Marginalised Shiromani Akali Dal fails to produce any inspirational agenda at its 100th anniversary

 

Created to articulate Sikh aspirations with Panth as inspiration, Akali Dal at 100 stands lost

 

Jagtar Singh

Ground Zero

The little known fact is that the Shiromani Akali Dal which turned 100 today, is the first political party in India - that also included present day Pakistan and Bangladesh - that was organized by the Indians themselves.

The credit for being the oldest political party is given to the Congress that was not created by the Indians but by the British to act as a bridge between the colonial government and the people under it.

Yet another fundamental difference between the two oldest political parties in the country is that the Akali Dal was the product of the struggle for the liberation of gurdwaras whose tone and tenor were anti-imperialist. Rooted in the Panthic traditions and doctrine, the party slowly donned the role of articulating the aspirations of the Sikhs. Struggles on pro-people issues became the symbol of this party over the years.

This party with its glorious past today is adrift and stands completely lost in wilderness after it was programmed by its power hungry leadership to compete only for political power rather than being the agent of social change. At a juncture during its journey, the party opted for shedding the core ideology of being the articulator of the Panthic traditions in favour of the agenda of Punjabiat, overlooking the fact that humanism is the core of the Panth.

Sikh doctrine enunciated by Guru Nanak is of universalism, love and brotherhood and is progressive in nature. The party that evolved from this tradition digressed from this path in February 1996 at its 75^th anniversary conference at Moga that has resulted in the present mess. The president of the party at that time was Parkash Singh Badal and Punjab was emerging out of a period of long struggle that had turned violent in the very beginning itself.

The party set one target in 1996 and that was political power. The party succeeded  like never before under Badal but started distancing from core values that was reflected in tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa in April 1999 when even Guru Granth Sahib was not installed on the stage at the main function at Anandpur Sahib attended by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.

The Akali Dal adopted a new culture rooted in power politics.

It was this lust for power that resulted in its dynastic monopolization. From the party of Sikh masses, the Akali Dal has been reduced to a party controlled by just one family with crumbs shared with some other families too that constitute this power structure called party organization. The power is passed on to the next generation without raising of any question.

Sukhbir Singh Badal has the unique distinction of being the only president who did not go to jail in any political struggle but in a corruption case.

It was to thwart any threat to the monopolisation of power that the powerful institutions like the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee were denigrated and marginalized. These used to be the source of both inspiration and power for the Akali Dal. The SGPC was the parent organization of the party. In the process, it was the Akali Dal that got hit severely. The party cadre now is loyal to the leaders, not to any ideology or Panthic values.

The new leaders prefer to shun that glorious history and traditions.

The result of distancing from Panthic traditions in favour of power politics produced the Bargari tragedy. One can’t even imagine that the Sikhs protesting against the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, their Living Guru, would be fired upon under the Akali Dal government.

The party leadership should have at least apologized for the 2015 Bargari blunder on its 100^th anniversary.

India is presently witnessing the biggest struggle over years led by Punjab and Delhi is virtually under siege.

This is the struggle by the farmers provoked by the three farm ordinances promulgated by the Narendra Modi government that were rammed into law  within minutes in the two Houses of Parliament without deliberations. The Akali Dal was part of the government at that time.

And it was the Badal family that was the first to enter the field to strongly defend these ordinances and attack the agitating farmers as being Naxalites and misled by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. As the pressure from the farmers started turning into tidal wave,  Harsimrat Kaur Badal was withdrawn from the Modi cabinet followed by breaking the alliance entered into with the BJP within months after the Akali Dal had converted itself into a Punjabi party.

The party that is the product of glorious struggle is not even on the margins of the farmers struggle now despite having repositioned itself. These very farmers used to be the part of struggles of the Akali Dal from time to time.

Ironically, the party failed to organize even a proper anniversary function at the traditional Manji Sahib Hall in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex. The Path was organized in Baba Gurbaksh Singh memorial. The party functions used to be organized in Manji Sahib Diwan Hall before the Akali Dal headquarters shifted from the Darbar Sahib complex to a posh office in Chandigarh.

Would the party apologise to the Panth and the farmers and reset the priorities?

The documents of the Akali Dal used to be historic. Not any more for the last two decades. It was missing again today.

Its 100^th anniversary fails to produce any inspirational agenda, at least till the filing of this write-up.