions of others that they deem to be insults
That was not what they were envisaged to be.
Who are the Nihangs
In fact, the way the Gurus had looked upon those they would call Nihangs was very different. Nihangs, in the Gurus’ eyes, were spiritually enlightened beings. Because they were beyond the dualities of Sorrow-Happiness, Life-Death, they could be fearless and fight on in the battles against the evil of Islamic invaders.
In Sri Guru Granth Sahib, for example, Guru Arjan Dev ji explains defines the meaning of Nihang.
"nirbhau hoeiou bheiaa nihangaa” (One who becomes without fear, becomes a Nihang)
In Sri Guru Panth Prakash, a Sikh history written in verses by Giani Gian Singh, a Nihang has been defined as:
"nihang kahaavai so purakh, dukh sukh manne na ang.” (Nihang is the person who has gone beyond happiness and sorrow - or in other words, dualities) (Source)
Where did the blue attire of the Nihangs come from? It is said that when Guru Gobind Singh was hiding in disguise - a blue dress - he discarded that dress, except a part of it. That part of the blue dress, which symbolized the travails of the last Guru, became the inspiration for the blue dress of the Sikh warriors called Nihangs.
Nihangs were envisaged as that force that would manifest the highest ideal of spirituality that the Gurus were working to share with the world.
Writer’s Note: We are desisting from calling the Gurus as “Sikh Gurus.” Gurus are neither Hindu nor Sikh. They are just Gurus. Those who have gone beyond all dualities and social distinctions and moved into that realm where physicality is not a limitation anymore, to label them in any way is to denigrate them and their work.
However, going back to the incident of the gruesome Taliban-like execution of Lakhbir Singh.
The evil of the killers is not just about how he was killed. But in his story itself.
The voices from his Lakhbir Singh’s village give a glimpse into the whole scenario - specifically how these so-called “Farmers Protests” have been orchestrated.
"He was an addict and must have been lured to the Singhu border," said Harbhajan Singh, a retired army personnel from the village in Tarn Taran district. He adds that the victim Lakhbir Singh was in the village 4-5 days ago and everyone was shocked to see the video of his gruesome killing. "He was unemployed and didn't provide for his family. His father had also died," he added. Several other residents from the village reiterate that the victim was an addict and was present there till a few days ago. "He lived with his family and his wife lived separately," another resident said. He requested anonymity. "Lakhbir can't be involved in desecration," he added. Another resident Masa Singh says allegations of desecration against the victim are wrong. "He could not have done this; he was not that kind of a person. He was made to do this," he said. (Source)
So, think through it.
An addict. Good for nothing socially inept daily wage earner who cannot even provide for his family is picked from Tarn Taran and lured all the way to Singhu border and made into a sacrificial lamb.
How the heck did that happen? If not without adequate backing of resources, political backing and forces that are working behind the scenes.
Yes, the gruesomeness of Lakhbir’s killing is extremely important here. But equally important is the business of luring people for fattening the protest population in order to make it politically viable and potent.
Supreme Court - different standards?
In any society, if justice is not clearly seen to be dispensed, then any action of the judiciary is often interpreted as a miscarriage of justice.
What we are seeing in different cases of violence in India are differing standards.
In the US and the rest of the democratic world, cases of bias and prejudice of the Supreme Court and the judiciary have been noticed.
In fact, the US Supreme Court decisions are mapped on the ideological maps as well.
Criticizing the judiciary is as much the right of a country’s citizens as is the criticism of any other branch of governance.
India and the Left-Liberal Judiciary leaning
Even in India, it has been easier to criticize the Supreme Court and the judgments when they went against the left-liberal bias. In fact, the perceived left-liberal and anti-BJP writers have gotten away with criticizing the Indian judiciary. Like this one - Supreme Court of India - fair or biased or this The destruction of India’s judicial independence is almost complete (where even the ex-Chief Justice was attacked for his judgments) or India’s Supreme Court has a class bias and it takes whatever the govt says at face value
However, Ajeet Bharati’s criticism of the Supreme Court in his “Do Politics” YouTube channel was the basis of a “contempt of court” proceedings against the journalist. (Attorney General Grants Sanction To Initiate Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against Ajeet Bharti For 'Scurrilous' And 'Derogatory' Remarks Against Supreme Court).
Interestingly, the left-liberal biased media houses called Ajeet Bharti “a YouTuber” as opposed to him being a journalist. Which is an interesting aside.
So, at the outset, the standards of criticizing the Supreme Court and Indian judiciary are different. Who has the right to criticize and how creates an uneven playing field. Such that one person gets that right of expression, while the other does not.
The fact that there is a strong leftist and hard-core communist ideological leaning throughout the Indian judiciary’s history was underscored by the Orissa Chief Justice himself recently.
That such a communist and left ideologically inclined judiciary has defined India’s justice system tells us something. It is time for objective evaluation and analysis of the Indian justice system as well. For there is a strong sense of discrimination in how the bias unfolds in cases where the question of life and death is at stake.
