People
Farmer-Activist Laments Degeneration of Politics in Punjab:
Darshan Singh Rudel
AJAY SURA
He renounced his French citizenship, embraced Sikhism, came to Punjab, married here and settled down in the land of the Gurus.
Living here since these past many years, he is disappointed with the current politicians of Punjab who, according to him, have completely diverted from the path shown by the Gurus.
Darshan Singh Rudel, 57, a French national earlier known as Michael Rudel, now lives in Nurpur Bedi in Ropar district of Punjab. He has been doing organic farming for the past 17 years.
Darshan Singh had requested a French court in 1995 to change his name from Michael Rudel to Darshan Singh Rudel, which was declined. Thereafter, he renounced French citizenship and became a UK national, which had issued him a passport in his new name -- Darshan Singh Rudel.
In 1997, he became a Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib and married Malvinder Kaur, who teaches English at a college in Nangal. The couple has been living in Nurpur Bedi since then. He strictly follows the tenets of Sikhism and has even written outside his house that "drunkards are not allowed to enter."
Darshan, a dedicated Sikh with profound knowledge of gurbani and gurmat, said that Sikhs were known for their honesty, integrity, hard work and bravery. But today's politicians have created an environment in Punjab where all such virtues are evaporating, he said.
Harvesting wheat in his fields, Darshan said, "Politicians in Punjab are confined to making money and fighting each other. They don't focus on larger social issues of the state and have almost forgotten the concept of 'sarbat da bhalla' (welfare of all). Today, Punjabis have stopped working in farms, become drug addicts and distanced themselves from hard work and have become money-centric."
He further felt that politicians in Punjab have stopped bothering about pollution in the rivers of the state and are promoting multinational companies (MNCs) due to which people of the state are forced to consume poison by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides for their crops.
"Youth from Punjab, once considered a nursery for defence forces since the British era, have stopped joining the Army and politicians are not even bothered about such issues," he stated.
Darshan Singh, who uses only organic methods at his farm, says what Punjab needs is "genetically modified corruption-free politicians", the kind that are currently nowhere in sight.
He recalls how he had to face the wrath of policemen in Delhi in 1991 for sporting a turban while coming to India. He was subjected to interrogation for several hours to ensure that he was not a sympathizer of Sikh resistance fighters.
He had also written to the then Indian Home Minister, Shankar Rao Chavan that all Sikhs should be treated as the patriots that they are, not presumed to be militant/separatists and having to prove themselves otherwise. However, no reply was ever received from the minister, he said.
[Courtesy: The Times of India. Edited for sikhchic.com]
April 24, 2014
Conversation about this article
1: Devinder Pal Singh (Delhi, India), April 26, 2014, 4:13 AM.
It is quite true: politics on the whole in India has touched astonishingly low levels. The fact that every politician is specializing in maligning and seeking election through foul language foul and one that can be termed unparliamentary cannot be overlooked. We have a model code of conduct for elections by the Election Commission in the country, but politicians and their campaign teams are quite adapted to by-pass or to take advantage of the rules. The political breed hunts together, today none of them have the spine to boycott injustice. In fact everyone will stand opposing the other when it comes to making the maximum of issues. Punjabi politicians, be it Akali, Congress or for that matter BJP et al, have no voice to counter injustice towards the land's populace. You are expected to accept this and continue living by turning a blind eye. The state is turning more like a business operation that wants to make maximum without caring a damn for the masses. The industrious Punjabi has been led astray, he has fallen prey to showmanship, exhibtionism and vices which everyone knows will be detrimental and which have weakened the social fabric of the state. It is time that the voices of all like S. Darshan Singh should be heard and not lost to oblivion. We have a rich legacy, we owe it to ourselves and also the coming generations that it be preserved and accounted for. It's indeed shocking that the current young generation does not have any knowledge and therefore allegiance to the rich heritage of Punjab. 'Success' is paramount and it's only measured by money and what one can exhibit to the society; to achieve it they have forgotten that it requires a genuine and sincere effort without compromises, however the youth is skeptical in following a virtuous, confidence building path, instead they will seek charms and become prone to various vices. We all need to put our heads down and plan recovery without being dependent on the political mandarins of the state and the country.