Lok Sabha polls 2024 to be test for unprecedented apology by Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Golden Temple complex

 

Lok Sabha polls 2024 to be test for unprecedented apology by Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on December 14 sought apology with folded hands in the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) complex on 103^rd anniversary of the now marginalized party with glorious history for the mistakes committed in the past “advertently or inadvertently” with particular reference  to the shocking narrative associated with sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari village in 2015.

Going by the precedence, the apology has to be sought by presenting oneself without any ‘Ifs and Buts’ at Akal Takht, the supreme Sikh temporal seat representing Sikh sovereignty in front of the Golden Temple. The person seeking pardon either writes to Akal Takht Jathedar listing the misdeed or is summoned to appear and awarded religion punishment (Tankhah). The leaders who have been thus awarded religious punishment include Sant Fateh Singh, Master Tara Singh, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala and Buta Singh (Congress).

Maharaja Ranjit Singh presented himself at Akal Takht to receive the punishment.

The apology offered by the Akali Dal chief sets a new precedent.

Sukhbir Singh Badal tendered apology with folded hands at Baba Gurbaksh Singh memorial gurdwara next to Akal Takht while addressing the audience at the party anniversary function.

It is for the Sikhs at large now to accept the apology submitted by the Akali Dal chief who was the deputy chief minister in the Akali Dal government during whose term from 2012-17 the Bargari sacrilege happened.

The test of the of this apology would be the result of the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in 2024.

Punjab was then ruled by Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance with Parkash Singh Badal as the chief minister and his son Sukhbir Singh as the deputy chief minister when this narrative hit the party hard, finally reducing it to the lowest ever tally of just three seats in the 2022 Assembly elections. The Akali Dal was relegated to the third  position in 2017 Assembly election having been replaced by the Congress in the government while the Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the main opposition.

Names of both Parkash Singh Badal, who passed away earlier, and his son Sukhbir Singh were part of the chargesheet submitted by the police in the court. The case is still to be taken to the logical conclusion. The name of Dera Sacha Sauda had surfaced during investigation.

Though there is no reference to procedure in the Rehat-Maryada (code of conduct) prescribed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the apex body that has been overseeing the Sikh religio-political affairs since its formation in 1920, the Akal Takht, the supreme Sikh institution symbolizing Sikh sovereignty transcending  borders, has been dealing with the situations relating to  such situations.

One has to go into the background of the narrative relating to the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari, a big village on the Kotkapura-Bathinda highway.

The Akali Dal-BJP alliance came into power in the February 2007 Assembly election and formed the government in March.

A full page advertisement appeared in some newspapers on May 13, 2007 with a picture of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim attired like Guru Gobind Singh, the 10^th Sikh Guru. He was shown preparing some drink. His act was shockingly blasphemous and triggered tension in Punjab. This function had been held at Salabatpura village in Bathinda district in the Malwa hinterland. Dera Sacha Sauda is based at Sirsa in Haryana bordering Bathinda. Sikhs staged protests almost all over Punjab and one of the protesters  was killed in police firing in Gurdaspur.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti convened Sarbat Khalsa (Sikh congregation) on May 17 at Takht Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo that is located in Bathinda district. Edict (Hukamnama) was issued to the Sikhs for social boycott of Dera after deliberations and called for ban on its activities in the state. It was repeat of edict issued in June 1978 after the Sikh-Nirankari clash in which 18 persons, including 13 Sikh protesters, were killed. The boycott was so intense that the gurdwaras even started denying Guru Granth Sahib to Dera supporters who happened to be Sikhs to perform marriage and death ceremonies. The main concentration of Dera Sacha Sauda followers is in Malwa region.

An FIR was registered on May 20, 2007 under Section 295-A IPC in the case of blasphemy on the basis of a complaint filed by one Rajinder Singh Sidhu. Sikh activists and Dera devotees clashed at several places during this period before normalcy was restored.

The Bathinda senior superintendent of police filed an affidavit in Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2008 saying that the case was registered against the Dera chief after investigation and they had enough evidence to prosecute him.

Mysteriously, despite this 2008 affidavit,  the police filed cancellation report on January 25, 2012, days before the Assembly election, in the Bathinda court. Of course, the file might have been cleared by the Election Commission.

The Akali Dal returned to power for the second consecutive term. The district and session judge Bathinda, in August 2014, discharged the Dera chief in this case on the ground that charges were not filed against him within the stipulated period of three years and accepted the cancellation report submitted by the police in 2012.

How come that despite the affidavit in 2008, the chargesheet was never filed and that too in such a sensitive case?

