System of election of SGPC president that is 'Lifafa Culture' is now under question from within Akali Dal

 

What is ‘Lifafa Culture’ in annual election of SGPC president?

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Former president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the apex elected statutory body of the Sikhs in Punjab, Bibi Jagir Kaur, has been quoted today by The Times of India saying, “When election for the top post of the representative Sikh body is held, Sikhs usually say that the president comes out of ‘lifafa’. There is a common refrain among members that there is dire need to end this perception”.

Later in the day while talking to the media in Amritsar, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal denied the existence of such ‘lifafa’ culture.

The SGPC constituted under the Sikh Gurdwara Act manages notified historical Sikh gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana (Now separate body for Haryana has been set up), Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh and is elected by eligible Sikh voters in general election. The general house has a fix term but continues till the next election. The first executive committee after the general election has a term of two years but subsequently, the election is held annually, normally towards the end of November.

The Akali Dal has been dominating this body for decades. Like the chief minister is elected by the majority party, the president of the SGPC too is elected by the majority party and hence, the party president can intervene and exercise the choice. It is the method of exercising the choice that is under question in this case.

This method that is under attack now came to be introduced after the exit of Gurcharan Singh Tohra in 1999 after lording over this body for more than two decades following split in the Akali Dal. The party president at that time was Parkash Singh Badal.

It was Bibi Jagir Kaur who was Badal’s choice to replace stalwart Tohra despite the fact that she was a first time member of the SGPC and a first time MLA and minister but her family had strong connection with this body since it was constituted. Both her father and father-in-law had been members of the SGPC.

This system of nomination became known publicly when former Akali Dal president replaced Bibi Jagir Kaur in November 2000.

Here is how it was reported in a section of the media: “Bibi Jagir Kaur’s exit from the top of the most important Sikh religious body came amidst drama when she was presiding over the general body meeting. A slip from the president and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal proposing Talwandi’s name changed the scenario instantly as the SHSAD president G. S. Tohra, Mr. Badal’s rival supported it” (The Tribune)

.

It is pertinent to mention that just before the election in the morning, Tohra called on  Talwandi in his room thereby triggering speculations about the emergence of new permutation and combination amidst the changed situation. Tohra had constituted the Sarv Hind Shiromani Akali Dal after split and had sizeable, though not majority, support in the general house. Badal  conveyed his choice by sending in a slip.

At times, this ‘slip’ would be sent in an envelop and hence this system came to be known as ‘Lifafa culture’. A senior functionary of the party used to attend the election meeting of the general house carrying the list of nominees. Nominations are formally invited as per the process but only the ‘official’ names are proposed so far as the ruling party is concerned.

The election, of course, is open but none else from them party would contest except the nominees from the top. The opposition too fields its candidate that is more of a  formality.

The Akali Dal president addresses the meeting of the members of the SGPC general house from the party in Amritsar a day before the election where he is authorised to exercise his choice.

However, the basic issue is the role of this so called mini-Parliament of the Sikhs during the last about decade and a half, especially in the context of confrontation with the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda and the Bargari sacrilege.

It is the latent heat of Bargari that was one of the main factors that reduced the Akali Dal to the lowest ever three seats in history in the Assembly in February 2022 election. The role of the SGPC and the associated institutions has been negative all along in this narrative.

It is time to review the performance of this high-powered institution and overhaul its functioning by restoring its status of fulcrum of Sikh religio-political matrix.

It is for the first time that a candidate from the ruling party has expressed loud intention to contest this election and hence, it is a challenge for the party president. Bibi Jagir Kaur had last week met Sukhbir Badal to apprise him of her intention.

He is learnt to have conveyed to her that the decision would be taken by the core committee but that body stands dissolved.

Ironically, Bibi Jagir Kaur has been member of this core committee for years and she knows it too well that such decisions are not taken at this platform.

The election is scheduled for November 9, in case this date is not revised.