Op/Ed: Phoolka Promotes Hindi, Indian Nationalism While Going Against Sikh Principles to Woo Hindu Voters

  • HS Phoolka is a well respected Sikh lawyer who has contributed a lot 1984 Sikh Genocide cases
  • He fought free cases for genocide victims
  • S. Phoolka & team have invited controversy by ignoring Punjabi language in election campaigns
  • Just like Sikhs in Punjab understand Hindi, vice verse, Hindus also understand Punjabi
  • Punjabi language has already suffered a lot behest of State Administration in past
  • Aside from the language issue, Sikh issues, along with that of illegally imprisoned Sikhs, has been ignored by AAP
  • HS Phoolka ignores religious aspect of Vaisakhi for Sikhs

2The entire Sikh community respects Advoacate Harvinder Singh Phoolka as he has contributed greatly to the legal battle being fought by Sikhs for Justice in the 1984 genocide case.  As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Ludhiana, he also provides valuable services in the field of education and social work by associating with several religious Sikh institutions. However, these days he is inviting serious controversy.

It has been observed that of all AAP state candidates, he is taking lead in promoting the Hindi language amongst the Punjabi masses, spreading Indian nationalism, and going against Sikh principles to woo Hindu voters who enjoy the majority in the Ludhiana constituency.

Phoolka hindiSince Advocate Phoolka began his election campaign, he and his entire team are using either Hindi, or English, as the language of communication in their campaign while ironically, ignoring the Punjabi language. Be it billboards, SMS alerts, blogging, official websites, or Facebook pages, the dominance of Hindi and English can be seen on all these tools of promotion, yet Punjabi, or Gurmukhi script, is seen very rarely.

Advocate Phoolka demonstrates his belief in Indian nationalism by using its symbols such as”Jai Hind” (“Victory to India”). Several instances can be taken from SMS alerts sent by him to people. These instances are given below:

SMS Alerts

आप सभी आम आदमी पार्टी के कार्यकर्ताओं का मैं तहे दिल से आभारी हूँ जो भारत निर्माण के इस पुण्य कार्य में अपना सहयोग प्रदान कर रहें हैं | – एच. एस. फूल्का

(April 5, 2014)

रैली को सफल बनाने में आपके द्वारा दिए गए सहयोग के हम आभारी हैं ! अरविंद केजरीवाल – एच. एस. फूल्का ! जय हिंद 

(April 13, 2014)

Jai Mata Di – Navratri ke is pavan avsar par aap sabhi ko meri shubjkamnaen. Mata Ji aap sab ki shubh ikshaon ko puri kare. HS PHOOLKA – 86 J Sarabha Nagar.

(April 1, 2014)

Jai Mata Di – 8 April-rally by phoolka ji starts at 8 am from ladhowal to bahadurke via Bonker Dogra, Cholle, Rajpur, Bholewal Jadid, Allowal, Kadian, Kutbewal

(April 7, 2014)

Arvind Kejriwal Ludhiana me 12 april ko 2 bje jalandhar bypass chowk se phoolka ji ke saath road show shuru krenge-Road show sarabha ngr me smapt hoga-Jai Hind

(April 11, 2014)

These are a few examples and there are many other examples that can be watched by visiting the official Facebook page of HS Phoolka.

The graphics uploaded on the the Facebook page are also in Hindi. Advocate Phoolka has proclaimed himself the son of Punjabi soil in various ways during his campaign, and he has been addressed as the “Lion of Punjab” on several posts on his Facebook page, but his practice as a whole suggests that he is ignoring Punjabis—and Sikhism.

By using slogans like “Jai Hind”, he seems to follow the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agendas such as Hindu Nationalism.

He has not taken up the basic issues of Punjab: Chandigarh being split from Punjab, Punjab’s river water being dammed up and exploited, Punjabi autonomous status, and a halt to Human rights abuses. Altogether, his political practice strengthens the process of building a single nation in India which is quite harmful for separate identities and minorities, and the freedom of different nationalities residing here.

Although he associates with Punjab based Sikh religious institutions, he shows more attachment towards Hinduism, than to Sikhism as a politician. He did not forget to express ‘Best Wishes’ on the Hindu festival “Navratre” by SMS to his Hindu voters, but did not express any ‘Best Wishes’ on any Sikh commemorative days. On the day of Vaisakhi, he sent greetings to Punjabis by SMS for this festival, but without any Sikh context. How is it possible that the festival of Vaisakhi could be mentioned without referencing  various related events in Sikh history. This day is celebrated as Khalsa Sajna Diwas by Sikh masses, but this aspect was totally neglected by Phoolka.

Why is Phoolka ignoring Sikh tradition? While AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal takes up a few Sikh issues in Delhi, why is Phoolka scared to do so in Punjab?

He is also distributing the “Gandhi Topi” caps on a large scale, and Sikh women are wearing these hats with great enthusiasm which is absolutely against Sikh ethos. Sikh organizations are backing him only because of his contributions to the Sikh Panth society, but his practices during the election campaign has them disgusted. If we consider the vote calculation as per communal grounds, Sikh voters are 40 percent against the 60 percent of Hindu voters. So, though Sikhs do not enjoy the majority, still their population is not small.

These are questions whose answers must be given by Phoolka to the Sikh Panth and true Punjabis.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Well his campaign must be managed by Hindi speaking people. So we must not jump to conclusions. Also, what is wrong with promoting Indian Nationalism ?? We are all Indians, aren’t we ?

  2. I think you’ve over-analysed this Op/Ed – that is the problem with our panth – anyone that tries to do some good or get into a position to do good will get pulled before he can even get there. Why don’t you let him do his campaign and then if he gets into office hold him accountable then. The electorate he is targeting is mainly hindi speaking so why shouldn’t he use hindi? Maybe he will promote Gurmukhi when he gets into post – but maybe we won’t know because there are too many people dragging down the good people – a disease that has always been present in our panth. I’d choose AAP over the other options or do you promote SAD/BJP who have done nothing for the gareeb and drug-addicted?

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