In the 1978 Nirankari-Sikh clash case too, weak prosecution led to acquittal of all accused in January, 1980  when Badal government was still in power and appeal in this case was never filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The government was dismissed within days and the governor closed this file.

On the surface, the 2009 Lok Sabha election has nothing to do with this narrative rooted in 2007.

However, there is some relevance, though not a connection.

After delimitation, Faridkot Lok Sabha seat, the family bastion of the Badal family, was declared reserve. Badal village is part of Faridkot constituency, although it is near Bathinda. Faridkot had been exchanged with Bathinda and the Badal family shifted to this seat. Earlier, Sukhbir Singh Badal and won and lost from Faridkot. The Badal family candidate from Bathinda in 2009 was Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Sukhbir Singh Badal. Bathinda is stronghold of Dera Sacha Sauda. She won the election with a massive margin.

Intriguingly, despite the boycott from the Sikhs, the Dera offered to support Shiromani Akali Dal in this election as reported in the media.

“Ram Singh, chairman of the political wing of the Dera Sacha Sauda, threw a political bombshell by saying that the Dera Sacha Sauda was not averse to supporting the SAD in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Ram Singh, who was speaking to media, said that he had toured Dera followers in Mukstar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Moga and Patiala.” (The Tribune, November 6, 2008, Patiala).

Nothing happened on this front till announcement of February 2012 Assembly elections in Punjab except that five days before the election, the Bathinda police filed a report in the court seeking cancellation of the FIR against Ram Rahim relating to the 2007 blasphemy case on January 27.

The Shiromani Akali Dal created history in election by returning to power for second consecutive term. The cancellation application was not withdrawn. “In August 2014, the district and session judge, Bathinda, discharged the dera chief on the ground that the charges were not presented against him within stipulated time of three years and accepted the cancellation report”. (The Times of India, March 3, 2023).

The situation took another turn when the film Messenger of God produced and acted by Gurmit Ram Rahim was released and hit the screens barring Punjab on February 13, 2015. The cinema halls refused to screen the film in the backdrop of social boycott of the dera.

The dera followers started protest in Bathinda on September 19, 2015 and blocked rail and roads too that ended on September 21. The police observed restraint during the protest.

What paved the way for the screening of this film in Punjab was exoneration of Ram Rahim from Akal Takht. This issue has remained unanswered. Akal Takht Jathedar announced exoneration of Ram Rahim on September 24, 2015 kicking up a storm in the Sikh domain. This pardon was revoked by the same authority on October 16, 2015. In between, the SGPC released full page ads in newspapers defending the pardon from Akal Takht. This campaign cost SGPC about Rs. 90 lakh.

Prior to the pardon, a meeting of the Takht Jathedars was held at the official residence of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh on the night of September 16. This meeting itself was brazen violation of the Sikh Rehat Maryada. Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Gurmukh Singh subsequently went on record revealing that the agenda of the meeting of pardon to the Dera chief.

Both the institutions of Akal Takht and the SGPC were hit in the process.

In the meantime earlier, a Bir (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib was found missing from village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala near Bargari in Faridkot district in the afternoon of June 1, 2015.  This was the first such case of theft of Guru Granth Sahib that is treated as the Guru Personified by the Sikhs. However, this theft was taken to be just a routine crime. No person of importance from the political domain visited Burj. No progress was made in the case.

Posters appeared in Burj and Bargari on September 24 and 25, 2015 claiming in abusing language that the Guru Granth Sahib was hidden in Bargari and challenged the Sikhs to recover it. The name of Dera surfaced at this stage as the text started  with the signature line of the dera “Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Aasra”.

Finally, pages of the Holy Book were found scattered in the streets of Bargari on October 12 morning triggering strong protests. Protesters shifted to nearby Kotkapura where police came into action on the morning of October 14 and three hours later at Behbal Kalan where two persons were killed in police firing. Police firing at Behbal Kalan could have been avoided in case the government (chief minister or the home minister) had directed police to observe restraint after Kotkapura incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that days earlier, the Dera followers had blocked railway lines at Bathinda for three days protesting against ban on the film but no action was taken. Still earlier, the agitating farmers had blocked Mansa railway station for days.

 Here is Times of India  report datelined Bathinda, September 22:

“BATHINDA: After getting an assurance from the government over screening of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s movie ‘MSG-2’ in Punjab in a couple of days, the dera followers lifted the rail and road blockade after Sunday midnight. The sect followers, who were sitting on railway tracks and roads across Malwa region since September 19, vacated the tracks after 12.30 am on Monday”. No force was used.

