Seven years later, Bargari Sacrilege Bomb threatens Congress in 2022 after reducing Akali Dal to smithereens in 2017 polls in Punjab

 

Bargari Bomb threatens Congress in 2022 after reducing Akali Dal to smithereens in 2017 polls

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

 

It was on June 1, 2015 that the Bir (copy) of Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib was reported missing from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village triggering turmoil in Sikh religio-political matrix.  Three issues relating to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib narrative needs answers from the people concerned:

1.      Who ordered the withdrawal of the blasphemy case from the court on January 27, 2012, just five days before the Assembly elections.

2.      Why did Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal summoned Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and two of his associates for a meeting at his official residence on September 16, 2015 in violation of the Sikh religious code of conduct.

3.      Who ordered the police to forcibly evict Sikh protesters -men and women- sitting on peaceful dharna at Kotkapua and Behbal Kalan on October 14, 2015.

June 6, 1984 and June 1, 2015 are two of the crucial dates in the Sikh religio-political matrix during the last five decades.

June 6, 1984 is associated with the army attack code-named Operation Bluestar on the most revered shrine of the Sikhs-the Darbar Sahib complex (Golden Temple and Akal Takht), open to every citizen in the world.

Guru Granth Sahib was reported missing on June 1, 2015 from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district in the Malwa hinterland of Punjab.

The Bargari Bomb that in 2017  blew to smithereens the dream of Shiromani Akali Dal President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to rule in Punjab for 25 years, now threaten to derail the Congress government in Punjab headed by Capt Amarinder Singh in the forthcoming Assembly elections in February 2022. This at least is the perception even of a section of the Congress ministers and MLAs.

Capt Amarinder Singh, at one time, had the image of being ‘more Panthic’ than his former Akali associates.

Guru Granth Sahib is Guru Personified:

The sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari that triggered the earthquake in 2015  in Sikh domain whose tremors continue to rock the political discourse in the sensitive border state of Punjab is still the most explosive religio-political issue in the Sikh matrix. Guru Granth Sahib is the sacred text of the Sikhs, that unlike in other religions, has the status of Guru Personified as sanctified by the  Tenth and the last Guru-in-Person, Guru Gobind Singh, and hence different from all other texts considered to be sacred by the respective Faiths.

The sacrilege narrative relates to the first ever theft of Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on June 1, 2015 whose pages were found scattered in nearby Bargari on October 12.

Guru Granth Sahib is the only divine text in the world that is worshipped and installed in gurdwaras as the Sikh places of worship are known. Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and the Akal Takht in front of it in Amritsar are the most sacred places of the Sikh Faith that came up in Amritsar, the city founded by Third Guru, Guru Amardas. The Darbar Sahib was visualised and designed by Guru Arjan Dev, the Fifth Guru, who also compiled Guru Granth Sahib that contains the compositions of his predecessors and  several other acclaimed religious personalities. Guru Granth Sahib was first installed in Darbar Sahib. Akal Takht is the seat of temporal power symbolising Sikh sovereignty. Guru Granth Sahib is the ideological fountain-head of the Sikhs, the very essence of this thought advocating humanism and universal brotherhood without any caste or class distinction.

The narrative of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib symbolised by Bargari (pronounced as Bagrari in local parlance), one of the bigger villages in the Malwa hinterland in Faridkot district, has to be understood in this backdrop. This narrative goes back to June 1, 2015 when the Bir (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib was found missing in the hot afternoon from the gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala adjoining Bargari.

However, this lava that erupted at Bargari  had been smouldering since 2007 when the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance replaced the ruling Congress in the state in the February Assembly elections. Dera Sacha Sauda had extended support to the Congress in 2007 election.

