The Struggle to Save Punjab's Civilization
Parmjeet Singh Gazi | @psgazi
On August 28th, 2022, sangat from the surrounding areas of Chamkaur Sahib gathered to protest a papermill being constructed by Ruchina Papers. At this gathering, Bhai Parmjeet Singh Gazi shared his thoughts on the recent mobilizations and the protests being held to defend Punjab’s water. Bhai Parmjeet Singh draws on a range of experiences and examples to clearly articulate the importance of collective, mass struggles to defeat our adversary. Grappling with the inherent tension and contradictions of these movements, he explains how the small victories and lessons learned in these smaller morchay are key stepping stones to the larger battles we know are on our horizon.

Water is the most fundamental thing in this world. Water is the foundation of life, not only for humans but also for all vegetation, animals, birds, and any other form of life.
To understand the depth of the water crisis in Punjab, the Central Ground Water Board issued a report in 2017. The report estimated that there is about 260 million acre-feet of water when measuring up to 1000 feet underground across three layers/reservoirs of Punjab’s natural groundwater resources. One acre foot of water is when we fill water in one acre of land at a depth of a foot (one acre foot of water is equivalent to 43,560 cubic feet of water).
Every year we extract 29 million acre-feet of water out of the earth while 17.5 million acre feet of water gets deposited back into the earth. That means every year–out of the 260 million acre feet of water that is underground–we lose 11.5 million acre feet of water. These figures are from the reports of the Central Ground Water Board and the departments of India and Punjab’s government. This report is the basis of the claim we commonly hear that Punjab only has 17 years of water left. We need to understand that the situation is so dire today that our fight at this point is not even to preserve clean water anymore, but to fight and save even the polluted water.
Recently, news emerged that a well pump near Sangrur was pumping out red water. Near Zira, a tubewell was spouting alcohol at the depth of 550 feet. This is why people forced the Melbros factory to remain closed for a month. The owners of these factories use their wealth and technology to dispose of the polluted water produced by their factories simply by draining it between 500-700 feet underground. Now that the groundwater level is depleting so drastically, many of the tubewells and other sources of drinking water have had go deeper and have now reached the depth that factories have been dumping their polluted water for a long time.
Kudrat (nature) is infinite. Whatever we give, is returned back to us. Wherever the poisonous water from factories and the waste of illegal colonies is being poured back into the earth, cases like the one in Zira are bound to happen. You have the opportunity to proactively prevent this from happening in your area today.
Now the challenge is how to find the solution to these issues.
One way to address these kinds of issues is through elected representatives who are sent to the Vidhan Sabha (legislature) to craft policy and legislation addressing important social issues. When we look at lawmaking in Punjab and India for some time now however, it is the laws these politicians are making that are creating these problems in the first place. The legendary farmers’ struggle that we fought took place because these problems cannot actually be solved through the parliamentary system.
The second way is to address these kinds of issues through the executive branch of government–the bureaucracy. They’re supposed to assess how they can address different social issues. The problematic role of the bureaucracy is evident when we look at the situation in Matewara. Despite the pushback of the people in the village, the administration took over their land and the residents of Sekhewal are still fighting against that project. Despite the government saying that the project is canceled and the land will be given back, that still hasn’t actually happened yet. It’s clear that the administration and bureaucracy is effectively a pawn of colonial powers.
The third avenue believed to address these kinds of issues is through the government or political class who are meant to listen to their constituents and address critical social issues. But we know that policy remains unchanged even if governments are overturned. This is why the project that Captain Amrinder started is being executed by the Aam Aadmi Party after they came into power.
The fourth way to solve these issues is through sangarsh (struggle/mobilization). We have seen recently that all of our serious issues–from the farm bills to Mattewara–are being addressed solely because of popular mobilization. Today, with the awareness and frustration being felt amongst the people of Punjab–and the gravity of the issues we are facing– sangarsh is essential to solving these issues.
To win any struggle, unity is very important. Despite our differences, by creating common demands we can wage a successful struggle. We have only begun our struggle now, but when governments begin to take repressive action, then our resolve and faith will be tested. If we pass all these tests firmly, then we are destined to win. Just like how we fought during the Farmers struggle. These small victories will increase our capacity to meaningfully address the larger issues.
Today, whether there is a protest in Zira or we are gathered at Chamkaur Sahib, we need to understand that we are not solely fighting for our health; we are fighting tooth and nail to save Punjab and our very civilization. We are gathered at the Gurdwara Sahib today. We should play our part after doing ardaas so that our sidak (faith/resolve) is tested, that our determination is tested, and our unity is tested. May we be victorious after successfully completing each of these tests, and ultimately preserve the air and water of Punjab.