How come similar restraint was not used in case of dharna at Kotkapura against Bargari sacrilege? This crucial dimension remains unanswered. Police had been summoned from five districts under the command of an officer of the rank of inspector general of police and the action started early in the morning.

Punjab was in turmoil following the Bargari sacrilege related incidents including firing at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan.

The Bargari sacrilege probe was transferred to the CBI on November 1.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said in an interview to Hindustan Times dated November 5, “Today, it is not the time to look at our blunders. People should pardon and forget”.

As the Sikh organisations called Panthic conclave in the name of Sarbat Khalsa on November 10 at Chabba village near Amritsar, the SGPC released big ads against it, saying “Is it not true that destroying the tradition of Sri Akal Takht Sahib through political designs is as sinful as demolishing its form with tanks and guns?”. The call for Panthic conclave was equated with Operation Bluestar, code name for army attack on Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) Complex from June 3-6, 1984.

Significantly, it was the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party then in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal, that blamed the Punjab government for mishandling the sacrilege incident.

State vice-president of the RSS Brig. Jagdish Gagneja (retd) said in Jalandhar on November 9, 2015 as reported by The Tribune: “The current situation in the state wouldn’t have arisen had the government exercised better judgment in the aftermath of Bargari incident”. He was also reported to have shared that the RSS had passed a resolution at its national executive committee meeting at Ranchi on October 29 regarding the “Punjab Government’s mishandling of the situation after the sacrilege incident”.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on October 20 while announcing the arrest of two brothers -Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh of Panj Grain village, said, “We have unearthed the conspiracy”. Both of them were subsequently released. The police had claimed international conspiracy behind the sacrilege with these arrests.

There is yet another dimension that contributed to the anger among the Sikhs. The anger in the Sikh community was reflected at the massive gathering at Chabba village on November 10. It is a different matter the organisers messed up by diverting the narrative to the appointment of parallel Takht Jathedars including Jagtar Singh Hawara in jail in chief minister Beant Singh assassination case. The gathering should have been culminated in the announcement of a representative action committee to function in the democratic domain rather than pushing the same towards radical domain.

It is the reaction from the Akali Dal to this conclave that pushed the party towards further alienation in the Sikh religio-political domain. The statement released in the names of Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Prem Singh Chandumajra stated: “These resolutions and the people behind the decisions pose a threat to the hard-earned peace and communal harmony in the state”.

This was followed by police crackdown as three of these parallel jathedars including Dhian Singh Mand, Amrik Singh Ajnala and Baljit Singh Daduwal and several of the organisers including Bhai Mohkam Singh.   As per the TOI report dated November 14, the state government “invoked sedition charges against leaders of the radical outfits who had called the Sarbat Khalsa at Chabba village, near Amritsar, on November 10….Senior police officials told TOI that as many as 58 leaders are already in preventive custody while 20 have been charged with sedition”.

Bhai Mohkam Singh is still facing 14 cases relating to this period.

Sukhbir Singh Badal as reported by The Tribune in Amritsar datelined story dated November 13, said,  “those appointed leaders during the congregation were facing charges of murder and other heinous crimes…How could they lead the Sikh community? They are anti-national elements. These elements want to push Punjab back to the black days of terrorism….The sacrilege incidents were a deep-rooted conspiracy fuelled by Pakistan’s ISI and other foreign agencies in a bid to disturb peace in the state.”

It is such perception that hit the Akali Dal hard pushing the party to the margins over the years.

Subsequent probe led to the involvement of Dera Sacha Sauda.

Can the apology with ‘Ifs’ and ‘Buts’ undo damage to revive the Akali Dal?

The Akali Dal went in for counter-mobilisation under the banner of peace and amity conferences after the Chabba conclave.

The damage to the party did not stop with the Akali Dal being pushed down to third position in 2017 Assembly election with the rookie Aam Aadmi Party emerging as the main opposition.

The Akali Dal, going by the subsequent developments, refused to learn lessons.

Again, in June 2018 when Morcha was launched by the Sikh organisations at Bargari demanding justice, the Akali Dal opposed the same while attacking the leaders commanding this protest. The party again went in for counter-mobilisation.

The issue thus is not just whether the names of the Badals appear in the Bargari case charge sheet or not. The issue concerns the religio-political domain too including damage to the Sikh institutions.

The basic issue now as to how to undo the damage.

It may be mentioned here that the Shiromani Akali Dal too is perceived to be the third institution after Akal Takht and the SGPC.