Dera Sacha Sauda and Bargari Narrative:

It is pertinent to mention here that Dera Sacha Sauda was set up way back in 1948 at Sirsa that was then part of Punjab not far from Bathinda. Sirsa became part of Haryana, the new state that emerged on India’s map on November 1, 1966 following re-organisation of Punjab to carve out Punjabi-speaking state. This Dera expanded its activities over the years and came to acquire image of pro-poor social work including providing health facilities. The weaker sections in particular in the areas in Punjab adjoining Haryana flocked to this Dera in large numbers. The Dera Sacha Sauda  started gaining political clout under present chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh born in a landed Sikh family of Rajasthan. He is presently in Rohtak jail after having been convicted in the case of rape of one of his devotees. He entered the field of film production and acting too. He also faces several other cases.

After Sirsa, the next most important centre of this Dera is in Salabatpura village in Bathinda district.

The controversy that rocked Punjab was triggered within weeks of Parkash Singh Badal having taken over as the Chief Minister for the fourth time on March 2, 2007. It related to full page ad appearing  in some newspapers on May 13, 2007 in which Gurmeet Ram Rahim was seen attired like Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs who had passed on Guruship to Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh had started the practice of baptising (Amrit) the Sikhs thereby regimenting this nascent religion starting with five of his devotees who had offered themselves to make every sacrifice for the cause (Panj Piaras). Ram Rahim created seven piaras. In the photograph, he was seen preparing what he called Jam-e-Insan. He copied and distorted practices of Guru Gobind Singh too. The issue is not that is just being attired like Guru Gobind Singh.

It may be recalled here that the Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh too had appointed his 9-Ratans (Jewels) ans started denigrating Sikh religion. This sect came into bloody confrontation with the Sikhs on the Baisakhi of April 13, 1978 in Amritsar to which years of bloody turmoil is attributed. Thirteen Sikh protesters had been killed in clash with the Nirankaris that day but all the accused were acquitted. The dynamics of the Panth came into operation to get justice and Gurbachan Singh was gunned down on April 24, 1980 as the Punjab government decided against going in for appeal.

The design of Dera chief seemed to be total distortion of the Sikh religion.

Protests erupted all over Punjab and a complaint was finally lodged with the Bathinda.  The FIR  No. 262 dated 20.5.2007 was registered on the complaint of Rajinder Singh Sidhu under Section 295-A IPC. The Sikh and Dera activists clashed at several places during this period.

The Sikh clergy led by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti on May 17, following a Panthic meet at Takht Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo,  issued an edict directing the Sikh masses to snap all ties, including social, religious and political, with Gurmeet Ram Rahim and his followers.

The precedent was the edict issued against Nirankaris on June 10, 1978 from Akal Takht on the recommendation of a Sikh conclave organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

The Akali Dal is a party that can’t violate the edicts from Akal Takht openly. This is the party that was constituted on December 14, 1920 at Akal Takht to articulate the Sikh concerns. The Sikhs by and large irrespective of the party affiliations abide by Akal Takht Hukamnamas (directives). This edict thus posed major challenge for the Akali Dal in the context of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls in seeking support of the Dera followers.

Going by this edict, the Akali Dal could not seek political support from the Dera and neither was it sought publicly. This edict put a stop to the activities of this Dera in Punjab where this sect has the highest following. Moves were initiated for the withdrawal of this edict but this was not possible without following the specified  procedure. Tension started rising in the villages where the Dera followers faced virtual social boycott. The gurdwaras used to perform ceremonies relating to marriages or death. It may be clarified here that the Sikh Dera followers follow the Sikh ceremonies at social functions.

Sukhbir Singh Badal was elected as president of the Shiromani Akali Dal on January 31, 2008.

Delimitation and political choices:

An important dimension  that dictated this narrative was the process of delimitation of the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies going on at that time.

Badals bastion Faridkot was declared reserve Lok Sabha constituency in place of Bathinda that had high concentration of Dera followers, and hence its bargaining power. This aspect directly concerned the Badals. Both Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal had earlier represented this constituency.

Dera Sacha Sauda is the only sect in this region that has its political wing. The candidates cutting across party lines, especially in the Malwa belt,  have been seeking support of the Dera chief even at the cost of getting humiliated.