And, in that discrimination, voices discussing the Indian Judiciary themselves are the first victims of suppression of free speech.
Lakhimpur case - Suo Moto in three days
In Lakhimpur Kheri, violence that involved the so-called farmers involved in protests occurred on October 3rd, 2021. By October 6th, the Indian Supreme Court had taken the suo moto cognizance.
The Supreme Court has taken Suo Moto cognizance of the violence that claimed eight lives in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday. Listed before a bench of the Apex court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, the matter will be taken up on Thursday. Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli are also part of the three-judge bench set to hear the matter. Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh government had initiated a judicial probe into the matter headed by a retired High Court judge. (Source)
Not only did Supreme Court take Suo moto notice of Lakhimpur violence, but it went ahead and passed on a notice to Uttar Pradesh Government while showing its unhappiness.
Treatment of Bengal violence case - more widespread and damaging to democracy was different however
In Bengal, when widespread violence was used by the ruling TMC to win the elections and thereafter to seek vengeance against those who had voted against it, Supreme Court not just put aside Calcutta High Court’s decision to move the case to CBI but also made Central Government as the respondent in the case. A case where the local West Bengal government was accused of terrible violence. (Source)
This, when the petitioners whose petitions talked about a very directed post-poll violence of the worst kind - against women!
When the case came before the Supreme Court, Justice Indira Banerjee inexplicably recused herself from the hearing
Supreme Court judge, Justice Indira Banerjee, on Friday recused herself from hearing a plea pertaining to alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal.
At the outset when a petition filed by Biswajit Sarkar, brother of a deceased Bengal BJP worker, was called before a bench of Justices Banerjee and M R Shah, she said she could not hear the case, without specifying the reason. The court thereafter passed the order for listing of the case before an appropriate bench of “which Her Ladyship (Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Indira Banerjee) is not a member”. (Source)
Just a week later, when the Narada scam case against TMC came before the Supreme Court, a similar scenario played up again.
Supreme Court judge Justice Aniruddha Bose on Tuesday recused himself from hearing appeals of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state law minister Moloy Ghatak about their role on the day of arrest of four TMC leaders by the CBI in the Narada sting tape case. As soon as a vacation bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Bose assembled to commence the day's proceedings, Justice Gupta said his brother judge is recusing himself from hearing these appeals. (Source)
The Bengal post-poll violence case is still going on with Justice Aniruddha Bose hearing it now.
While the Supreme Court is busy trying to discern whether it is “an investigation or an inquiry”, (Source) the CBI’s work is throwing up a lot of evidence on cases of violence.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested 11 people from East Medinipur in connection with incidents of violence following the West Bengal assembly elections earlier this year. The agency said it probing the matter and numerous cases have been registered. Earlier in August this year, the Calcutta High Court ordered a court-monitored CBI probe into incidents of post-poll violence in West Bengal. The High Court also ordered to set up Special Investigation Teams (SIT) for investigation of relatively less serious crimes. A seven-member committee set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had earlier looked into the incidents of violence following the assembly elections in the state and recommended a court-monitored CBI probe. (Source)
Needless to say, the ramifications of no action or notice to the West Bengal Government for the security of the BJP workers and voters has continued to increase in the injustice for which Supreme Court was created to fight against.
On October 5, journalist-turned-BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta had counted murders of 110 BJP workers. “Yet another BJP leader murdered in West Bengal. Councillor Manish Shukla gunned down in Titagarh. TMC seeks to intimidate and murder opponents, even as the ground is slipping from under its feet. Nearly 110 BJP workers murdered,” Dasgupta had tweeted after a close associate of Arjun Singh, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore, was shot. (Source)
Violence not just continues unabated but even those who are killed are dehumanized by the highest in the government. Chief Minister herself.
While courts struggle with semantics of investigation vs inquiry, lives continue to be taken by a government that prides in dehumanizing those being killed.
Singhu Border / ‘Farmer Protest’ violence - Supreme Court action
Still waiting. Will share if and when something is done.
Paramhamsa Yogananda: An unusual passing on
A banquet was organized to welcome the ambassador on 7th March 1952 in the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. After several dignitaries spoke, Paramhamsa Yogananda rose to give a brief speech. Very few in the audience realized that these were the final moments of Paramhamsa Yogananda on earth. (Source)
His final words were:
“Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God-
I am hallowed; my body touched that sod.”
He then rolled his eyes upwards, entered into a final Samadhi, slid to the ground with a beatific smile on his face, and passed away right in front of a stunned audience of more than 100 dignitaries.
