Sunil Kumar Shinde has done it. Yet again. The front page of a news daily tells the already terror-weary Indian to find comfort in the fact that the Ministry of Home Affairs has made one more praiseworthy discovery(action is always a thing for another time, another minister)- that Pakistan is trying to revive Sikh militancy to carry out attacks in India. The report is based on interrogation of imprisoned militants from the neighbourhood and recovery of smuggled arms across the Indo-Pak border in Punjab. Hah! That's evidence enough to incriminate every turban-wielding resident of India. Irrespective of the potential damage that Mr. Shinde's insensitivity may cause, I do hope that the Divine is monitoring and nursing his sickly, good intent of cautioning a secular democracy against its bravest sons of the soil. Now thanks to this utterly irresponsible, yet honorable Home Minister, the entire Sikh community shall come under the scanner once again. In the past, having been mistaken for members of Islamic Terror Outfits (London, Washington, Paris), it has been a challenge for each proud Sikh to carry his turban with grace and dignity, the world over. Now Mr. Shinde has ensured that the mistrust and hatred from the 80s is brought back to life through his loosely-worded remarks and each Sikh, even in his own country, is eyed with suspicion.
This is not the first time that SKS has generated buzz around his otherwise lack-lustre career. From his utterly stupid humor, comparing Coalgate to Bofors, to the Congress-'chintan' rally in Jaipur; this irrepressible Dalit has shown only such depth of understanding of the dynamics of Indian governance. In Jaipur, he had insolently doled out a similar view against RSS and BJP, stating that they were responsible for purporting Hindu terrorism. Proof, evidence and discretion of expression were not specified in the honorable minister's portfolio then, neither has that been done now. Incidentally, the Islamic terrorist outfits lauded his irresponsible statements and had a good laugh over a hookah! His stance as the lathi-weilding politico over the peaceful protestors in rape-disturbed Delhi in Dec'12 needs little dusting. All said and done, one really needs higher intelligence to understand this Congressman's noble intent behind alarming a country against the community, whose member is actually leading the nation. Yes, we know that the whole country is out to oust MMS from his position of leadership, including several ambitious Congressmen. But this is a whole new low, Mr. Shinde. You sure know how to stoop to conquer.