The Lok Sabha election was due in 2009.

Here is the unexplained turning point in the backdrop of this high voltage situation that has remained ignored in this narrative.

Dera signals support to Akali Dal in November 2008

Ram Singh, head of the political wing  of Dera Sacha Sauda, on November 6, 2008, announced at a press conference in Patiala that options were open to support the Akali Dal in Lok Sabha election. (The Tribune, November 7, 2008). The issue here is not that of the Akali Dal seeking support but indication of ground work having been done behind the scenes. What was the quid pro quo? At the time when the Dera stood ostracised from the Sikh institutions, such a move  is unlikely to have been initiated without some sort of tacit understanding. This was the turning point in this narrative.

Sukhbir Singh Badal was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister on January 21, 2009.

There were two outstanding issues at that time relating to Dera Sacha Sauda and at two different levels. One was the case registered against the Dera chief under blasphemy and the other was edict from Akal Takht for boycott of the Dera. The Akali Dal was in power in Punjab and also dominated the SGPC thereby controlling the Sikh institutions in practice.

It was in this background that the path was cleared to field Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Sukhbir Singh Badal, from Bathinda. This was to be her debut in legislative politics. She won from this seat in 2009 with a margin of more than one lakh votes.

Police withdraw case against Dera chief before Assembly polls

What can be assumed to be confirmation of the retrospective tacit understanding between Dera chief and the Akali Dal leadership emerged much later. Just five days before the Assembly elections, the Punjab police  on January 27, 2012, filed the cancellation report of the FIR registered against the Dera chief in 2007 under charge of blasphemy.

Here was a case that had far reaching ramifications. Could the police have filed the cancellation report without consulting the Chief Minister, or at least informing him? Only Parkash Singh Badal can answer this question. Question should be asked only to the Chief Minister despite the fact that his son Sukhbir Singh Badal was the Deputy Chief Minister incharge of Home department controlling the police.

Once the police filed cancellation report, the signal was loud and clear to the Dera followers. Their fear was over. This cancellation report emboldened them going by the subsequent developments.

The turning point in this dynamics came after three years in 2015 when the Dera announced release of its film ‘MSG’ in which Gurmeet Ram Rahim had acted. The Censor Board cleared the film towards January end and was set to hit the screens on February 13. The trailer of this picture was earlier released that glorified the Dera chief.  The Sikh groups protested against its release in several states. Punjab banned its screening on January 17, 2015.The movie was released in rest of India as scheduled. The Dera devotees in Punjab gave ultimatum to state government till February 26 or face protests. However, it was its sequel MSG-2 that was to trigger turmoil.

Guru Granth Sahib found stolen

The timer for the explosive had already been set. It was  on June 1, 2015 when the Bir of Guru Granth Sahib was found missing from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village.

Although it was for the first time that a copy of Guru Granth Sahib had been stolen from a gurdwara, none from the political leadership in the state government even took notice of this unprecedent incident. Not even any minister visited the village. Record must be released in case the Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister in charge of the police department held any meeting with the state police chief on this sensitive issue. After all, here was the Akali Dal government, the party whose 1974 constitution talks of protection and propagation of Sikh religion as its very first objective. The case should have been accorded top priority.

As the MSG-2 was released, it was not screened in Punjab. The Dera followers started protests in the state from September 19 and blocked rails and roads demanding its screening. “Thousands of Dera Sacha Sauda sect followers held protest demonstrations in Malwa region of Punjab for the second consecutive day despite bad weather to demand that MSG-2 movie starring sectarian head Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh should be screened in the state on Sunday. Railway authorities were forced to cancel 12 passenger and four goods trains after hundreds of followers sat on the tracks on the outskirts of Moga since Saturday evening, refusing to let trains pass. Trains on the Ferozepur-Moga-Ludhiana, Ferozepur-Moga-Chandigarh, Ferozepur-Jalandhar-Amritsar and Ferozepur-Fazilka line, among others, were affected. Protesters also blocked major road routes leading to Moga despite the intermittent rains witnessed all through Sunday”. (The Tribune, September 21, 2015). Malout-Bathinda highway too was blocked.

