Akalis should declare Sikh detenus as political prisoners to exhibit their commitment

 Akalis should declare Sikh detenus as political prisoners to exhibit their commitment

  

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

The coming together of several decimated Akali factions and some Sikh organisations to demand release of several Sikh prisoners in jail for more than two decades as part of the radical struggle is a welcome step.

This is the first such gathering organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee after rejection of Shiromani Akali Dal by the people in February 2022 Assembly elections.

The next logical step is that these organisations and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee should declare these detenus as the political prisoners to remove any doubt about their commitment to the cause.

They were associated with the struggle that is commemorated by martyrs’ memorial in Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex that is known as Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale memorial. Not only that. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, assassins of prime minister Indira Gandhi and Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha, who gunned down retired army chief general A S Vaidya, were declared martyrs and their anniversaries are commemorated by the SGPC at Akal Takht.

One of the important dimensions in this narrative, however, is the intention  and motives of these leaders and the factions.

They are seeking legitimacy and this meeting  is dictated by their struggle for survival.

The Shiromani Akali Dal  in particular needs this legitimacy to return to the Panthic domain after having faced unprecedented rejection in election. It was different in 1989 Lok Sabha election when Punjab had elected Panthic candidates supported by radicals and ditched Akali candidates. Now the humiliating defeatof Akalis  is at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party. The Akali Dal had distanced from the Panthic domain at its 75^th anniversary conference at Moga in February 1996 in favour of ‘Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat’ as articulated in the speech of party chief Parkash Singh Badal.

Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) headed by Simranjit Singh Mann was reduced to irrelevance after the unprecedented mandate in 1989. That leadership could not bear the weight of that mandate and phased out yielding space to Badal faction.

It is now for the Sikhs to get convinced about commitment to the cause  these leaders and factions have now taken up. However, what can’t be overlooked is recent history.

The above two pictures are 36 years apart but tell the same story of politics of opportunism and the battle for survival. Buth these pictures represent the Sikh religio-political domain and interestingly, the venue too is the Golden Temple complex. After all, this shrine is geographical and ideological centre of the Sikh religio-political domain. Every millimetre of this shrine is drenched in the blood of the martyrs.

The 1986 picture is that of commemoration of anniversary of army attack code-named Operation Bluestar on Golden Temple complex and the function was organised by the radicals who had once again taken over the control of this complex. Punjab was then under the rule of Akali Dal with Surjit Singh Barnala as the chief minister who had refused to induct Badal in his cabinet.

Badal was initially opposed to the signing of Punjab Accord in which Barnala played a key role but later ratified the same to get ticket for 1985 Assembly polls. He led the revolt against Barnala when police entered the Golden Temple complex on April 29, 1986 after the declaration of Khalistan by the newly formed Panthic Committee at Sarbat Khalsa on January 26, 1986 at Akal Takht. Badal joined Operation Bluestar anniversary but was not accommodated on the stage. He sat among the audience. He forgot this anniversary for years after that. He was seeking legitimacy from within the Panthic domain at that time that he was to dump in 1996.

One need not go far behind but just recall sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari and the resultant narrative, especially the massive Sikh conclave at Chabba on 10 November, 2015 at which Jagtar Singh Hawara was declared Jathedar of Akal Takht. The reaction of Shiromani Akali Dal president and then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was highly significant in the context of the latest meeting. He had said, “How can people guilty of serious criminal activities give leadership to the community?” It is same Hawara whose release is now being sought. Akali Dal had launched series of conferences to counter the Chabba gathering.

One has to go back to comments of Parkash Singh Badal when Bargari agitation was launched by Dhyan Singh Mand on June 1, 2018. He said at a news conference at Bathinda, “They are the same people who used to say-Pehlan Wadhaange Mone, Phir Wadhaange Jhone”. He repeated this line at his party’s conferences that followed to neutralise Bargari effect.

One of the prisoners whose release is being sought is Prof Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar. The Badal government in 2013 had dubbed him as dangerous.

Moreover, the very police officers who were known for human rights violations and fake encounters were given precedent by the Badal government. The inquiry report into the forced disappearance of Akal Takht Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaonke was never released by Badal government despite the issue having been persistently taken up by Sikh bodies. He was the same Badal who had signed in April 1992 even the memorandum submitted to the United Nations demanding Khalistan. This document was signed too by SGPC that is statutory body.

The situation now is so dismal is that most of the senior Akali leaders can’t face the Sikh Diaspora.

These leaders have joined hands seeking revival under this agenda of release of Sikh prisoners. The Narendra Modi government had earlier promised to release them.

The government might release some of them for which the credit might be given to non-Akali Sikh bodies that the present regime is now promoting after Akali Dal came out of alliance with the BJP in 2020 under pressure from the farmers struggle that the House of Badals had initially supported outrightly.

It is in this context that there is question mark over credibility and commitment of some of these leaders and organisations.

They should exhibit their commitment by declaring these detenus as political prisoners.

The next threat is forthcoming election to the general house of the SGPC. The BJP is already mobilising the Sikh groups and facilitating their meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.