What had happened and how Yogananda left his body in a way that it did not deteriorate should have aroused more interest and research. But for reasons we all understand, this was forgotten and ignored.
market corner: 10 quick bytes
Over 1 lakh MSMEs disbursed $1 billion loans in six years: Lendingkart (Source)
Worker shortages across Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand may lead to big delays in holiday shipping this year (Source)
Sugar companies likely to witness 5-7 pc revenue growth in FY'22: Report (Source)
WPI inflation eases to 10.66 pc in September on lower food prices (Source)
India on course for open access in its markets: RBI deputy governor (Source)
Govt to spend around Rs 50,000 cr to create 500 multi-modal cargo terminals in 4-5 yrs (Source)
Trade deficit at all-time high of $23 bn in Sept on festive season imports (Source)
Passenger vehicle dispatches drop 41 pc in September as chip shortage impacts production (Source)
Over 20 mn Income Tax Returns for FY21 filed on new portal, 17 mn e-verified: CBDT (Source)
Festive sales 2021: E-commerce sellers sold 23% more from last year, 2nd slowest growth in 5 years (Source)
nota bene
9 to 29 Million MT of Cargo on Ganga by 2024-25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Rs 100 lakh crore Gati Shakti Master Plan was launched on Wednesday (13 October) to cut down logistical costs and enhance connectivity in the country. Under the plan, the government aims to enhance the cargo handling capacity of ports and increase cargo movement on all national waterways. Targets up to 2024-25 for the Ministry of Shipping include increasing the cargo capacity at the ports to 1,759 MMTPA from 1,282 MMTPA. The plan also aimed to achieve cargo movement of 95 million MT by 2024-25 on all national waterways from 74 million MT in 2020. (Source)
Massive Fresher IT Hiring: Top Indian IT companies looking to hire more than 1 lakh college graduates. As the demand for digital talent explodes as hiring activity picks up, India's biggest informational technology (IT) service providers Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Technologies are expected to welcome more than 1 lakh freshers combined in this fiscal year, as claimed by the firms in their respective quarterly earnings update. (Source)
Attacks by Khalistanis in Australia: Khalistani elements active in Australia have reportedly attacked the business premises of Yogesh Khattar located in North Mead of Sydney. Yogesh Khattar, president of New South Wales Arya Pritinidhi Sabha became an eyesore for Khalistani elements after he helped and supported Indian student Vishal Jood to fight his legal battle. 24 years old Vishal Jood from Haryana was arrested by Australian authorities over charges of attacking Khalistani extremists at Haris Park in Sydney. He was arrested by Australian police on April 16 and was later denied bail. Khalistani elements got him arrested on a false and fabricated charge as he was trying to save the Tricolour. (Source)
Impact of 2 minutes of Doomscrolling: Scrolling through stories about coronavirus on Twitter or viewing them on YouTube is enough to cause people's positive mood to plummet. Just two minutes of 'doomscrolling' on social media can drag people's mood down, a study has found. Several scientific studies have found that levels of anxiety and depression have increased over the pandemic - particularly when reading covid-related news every day. (Source)
Perfect Storm for Global Supply Chain: consumers are starting to feel the pinch from the surge in costs coursing through the global economy. The rebound as coronavirus restrictions are eased has exposed supply chain shortages, with firms scrambling for workers, ships, and even fuel to power factories, threatening the fledgling economic recovery. Britain's biggest chicken producer said that the country's 20-year cheap food binge is ending and food price inflation could hit double digits. Shortages of warehouse workers, truckers and butchers as the world's fifth-largest economy deal with Brexit as well as COVID is exacerbating strains being felt globally by international business. IKEA is leasing more ships, buying containers and re-routing goods as the world's largest furniture brand seek to mitigate a "perfect storm" of disruptions. (Source)
Merit and Woke hatred: Thousands of people have registered for a remote lecture by a geophysicist at Princeton University after MIT canceled it due to pressure from 'woke' students because the professor argued that academic evaluations should be based on merit, not racial 'equity'. University of Chicago professor Dorian Abbot was denied the opportunity to give the prestigious Carlson Lecture, which is devoted to 'new results in climate science' and hosted by MIT's Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. But Princeton University decided to host Abbot's lecture via Zoom on October 21 - the day it was scheduled to be given at the MIT. (Source)
China Vs US in AI: China has won the artificial intelligence battle with the United States and is heading towards global dominance because of its technological advances, the Pentagon's former software chief told the Financial Times. China, the world's second-largest economy, is likely to dominate many of the key emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and genetics within a decade or so, according to Western intelligence assessments. Nicolas Chaillan, the Pentagon's first chief software officer who resigned in protest against the slow pace of technological transformation in the U.S. military, said the failure to respond was putting the United States at risk. (Source)
video corner: Coming back from death
There are many such stories and they are so steeped in cultural and theological lingo that the real essence of what happens is lost. Most of the people who experience Near-Death fail to still look at their experience objectively and deeply. They keep comparing it to what they see around them in the ‘living world’ and their immediate society.
So watch this for the nuggets here and there but let those nuggets be the widgets that go into understanding the whole with an objective view.
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