Skip to main content

Sangrur bypoll result could dictate future political discourse in the Sikh religio-political domain

 


Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll result to be more crucial for Sikh religio-political domain

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

Bhagwant Mann had been winning the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat with massive margin. Now he is the chief minister whose resignation from Parliament has necessitated this byelection. He now represents Dhuri Assembly constituency that is a segment of Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.

In this context, the margin would be an important factor in case his party retains the seats. That Bhagwant Mann has to himself focus on this byelection is an important dimension as his government has been in power for a little more than three months and the performance of a new government is normally assessed after six months. This government is yet to present its first regular budget.

However, there is another dimension that is all the more crucial for the future political discourse of  Punjab and this concerns the Sikh religio-political matrix. It is the Sikh domain that by and large dictates political discourse of this Sikh dominated state. Punjab is one of the two states in the country dominated by a minority, the other being the Jammu and Kashmir with which it shares the boundary. Punjab has at times impacted the national political discourse.

In fray to wrest this seat from the Aam Aadmi Party are two Sikh parties besides the Congress and the BJP.

Although the Shiromani Akali Dal over the years had consciously distanced from the Panthic domain, it is still a Sikh party. This party has fielded Kamaldeep Kaur, foster sister of death convict Balwant Singh Rajoana in the assassination of chief minister Beant Singh who was killed by human bomb Dilawar Singh. Akali Dal had opposed her in 2014 Lok Sabha election.

The Akali agenda is release of Sikh prisoners in jail relating to cases during militancy who have spent years behind bar.

The other candidate from the Sikh domain is Akali Dal (Amritsar) president and twice MP Simranjit Singh Mann, the former IPS officer, who has spent several years in jails after Operation Bluestar, and later under the Akali Dal government.

Shiromani Akali Dal is in grey area so far as its record on the issue of release of these prisoners, especially when in power. Of course, the party took up the issue of release of Rajoana but only after protests against award of death sentence when the court issued warrant for his execution. The case of another detainee Devinderpal Singh Bhullar was also taken up but only after the Badal government in an affidavit opposed his transfer from Tihar jail to Amritsar jail.

The party was also instrumental in release of Bhai Ranjit Singh who was convicted in the assassination of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh triggering militant but the main player at that time was Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra who had also secured the release of hijackers including Amarinder Singh and Devinder Singh of Chandigarh.

The stakes of Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal are much higher than the victory or defeat. Sukhbir has been under pressure to resign since the unprecedented humiliating defeat of the party in the last Assembly elections. Not only he himself failed to win, his father and party patron Parkash Singh Badal too lost from his home turf. He had earlier lost only one election and that too his second one. The politics of the Badal family in religio-political domain finally hit the party although Parkash Singh Badal achieved the distinction of becoming the chief minister for five times, including two successive terms.

However, there has been no introspection.

The issue is as to whether the Akali Dal candidates gets more votes than Simranjit Singh Mann or not. This aspect is crucial for the Sikh domain. The issue in Sikh domain is release of Sikh political prisoners.

However, it is puzzling as to how the victory of a candidate from the Akali domain would facilitate release of political prisoners as the Akali Dal has been represented all along in Lok Sabha and till recently, in Rajya Sabha too.

Moreover, the Akali Dal was part of the Narendra Modi government. One does not know whether Harsimrat Kaur Badal as minister ever took up this issue with Modi or not.

Both Harsimrat and Sukhbir are part of the present Lok Sabha. How can the victory of one more Akali Dal candidate can make the difference so far as the release of these prisoners is concerned?

The issue of their release should have been taken up long time ago  with commitment and not as part of politics of opportunism.

The Shiromani Akali Dal must introspect on its role towards militant movement since 1996.

The revival of Shiromani Akali Dal is vital to Punjab dynamics but that calls for total change.

It is from this dimension that the result would be crucial for the Sikh domain in general and Sukhbir Singh Badal in particular.

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Damage to institution of Akal Takht symbolising Sikh sovereignty more important dimension of current crisis in Sikh domain

  Ideological Damage to Akal Takht most important dimension of Akali Crisis Ground Zero By Jagtar Singh The Sikh religio-political discourse entered a new phase on Baisakhi 2025 — the historic day on which Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699, created the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, completing the ideological foundation laid by Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh faith. Significant developments emerged from the well-attended Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) conference held at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib on April 13. It was the first major public appearance of Sukhbir Singh Badal since his re-election as party president on April 12, marking his return to the helm after a brief interregnum. Sukhbir, who first succeeded his father, Parkash Singh Badal, as party president in 2008, resumes leadership of a party long dominated by the Badal family—an influence that has spanned over three decades, the longest in the SAD’s history. For months, the religio-political landscape of Punjab has remained i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse

  Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, Dec 8: The Sikh religio-political domain has the tendency to dictate religio-political discourse of Punjab whose polity is different from other regions in the country. This is the state where a national dynamic minority is in majority. This minority was the third entity in all the political negotiations leading to India’s independence. What happened in Punjab on December 2 has to be reviewed in this backdrop as this development is going to have far-reaching impact not only on the future of the Shiromani Akali Dal but also the political tendencies at several levels. It is pertinent to mention at this stage itself that the Sikh religio-political discourse is presently affecting even India’s geo-politics, especially in the American sub-continent in the context of the activities of a section of the Sikh Diaspora. December 2 was unprecedented in the history of more than a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Killing of Sidhu Moosewala is chilling reminder that all is not well with Punjab but not the time to indulge in blame game

  Something continues to be wrong with Punjab going by killing of Sidhu Moosewala Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   The killing of  Punjabi pop star Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu popular as Sidhu Moosewala is more than shocking. It has not only numbed Punjab but has triggered shock waves across the seas. The only inference that can be drawn from this tragic end of a young icon is that something is not right with Punjab, despite illusion created by degenerated political elite of so called normalcy. It is the system that has to return to normalcy. It has not. The unabated degeneration in the system at times tend to play havoc. This is not the time to play blame game. Rather this is the time to rise above parochial political interests. Punjab needs consensus to facilitate the return of this historically disturbed state and the injured psyche to return to normalcy. And it is not an easy task. What Punjab lacks at this juncture is a role model. After all, Punjab is not a state like any other...
Post a Comment
Read more