Rahul Gandhi
raises specter of revival of terrorism in Punjab
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
Militancy
that characterised the dominant political narrative in Punjab for more than a
decade beginning 1980 has staged a comeback in the electoral discourse in this
state in 2022.
The revival
of terrorism (Atankvaad) is the main issue that former Congress president Rahul
Gandhi has been hammering at his
election meetings in Punjab since yesterday. He today forcefully raised its specter especially in the context of the Aam Aadmi Party.
“You would
not find a Congress leader at the house of a terrorist but leaders from AAP
would be”, he alleged.
He talked of
threat to peace in this state that had been rocked by political violence that
is terrorism for one section and militancy for the other.
He also
talked of divisive agenda of the BJP in this context that he said had the potential to spark this fire
in Punjab. The context was yesterday’s comment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
that he could not visit Debi Talab Mandir during his visit to Jalandhar as the
administration expressed helplessness in making the arrangement. In the
process, Modi was attacking the Charanjit Singh Channi administration. This
comment has been interpreted as rooted in the divisive discourse of the BJP and
the Sangh Parivar.
Rahul
Gandhi, apparently, was targeting the Hindu sections in Punjab by referring to
this fear factor.
Ironically,
going by the data with the union home ministry, about 60 per cent of the people
who became victim of violence by terrorism were Sikhs but this issue is raised
commonly in the context of the Hindu
population.
Punjab’s
political dynamics is different from other states as from the very beginning
since 1947, it is the Congress that has been articulating the Hindu view and
not the Jan Sangh or its later avatar the Bharatiya Janata Party. This is
precisely the reason that the Modi factor does not matter much in electoral
discourse here.
Interestingly,
former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the BJP too have been talking of
threat to national security from Pakistan, the immediate neighbour of Indian
Punjab. These leaders don’t talk of China.
Threat from
Pakistan has never been an issue in Punjab despite this state having been the
war theatre both in 1965 and 1971.
Rather people
in two Punjabs across the Radcliffe Line now desire for peace and the Kartarpur
Sahib Corridor is cited as the best example of being a major step in this context.
The demand
here for years has been to open the border for trade as this can provide access
not only to Pakistan but to the entire central Asian market.
The specter of revival of terrorism has a different context as this is perceived to be
rooted in the demand for an independent Sikh state that characterised the
militancy during the post Operation Bluestar period.
It is
pertinent to mention here that the Shiromani Akali Dal has been projecting
itself as the best guarantee for maintenance of peace and harmony since 1997
and continues to stick to this agenda.
Akali Dal’s
manifesto for 2022 emphasises this point stating’ “Our vision is defined by our
commitment to peace and communal harmony as encapsulated in the sacred words of
Sarbat da Bhala.”
The choice
of Charanjit Singh Channi from scheduled caste sections as the chief minister
is viewed as a major initiative to mobilise these sections. Rahul said the
Congress would carry forward this experiment in other states too.
The Congress
has also been banking upon the role the party played during more than a year
long Punjab led agrarian struggle that
forced Narendra Modi to withdraw the three controversial farm laws to woo the Sikh
peasantry.
However, the
farm struggle is not having any impact on the election scene in the state.
From the way
the specter of revival of terrorism is being raised, it is clear that the political narrative in which it is
rooted has survived over the years.
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