The farmer protests emanating from Punjab have become the focal point for a varying strands of toxic politics. Khalistanis have been trying to hijack the same for quite some time and numerous incendiary comments have been made by some of the protesting ‘farmers’. And now, it is evident that opposition political parties are trying to play an extremely dangerous game.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, senior leader of the Congress party, invoked the Islamist ‘Hum Dekhenge’ poem by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the same that was raised so frequently by Islamist anti-CAA protesters. He posted a clip of himself reciting poetry with visuals of the protests. In the poem, he invoked the lines “Sab taj uchhaley jaayenge, Sab takht giraye jaayenge” from the poem by Faiz.
https://twitter.com/sherryontopp/status/1335475478228942849?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) also invoked the same language to affirm their support for the farmer protests. The words that follow these lines in the poem are, “Bas naam rahega Allah ka”.
https://twitter.com/cpimlliberation/status/1331934122890190849?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwEarlier, Shaheen Bagh ‘dadi’ Bilkis Bano was also spotted at these protests and she has been extremely vocal about these protests. There have been concerns from the very beginning that the farmer protests were heading the Shaheen Bagh way with attempts being made to block roads in the national capital. And now, it appears that slogans that were invoked during the anti-CAA protests are also being raised.
The poem was invoked extensively during the anti-CAA protests. It carries the message that “When All Idols Will Be Removed… Only Allah’s Name Will Remain”. The invocation of the poem in the anti-CAA protests attracted great criticism from people across the board. But it appears that the opposition parties are willing to offend Hindu sentiments again to score political points.