Gurmehar Kaur's Grandfather Shames the BJP: Do Not Teach Us Nationalism
NEW DELHI: A clearly distressed, and hurt, grandfather took to the television studios to speak out against the filthy campaign unleashed against his “beti.” With tears in his eyes Kanwaljeet Singh expressed his deep anguish to television reporters of the attack on his granddaughter Gurmehar Kaur asking if this was the “reward” the BJP had for the family of his son killed in the Kargil war.
Supporting his ‘beti’ he urged those attacking her, not to teach “us nationalism”. He said in one of the interviews: "Punjabis live for the nation. Will they teach nationalism to us? We have lost our son, do we need to prove anything?"
All that Gurmehar Kaur had done was to stand up on Facebook with a placard saying she was not afraid of the ABVP, after the cadres of this students wing of the RSS had attacked peaceful students in Delhi University, including her friends.
The campaign against the young girl started by the ABVP, joined in by senior BJP functionaries including a MP and the Minister of State for Home Affairs, and further fanned by personalities like Virender Sehwag and Ranjit Hooda finally drove Gurmehar Kaur whose protest was clearly driven by her faith in Indian democracy and the law indoors even as her worried mother, and now grandfather have emerged along with thousands of others across the country to speak out against those who have threatened her over the last several days.
His voice breaking in some interviews, Kanwaljeet Singh said that his “beti Gurmehar” was just 21 years old, and had not said anything against those who had launched this vicious attaxck against her.
He said that his son, Mandeep Singh, had died in the Kargil war after killing 26 Pakistani soldiers. He said he was marytyred for the nation and this was when the BJP was in power then, as it is now. Is this our reward, he asked.
Singh said that the government had not even issued Identity cards to the family, had done nothing to help them handle their grief. And now the BJP is in government at the centre, and has not even criticised the attack on Guremehar Kaur.
Answering questions Singh said he was deeply hurt, anguished. But when asked whether he was worried about the threats received by his daughter responded immediately, “I am not worried at all. What is there to be worried about. I have lost a son. And they can at best take someones life, thats all they can do.”He said that “killing should not be the object of life, drama is being created which should not be highlighted. Politicians must refrain from making statements.” He referred to Minister Rijiju saying all this was not good.
Gurmehar Kaur has left Delhi for her family home at Jalandhar. She has police, given by the state government, outside her residence. She has made it clear that she is not scared, but at the same time is not going to continue on this issue as a “lion only roars once.” This roar did give a new impetus to the students stir in Ramjas college, with the issue drawing widespread condemnation from across the country.