Sacramento (United States) At the time when Indian State banned a movie on human rights activist Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra who exposed mass extrajudicial killings by security forces in Punjab, and even halted its release internationally, a new government school is coming up in United States on his name, recognizing his priceless contribution to the humanity.
This school is going to be open in Fresno city of California state of the US. The information was shared by Local political consultant Navkaran Singh Gurm, who launched a campaign for Fresno City Council District 7.
“Historic! Congratulations to Central Unified School Board on naming its new school Jaswant Singh Khalra Elementary School! This milestone celebrates the rich diversity of our region and honors the enduring contributions of the Sikh-Punjabi community to Fresno’s vibrant tapestry!”, he said in a post on X (formerly twitter).
He added, “Jaswant Singh Khalra Elementary School opening in Fall 2025 will be the first public school in North America named after someone of Sikh decent. The naming was done by a 6-0-1 vote of the Central Unified School Board tonight”.
As per Sikh thinker and journalist Gurpreet Singh Sahota, by taking this decision, the board and Sikh community of this area have created a history.
The City Council of Fresno renamed Victoria Park after Jaswant Singh Khalra on 26 August 2017. After bringing the motion before the City Council, the council member Oliver Baines said, “Jaswant Singh Khalra for Punjabi/Sikh Community is like Martin Luther King Jr. for my community.”
In 2020, three key Canadian cities of Burnaby, New Westminster and Brampton dedicated September 6 to Jaswant Singh Khalra to mark his 25th death anniversary. The Civic bodies of these cities have proclaimed this day as “Jaswant Singh Khalra Day” on their own levels to pay tribute to him on his death anniversary. Signed by the respective mayors, the proclamations issued by the city councils contain the same words to pay tribute to Khalra who originally belonged to Khalra village of Tarn Taran district.
Thus, his contribution is being hailed globally. However, the Indian State is adopting a different approach toward him to hide its sins which were exposed by him on international platforms. Role of India in killing of Sikh activists on foreign soil is under scanner on a global level, especially in the US, Canada and other countries.
Internationally acclaimed Punjabi singer Diljit Singh Dosanjh’s movie Punjab ’95, a biopic on Khalra who brought out truth of the genocide of Sikhs in Punjab on global forums and exposed the cruel face of the Indian State, has recently been banned here.
In September last year, the Censor Board proposed as many as 120 cuts in the movie. It asked for the renaming of Khalra’s character. CBFC has asked the makers, Honey Trehan and Ronnie Screwvala, to drop Punjab ‘95 as the film’s name – a reference to the year Khalra died. The most pivotal change is to not call the protagonist Jaswant Singh anymore.
As per the board, the movie cannot claim to be based on real-life incidents. Also, mentions of Punjab and the district of Tarn Taran are to be dropped, along with any reference to the national flag of India, Canada, or UK.
As per director Honey Trehan, the movie is based on court judgements in the Khalra case so is part of legal history of India. But why does the censor board in BJP rule have blocked the movie on HR abuses committed under Congress rule?
On the directions of the Indian government, the teaser of this movie has been removed from YouTube in India.
After dropping a plan to release the movie in India, the makers went ahead to release it internationally. However, the Indian government, using pressure tactics, did not allow its international release.
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