Change in leadership of Akali Dal is called for to revive the party as voice of the Panth and Punjab

 

Revival of Sikh institutions including Akali Dal depends upon change in top leadership

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

The situation has never been so desperate in the Sikh religio-political domain ever since the struggle started for the liberation of the gurdwaras from which emerged the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 1920.

The Sikh institutions have landed in unfathomable depth.

This dimension has to be viewed in the context of Sikhism being a religio-political body corporate and not just like any other religion. Sikhism  is rooted in a philosophy that is humanistic and universal professing egalitarianism. at least institutions are identified as the voice of the Sikhs.

At the top in the hierarchy is the Akal Takht, the institution set up by the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, that symbolises the Sikh sovereignty, whatever might be its interpretation in the present context.

The SGPC was set up by a representative mobilisation of the Sikhs at a 2-day conclave at Akal Takht on November 15-16, 1920.

The SGPC is the second institution of the Sikhs.

The Akali Dal was set up as a wing of the SGPC, again at Akal Takht, about a month later on December 14, 1920.

The Akali Dal turned Shiromani later and finally, evolved as an institution to articulate issues and concerns of the Sikhs along with the SGPC. It is pertinent to mention here that the role of the SGPC has been religio-political and not just management of the Sikh places of worship.

Now all the three institutions are facing the crisis that is unprecedented in recent years.

It is the credibility of these three institutions that has now come under question.

Not that these institutions remain insulated during militancy when the SGPC was even “dissolved” by the militants, but continued to function.

Role of the Akal Takht too had turned controversial too both during pre and post Operation Bluestar, the army attack on the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) complex in June 1984.

However, the nadir during the recent period was witnessed around the period associated with sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari and the related incidents in 2015.

It is the Shiromani Akali Dal that now stands completely marginalised in politico-electoral domain.

The result of the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypolls has dealt final blow to the Akali Dal, a situation from which Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh too can’t escape.

Of late, especially after the the rout of the Akali Dal in February 2022 Assembly elections, Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has been moving indirectly to revive the fortunes of the party and his call for Panthic unity was on these lines. This is not just a solitary example.

First, the relationship between the three institutions.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is a statutory body under the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 whose members are elected by eligible Sikh men and women in this region.

This body has been with the Shiromani Akali Dal virtually all along.

The Akal Takht Jathedar is nominated by the SGPC. Earlier, the SGPC was supposed to hold wider consultations with various Sikh bodies for this appointment. Not any more since the unceremonious sack of Bhai Ranjit Singh from this exalted office in 1999.

Although the general house of the SGPC elects the office bearers, it is the role of the Akali Dal chief that has been dominating since 1999 when Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra too was removed following split in the party.

The Akali Dal has been with the House of Badals since 1995 when Parkash Singh Badal took over, followed by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal in 2008. The party opted for Punjabiat as its agenda in February 1996 distancing itself from the Panth. The party in alliance with the BJP got a massive mandate in 1997 and Badal took over as the chief minister for the third time to complete his first full term of five years. However, having distanced himself from the issues in the Panthic domain, Badal backtracked even from the promise to institute probe into militancy.

The party’s fall was steep going by the Lok Sabha election in 1999 when the Akali Dal won just one seat and even Sukhbir Singh Badal faced defeat. The party has been on the decline since then.

The worst performance of the Akali Dal was during the last five year term of Badal from 2012 to 2017, the period when incidents relating to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari took place and the Badal government adopted all the wrong policies. Sukhbir Singh Badal as the deputy chief minister even mocked the Sikh protesters demanding justice. The party lost in 2017 replaced by the Congress in the Assembly elections.

No lessons were learnt.

The traditional support base of the Akali Dal has been Panth and the peasantry. The Akali Dal supported the three controversial farm laws that the Narendra Modi government was forced to withdraw following about year long agitation commanded by the Punjab farmers. Harsimrat Kaur Badal had to finally resign from the Modi government and Akali Dal ended alliance with the BJP as there was no other choice.

The party faced humiliating defeat in 2022 having been reduced to just three seats in the Assembly. Both the Badals lost.

Still no lessons were learnt.

In the Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection, the party decided to contest on the issue of release of Sikh political prisoners. Ironically, the Badal government had rewarded those police officers who had been associated with brazen human rights violations and this including the appointment of Sumedh Singh Saini as the state police chief.

This agenda of Sikh prisoners had come via the Akal Takht acting Jathedar who reiterated his appeal for Panthic unity too.

The party finished at fifth place, below even the BJP. The seat was won by Akali Dal (Amritsar) Chief Simranjit Singh Mann who represents the radical streak in the Sikh matrix.

The Sikhs as aggressive and dynamic minority who dominate and dictate the political dynamics of Punjab must have a voice and that voice used to be the Shiromani Akali Dal under the aegis of Akal Takht.

Now both these institutions have degenerated.

It is to be seen whether Simranjit Singh Mann can elevate his Akali Dal to that primary role or not.

It is to fill the gap that the Akali Dal must be rejuvenated.

 And for that, the present leadership of the Akali Dal has to go.

The people of Punjab have repeatedly dumped this leadership.

The Akali Dal just can’t be dynastic. The problem is that almost all the senior Akali leaders represent dynasties.

Only a complete overhaul and fresh leadership can reinvigorate the party.

The change in leadership should follow beginning with the Akali Dal followed by the Akal Takht.