WHY ARE THE PUNJAB FARMERS PROTESTING AND WHAT'S THE IMPACT. A brief thread that hopefully breaks down what has happened over the past few weeks, why Punjab farmers are marching in mass to Delhi and what the longer term impacts could be. #FarmersProtest

6/ That’s what makes the state’s fear so revealing. The idea that one speech could threaten stability isn’t about Amritpal Singh’s words. The ground is flammable because the state avoided dealing with the very system that fuelled the alienation.

5/ His rise reflects a generation, especially rural Sikhs, who feel excluded, unheard and sidelined. And despite being jailed under the NSA, he won Khadoor Sahib with a huge mandate. That wasn’t an accident. It was a message. People chose him because their concerns were ignored.

4/ To understand why this matters, look at who Bhai Amritpal Singh is to many Sikhs & Punjabis. Before politics, he spoke about drug addiction, social problems and Sikh identity. Issues that mainstream parties avoided. People didn’t just hear him, they felt recognised by him.

3/ So the question isn’t, “How dangerous is the speaker?” The real question is, “How fragile is the state’s relationship with its own people?” If the system is this nervous about a single address in Parliament, it’s because it knows the disconnect runs wide and deep.

2/ When a government says a single speech by an elected MP could “set five rivers on fire,” it’s admitting something it won’t say out loud: the state fears the public mood far more than the person speaking. Their panic doesn’t just come from one man, it comes from deep insecurity

🧵1/ Words on their own don’t destabilise a stable society. If Punjab is so “combustible” that one speech could cause unrest, that tells us the real issue is years of anger, broken trust and unresolved grievances. The ground only catches fire when it’s been allowed to dry out!

Canada Border Services Agency officer Sandeep Singh Sidhu is suing the Government of India and his own employer for making him the target of a state sponsored disinfo campaign. He’s seeking $9 million in damages for threats, doxxing and reputational harm 🔗 https://t.co/0EYdMXE3fP

Over the years the MP Bob Blackman has used Parliament to misrepresent Sikh activism, campaigns and political engagement. And now he’s hosting an event for Sikhs. The hypocrisy is staggering, from him and from those Sikhs lining up to legitimise it.

India's 'propaganda machine' said a Canadian border officer was a wanted terrorist. Now he's suing.

@aliciakearns it would make sense if @YvetteCooperMP was challenged at the dispatch box today at @FCDOGovUK questions at 11.30am. Those who should take specific note are the Opposition front benches and @OllyGloverLD @Sureena4WNE who have had letters and have an opportunity to

The Government squandered a critical opportunity earlier this year when Jagtar Singh Johal was acquitted of one of the fraudulent charges against him. Months later, with a trade deal to leverage, they faltered again, leaving Jagtar to now suffer the consequences of

Amritpal Singh remains imprisoned in India even after being elected MP, echoing the Nelson Mandela pattern: when activists rooted in grassroots community identity win democratic mandates while the state continually treats them as security threats. https://t.co/3EpnWGL9kp

In 8 years since Jagtar Singh Johal’s detention, 8 foreign secretaries have promised family the case was being raised. But a recent meeting with Yvette Cooper left family frustrated. Jagtar’s brother called it “one of the most disappointing” meetings yet

Despite the UK Government not doing enough, BBC Scotland News reporter Katie Hunter has continued to raise Jagtar’s plight. #FreeJaggiNow

I don’t know why I bothered taking the train down from Glasgow for this. I’ve now met 6 FS’s & this is one of the most disappointing meetings yet, it felt like a significant step back. The PM made a big deal of this meeting, so to show up & hear the same empty talk is devastating

The latest meet between #JagtarSinghJohal's family and a UK Foreign Secretary left the Scottish Sikh political prisoner's brother saying Labour were "going backwards" regarding the case. @GSJohal85 met @YvetteCooperMP today in London. See his statement: https://t.co/dy8ooT72Ku

Hundreds of constituents have written to over 150 MPs in the last six days urging them to ask Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary to explain what diplomatic pressure the Labour government has applied to secure the release and return of British national, Jagtar Singh Johal.

Both Tory & Labour governments have offered nothing but same recycled concerns and empty statements. The double standard is glaring. Other British citizens have had governments move mountains for them. Jagtar Singh Johal’s family has had to fight alone. Prejudice in plain sight.

The brother of a Scottish man arbitrarily detained in India for more than eight years has hit out at the Foreign Secretary, saying it feels like the UK Government has taken 'a significant step back'

As India honours the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, it’s worth remembering that during the anti-Sikh violence of November 1984, mobs in New Delhi attacked historic sites associated with the ninth Sikh Guru. https://t.co/iahcKWmsgV