The role of the state government in allowing this democratic protest by Dera followers has to be kept in mind in the context of what happened at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan on October 14 when the Sikh devotees staged dharnas.

The protest by Dera followers was lifted on September 22 following assurance by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to sort out the issue within three or four days as claimed by the Dera activists. (The Indian Express, September 23, 2015). Officiality, the administration maintained it was an issue between the Dera followers and the cinema owners as there was no ban on it. The movie finally  hit the screens in Punjab on September 26.

Badal summons Jathedars:

The Badal government, however, had already set in motion the covert design to facilitate unhindered release of MSG-2 in the state. In a move unprecedented in the Sikh religio-political dynamics, Chief Minister Badal summoned Akali Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and his associates from Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib  and Takht Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, at his official residence in Chandigarh on September 16 evening. It was Takht Damdama Sahib chief Giani Gurmukh Singh who later spilled the beans. They had been called to exonerate Dera chief of the blasphemy charge. The jathedars can’t be summoned by a chief minister and this meeting constituted violation of Sikh religious code of conduct. The institution of Akal Takht was denigrated in the process. The withdrawal of the 2007 edict would have paved the way for the release of MSG-II.

The Dera chief was exonerated by the Akal Takht on September 24 on the basis of a flimsy apology letter brought by an emissary. This controversial exoneration kicked up a storm in the Sikh domain. Facing angry protests, Giani Gurbachan Singh stopped performing his duties at Akal Takht and appearing on any platform. These jathedars were not allowed by the Sikhs to participate in any function in any gurdwara. What further shocked the Sikhs was that this highly controversial  decision of the Sikh clergy was aggressively defended by the Akali Dal dominated Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee by releasing full page ads in newspapers that amounted brazen misuse of Golak (Offerings) money. Both the Akal Takht and the SGPC, the highest institutions of the Sikhs, suffered irreparable damage in the process. Buildings can be reconstructed fast but not the institutions.

This exoneration in violation of the Sikh code of conduct not only deepened the angered among the Sikhs but also in a major section of the Golden Temple’s religious establishment that had never happened earlier.

This exoneration, however, had come too late at another level.

Posters appeared in Bargari and Burj villages on the evening of September 24 challenging the Sikhs in abusive language to locate Guru Granth Sahib claimed to be hidden in Bargari village. No search was carried out by the police in Bargari.

 

The Sikhs were delivered another shock when pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found scattered in the streets of Bargari in the morning of October 12, 2015. Surprisingly, no senior Akali leader rushed to Bargari.

The controversial clean chit to Dera chief was revoked by the high priests on October 16 but this failed to mollify the understandable Sikh anger.

Police firing on protesters:

People started gathering in Bargari as the news spread like wild fire and later marched in procession to Kotkapura in the evening carrying torn pages and started the dharna. The protesters included men and women, young and old. The police came into action early in the morning on October 14. Three hours later, the police targeted another dharna that was at Behbal Kalan adjoining Bargari. The protests were peaceful at both the places. The police opened fire first at Kotkapura and later at Behbal where two protesters were killed.

None could have visualised that Sikh devotees demanding justice for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib would be gunned down by the police and that too under the Akali Dal government headed by Fakhr-e-Qaum Panth Rattan Parkash Singh Badal.  Democratic protest under democracy is the right of the people. This highest ever honour on any Sikh leader was bestowed  on Parkash Singh Badal from Akal Takht on December 6, 2011.

What was the provocation to disperse the peaceful protesters, and who ordered the police action? Mr Badal was continuously in touch with the police officers at Kotkapura at that time as per the investigations and admission by him. Who deputed the police to Behbal Kalan even though the dharna was not on the highway?

