Khalsa Aid’s ‘Kisan Malls’ for protestors at Singhu and Tikri

Two ‘Kisan Malls’ at the Singhu and Tikri borders between Delhi and Haryana, have caught the imagination of visitors. Set up by UK based Khalsa Aid, the malls provide everything free to the protestors. The malls are stocked with provisions the protestors need on a daily basis and to survive in the harsh winter. Besides soap and sanitisers, the malls are providing jackets and sleeping bags among other things.

Khalsa Aid volunteers help identify the needy among the protestors. They are then given tokens which they can exchange at the malls for what they need. To avoid duplication and also to ensure that the provisions reach only the needy, details like mobile phones and Aadhaar numbers etc. are registered. The malls, volunteers inform, have stocked up shoes, blankets, shawls, warm innerwear and mufflers. Combs, vaselin, soap and tooth brush, which are in great demand, they inform.

Khalsa Aid has also set up foot massage centres and set up ‘langars’ to feed the protestors. A volunteer at Tikri informs that on an average the mall there is catering to around 500 people every day.

Khalsa Aid was set up by UK based Ravinder Singh (Ravi Singh) in 1999. He set up and registered the body initially to help people of Kosovo. He appealed for help and collected enough material in two weeks to load two trucks and a van and set off for Kosovo. It has not looked back since then. Khalsa Aid has reached out with help and humanitarian aid to people in Myanmar, in Yemen, in Greece and in the gulf countries. Khalsa Aid also reached out to Rohingyas displaced from Myanmar and who have taken shelter in Bangladesh. When Kerala suffered from a devastating flood in 2018, the organisation supplied 15 thousand meals every day.

Khalsa Aid, say volunteers, is inspired by the Sikh tradition of ‘ Seva’ and the teachings of Sikh Gurus who preached for the well being of the people ( Sarbat da Bhala).

Ironically, because Khalsa Aid is registered in UK, some BJP politicians and sections of the media have smelt an international conspiracy to defame the Modi Government. Some see the Khalistani hand also as Sikhs in the UK, in Canada, Australia and the US staged protests in support and solidarity of the farmers in India.