By Dr. Sawraj Singh

         Even though we do not know yet how and when the farmers struggle will end, yet some benefits of the struggle have already become obvious.  It has revived our spirits and has given us a new meaning and purpose of life. Punjab had become an epicenter of consumerism. It appeared that many Punjabis were focused on how to make more money and enjoy that money by buying more comforts and conveniences. There are many indices to prove their propensity for consumerism. The Punjabis form about 2% of India's population. However, they own more than 8% of cars in India. Same can be said about TVs, refrigerators, laptops, and smartphones.           

   Consumerism is also driving many Punjabis to migrate to different countries. They feel that they can have more consumer goods as well as more comforts and conveniences in those countries. You can go to any embassy in Delhi and it will become obvious that the vast majority of people seeking a visa to those countries are Punjabis. Similarly, if you go to the International Airport in Delhi, then it becomes obvious that the vast majority of the passengers are Punjabis.                                                                            

                Another evidence of rampant consumerism in Punjab is the poor health of the Punjabis; especially the incidence of obesity and prevalence of diseases such diseases as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.                                                                                             

                Consumerism was promoted in a big way after the Green Revolution in Punjab. It is obvious that the capitalist model of development adopted during the Green Revolution is primarily responsible for the unbridled consumerism in Punjab. However, there is one group of people that did more than anyone else to popularize consumerism in Punjab: the entertainment group (singers and actors).                             

                 The farmers struggle, by reviving the spirit of Punjabis and giving them a new meaning and purpose in life, has generated tremendous enthusiasm among Punjabis to actively change Punjab for the better. People want to share anything they can share with other people and are drawing happiness from giving instead of only taking. This movement away from consumerism is a very welcome change. You can see the changed attitude at the Singhu border. This makes us very hopeful that Punjab is changing for the better.                                                                                                                                 

                We have to remain vigilant and not forget the lessons from the past. It is a very good thing that the singers and actors are realizing their past mistakes and want to participate in the farmer's struggle. However, we should guard against the tendency to let the singers and actors, instead of only entertaining and raising people's morale and enthusiasm, start providing intellectual leadership to the movement, particularly when our past experience in this field has been very bitter. This is the duty of the scholars and thinkers to provide intellectual leadership. People who are conducting the stages should welcome and thank the singers and actors who want to support the struggle. However, they cannot replace the role of the intellectuals, scholars and thinkers. 

                There is also a tendency to think that only singers and actors can motivate and instill enthusiasm among people. I want to share a personal experience in this matter. The biggest gathering that I had the opportunity to address was 500,000 people. I said that our priority should be to spread the universal message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. After my talk, a farmer came to me and said that he had no children and he wants to donate his land to me so that I can use the assets for spreading the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. I thanked him and explained to him that the way I am trying to accomplish that is by writing articles for different newspapers and for that I do not need any money.              

                We should thank the farmers for reviving our spirit and giving us a meaning and purpose of life and helping us to again become humans from consumers. However, it is also our duty to share our experience and views with them.

Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at sawrajsingh@hotmail.com.