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NEW DELHI: The winds of confrontation are blowing through Punjab with the huge turnout at the Sarbat Khalsa organised by the more radical elements shaking the Akali Dal-BJP government in the state. Unable to address the issues that have led to ordinary Sikhs looking at the radicals again for comfort, the Punjab government responded by cracking down on the organisers and arresting several of them.
However, given the current unrest in Punjab these strong arm tactics, according to local leaders, have failed to pacify the Sikh community that is agitated over non governance, and the cotton crop failure that has led to deep agrarian distress in the state. The Akal Takhts decision to pardon Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim for trying to pose as Guru Gobind Singh. created widespread anger and the anger and violence evident then has not subsided. (http://www.thecitizen.in/NewsDetail.aspx?Id=5548). This ‘Rock Star” Guru is widely seen to be very close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata party and that New Dehi helped persuade the Akal Takht jathedar to pardon him.
"The entire Sikh community is shell-shocked. It's ironic that the norms, traditions and sovereignty of Akal Takht have been undermined, compromised and destroyed by those who are mandated to safeguard it," Kanwar Pal Singh, spokesperson of the Dal Khalsa was quoted as saying in the media at the time.
The Sarbat Khalsa was thus, convened to oust the jathedar of the Akal Takht with the stage being dominated by radical Sikhs. The three jathedars were named and removed by a controversial resolution adopted at the meeting with the hardliners appointing Jagtar Singh Hawara, accused in the Beant Singh assassination case, as the officiating Akal Takht jathedar. He is currently in prison.
The resolution had all the shades of the erstwhile separatist movement of the 1980’s led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as hardliners were ‘appointed’ to various positions of import, The resolution also declared Lieutenant General KS Brar (retd), Operation Bluestar commander, and former Director General of Police KPS Gill “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious conduct) and directed them to appear before Akal Takht on November 30.
Reports from Punjab claimed that for the initial part the Sarbat Khalsa followed a moderate tone, but towards the end the more radical elements took charge of the state and read out a resolution that is said to have been adopted by the congregation. The Akali Dal core committee has, however, rejected this claim stating that no such resolution had been adopted by the meeting. This did not stop the state government from spending considerable time in analysing the event, and then moving to arrest some of the key organisers in a move that can become highly counterproductive.
The Sarbat Khalsa was called by the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader, Simranjit Singh Mann, and United Akali Dal President Mohkam Singh to basically discuss what the media described as the the “issues of sacrilege and change in institutional leadership of the Sikhs. The RSS, Shiv Sena, according to Congress leaders, issued advertisements asking the people not to attend the Sarbat Khalsa. Despite this the gathering was large and attentive. The resolution that was read out named the three Akal Takht jathedars announcing the decision to remove them; it asserted the need to make the Akal Takht autonomous again; it named the Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh as well as Avtar Singh Makkad “guilty” of misuing the Sikh religious institutions.
The Punjab government is now accusing Pakistan’s ISI of instigating and managing the hardliners, although this does not explain the thousands who attended the Sarbat Khalsa from across Punjab. As local leaders have been pointing out, the need is for urgent governance that addresses the issues concerning the people that the state government has failed to do.
