Only right narrative can produce results for agitation for release of Sikh political prisoners and Bargari sacrilege case

 

Only right narrative can produce results for agitation for release of Sikh political prisoners

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

Any agitation that is not based upon the right narrative might not produce the right results.

Punjab, of late, has turned into land of agitations.

Three agitations are presently going on in the state – Bargari, Zira and  Mohali. The issue under discussion here is that of the Mohali agitation for release  of Sikh political prisoners “who have completed their sentence” and the Bargari agitation for getting justice in cases related to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 for which the family of Parkash Singh Badal is also blamed by a section in the Sikh religio-political domain.

Balwant Singh Rajoana, one of the convicts in the case of assassination of chief minister Beant Singh on August 31, 1995, today questioned not only  intentions but also credentials of some of the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha leaders spearheading the Mohali agitation. He has been supporting the Shiromani Akali Dal for years and his foster sister Kamaljit Singh was fielded by the party in the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election. That is a different dimension.

The two persons who had originally decided to avenge human rights violations in Punjab at that time were Dilawar Singh and Rajoana. Dilawar Singh opted to become human bomb that assassinated Beant Singh. The action was planned by Babbar Khalsa. Jagtar Singh Hawara was brought in from abroad to coordinate this major action. Dilawar and Rajoana had planned to target either Beant Singh or police chief K. P. S. Gill and the same was conveyed to the Babbar leadership abroad.

Rajoana has dared the Morcha leaders to reveal their political links.

The issue here is not that of allegations and counter-allegations that weaken such struggle but the right narrative.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee have launched mass signature campaign on this very issue. The latest to join signatories include 5-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

First the right narrative.

This dimension relates to the release of political prisoners as they have “completed their sentence”.

This is not the right narrative as there is nothing like completion of sentences. They have been sentenced to life imprisonment that is not a term imprisonment. Some of the lawyers who have been taking up such cases have been briefing the leaders on the right interpretation. Some of these prisoners face charges of waging war against the state too.

The release can be through remission of sentence, pardon or pre-mature.

In these cases, the government would have to take political decision.

In Nagaland, the political prisoners were released under an accord.

There is another dimension. Some of them like Rajoana own their actions.

These people were part of a political fight against the Indian state.

Have they disowned that struggle? In case they do, they won’t be the heroes.

In this context, should their case be compared with that of release of killers and rapists in Bilkis Bano case? Political prisoners should not be compared to rapists and killers.

The issues underlying this struggle are broader.

Is the struggle of which they were part is over at the political level?

Then there is the dimension of Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal signing the petition for the release of these prisoners as part of the mass signature drive.

Is this the same pen with which he had admitted former police officer Mohammad Izhar Alam to the Shiromani Akali Dal and decided to field him in the Assembly election? Ticket was later allotted to Alam’s wife in the wake of strong resentment among the Sikhs.

Is this the same pen with which he appointed Sumedh Singh Saini as the director general of police?

The names of both Alam and Saini are associated with human rights excesses in Punjab against those from that very struggle to which these prisoners belong.

There has to be accountability.

It may be recalled that Badal was also a signatory to the memorandum submitted to the United Nations in April 1992 demanding Khalistan.

Then there is the case of Bargari sacrilege narrative pointing accusing fingers at Badals.

The narrative that has been constructed is that Badals are responsible for sacrilege.

This is where the narrative went wrong.

The issue is different and is being repeated here.

A case was registered against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in 2007 for blasphemy. Edict was issued from Akal Takht in June that year against Gurmeet and his sect. The case was never taken to logical conclusion and withdrawn five days before the Assembly election in 2012. Chief minister during that period was Parkash Singh Badal. Why was investigation not carried out? This raises questions on the intention.

Badal as the chief minister in September 2015, in brazen violation of the Sikh code of conduct, summoned Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and his associates for a meeting at his official residence in Chandigarh. Gurmeet was exonerated of the blasphemy charge and pardoned within days evoking strong protest in the Sikh domain. This meeting calls for explanation as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee dominated by the Shiromani Akali Dal defended this exoneration by inserting ads in newspapers at a cost of about Rs. 90 lakh. This edict was later withdrawn.

Who ordered police action at Kotkapura against Sikh devotees demanding action in case of Bargari sacrilege?

The Bargari narrative should revolve around these three basic issues rather than blaming Badals for sacrilege and later Behbal Kalan firing in which two Sikh protesters were killed.