And the police that opened fire on the protesters were unidentified in the FIR dated October 21, 2015 registered at Bajakhana police station. It was, of course, said the police party was headed by Moga SSP Charanjit Singh.

Answer should come from Mr. Badal. This is the basic issue. How the police dealt with the situation at both Kotkapura and Behbal is rooted in this order. It is in the Bollywood movies that the chief minister directly tells the police to open fire on the people.

The police had not taken any action during earlier protest by Dera devotees who had blocked highways and rail tracks for two days. The police action on October 14 was avoidable. The police had not acted earlier when the devotees of Sera Sacha Sauda had blocked roads and rail tracks protesting on the issue of screening od MSG-2. The way the similar situations were handled differently calls for explanation.

Protests spilled across Punjab and several highways and rail tracks remained blocked for days against this police action.

It is for the investigative agencies to trace the roots of the crime and expose people who provided patronage to the criminals.

However, what is evident is that sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari is rooted in the narrative associated with politico-electoral dynamics of the Akali Dal. The role of the Akali Dal leadership during post-2017 period is equally important in the continuation of this narrative in attacking the Sikh protesters despite the party having been wiped out in this Assembly election.

As anger spilled out on the roads, the Akali Dal leadership opted for organising ‘Sadbhavna’ rallies to confront the mobilisation of the Sikhs seeking justice with first such show at Bathinda on November 23. With this rally, the Akali Dal that once was a Panthic party, was on collision course with the Sikhs seeking justice for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. And the confrontation continues.

The Badal government set up Jora Singh commission to probe the sacrilege but there was none from the senior echelons in government when he reached the Punjab Civil Secretariat to submit his report that was received by an Under Secretary. This report was virtually consigned to the dustbin. A similar fate awaited the Akali Dal at the political level.

The Akali Dal was reduced to 15 out of 117 seats in the February 2017 Assembly polls having failed to come up even as the main opposition, the slot that was captured by the Aam Aadmi Party.   

Akalis continue opposing Panthic bodies post 2017:

Capt Amarinder Singh as Congress President committed himself on oath to arrest the culprits and provide justice in the sacrilege case. Justice is still awaited.

The Amarinder government appointed Justice Ranjit Singh Commission and recommended further probe. Badals and the SGPC boycotted this commission. The Akali Dal abstained from discussion on this report in the Assembly and rejected it. This commission had recommended deeper probe.

Different teams set up to probe various aspects of these cases is a separate issue. This dimension is shrouded in unending legal and political controversies.

The basic issues is that of taking these cases to the logical. The Amarinder government seems to be faulting. This has provoked strong reaction against Capt Amarinder Singh within the ruling party itself.

The Sikh organistions started indefinite sit-in at Bargari on June 1, 2018 that lasted about six months demanding action against the culprits. The dharna was lifted on the assurance of Capt Amarinder Singh. Punjab witnessed massive mobilisation of the Sikhs during that period.

Ironically, the Akali Dal committed another blunder when agitation was launched from Bargari. Leading the dharna was former MP and Akal Takht parallel acting Jathedar Dhian Singh Mand with a radical past. Punjab witnessed massive mobilisation of the Sikhs but the leaders in command proved to be too small. The lack of capacity of these so called Panthic leaders despite such massive support from the Sikhs at large in a way is the strength of the Badals.

Badal addressed the media along with entire party leadership when dharna was started at June 1at Bargari  saying these very people  were responsible for the killing of Hindus during militancy. His comment  that these were the people who used to say ‘Pehlan Vaddhange Mone, Phir Vaddhnge Jhone’ (We will first kill Hindus and then harvest paddy) became the signature tune of the Akali conferences. The Akali Dal failed to revive till 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Punjab can’t afford yet another denial of justice.

Justice failed the Sikhs in case of clash with the Nirankaris in 1978.

That denial resulted in far reaching repercussions leading to a situation that still awaits closure.

History has its lessons provided one is willing to learn.