IS PUNJAB HEADING FOR A TERRORISM PLAGUE?
By B K Chum
Controversies are an indivisible part of a functioning democracy. They erupt in hordes in election years and play an important role in influencing the course of politics. With eight months left in Punjab Assembly elections, the state is also witnessing controversies which have started polluting the state’s religio-political atmosphere raising the question whether Punjab is heading for the eighties pre-terrorism situation.
An answer to the question cannot be attempted without having a close look at the happenings threatening to create an explosive situation in the state. The latest among such happenings is the May 17 attempt on the life of Patiala-based influential Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale in which he escaped unhurt but his aide Bhupinder Singh was shot dead by men owing allegiance to the Damdami Taksal, the fundamentalist seminary to which Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale belonged and now headed by the pro-government Harnam Singh Dhuma.
Another case is the last week’s threatened armed clash between the radical Hindu and Sikh fringe elements which was, however averted.
In the first case, the situation is akin to the one that had developed in Punjab (about which today’s young generation is not fully aware) before the decade-long eighties terrorism which crippled the state’s economy, paralysed the state administration and the judiciary and turned Punjab into a graveyard of innocent people. It had its origin in the Damdami Taksal followers holding a demonstration against the congregation of Nirankaris in Amritsar on the Baisakhi Day April 13, 1978. It led to a confrontation in which 16 demonstrators were killed. The killings had their climax in the assassination of Baba Gurbachan Singh, the Nirankaris spiritual head. Parkash Singh Badal-led Akali government was in power at that time.
Call it coincidence or the outcome of the partisan games our politicians play, that the present volatility in Sikh politics has erupted when the Parkash Singh Badal-led Akali government is also in power. The ruling leadership seems to be on the horns of a dilemma to decide how to defuse the situation as in the election year it can neither afford to displease its supporter Damdami Taksal nor Dhadrianwale which has a large following and is also backed by a number of Sikh preachers. Its attempt to resolve the complex issue by involving SGPC has not so far borne fruit. SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar whom it had deputed to meet Dhuma and Dhadrianwale for striking a compromise between them has apparently drawn a blank so far. An angry Dhadrianwale backed by the opposition has sought CBI inquiry into the attack which the chief minister has refused to order. Punjab’s shrewdest politician perhaps fears that if a CBI probe finds Dhuma’s supporters guilty for the attack, he would be charged by his opponents for betraying his loyalists.
Dhadrianwale has now petitioned the High Court demanding a probe by the CBI into the attack on him.
For partisan reasons, the Akali leadership would not like to displease the Damdami Taksal. On the eve of 2012 elections it had sought and got the support of radical Sikh bodies including the Taksal and the Sant Samaj. In return it acceded to the radicals demand for raising a memorial in the Golden Temple Complex at Amritsar for those killed during Operation Bluestar. Sukhbir Badal had then defended the decision to build the memorial by asserting that “hundreds of innocent devotees who were trapped in the Golden Temple lost their lives during the Army attack in 1984. What is wrong if a memorial is built for them”? He carefully omitted to mention that Indian Army had raided the Complex not to kill innocent devotees but to flush out the militants who had converted the Sikhs holiest shrine into their fortified bastion for killing Hindus and Sikhs and backed by Pakistan’s ISI for establishing an independent Sikh state Khalistan.
Facing all-round criticism including by his ruling partner BJP against the memorial, Chief Minister Badal had to clarify in the Assembly that such a memorial would be bereft of any pictures or photographs. But contrary to his assertions the memorial built by the Damdami Taksal was opened on April 27, 2013 and dedicated to Bhindranwale with his name inscribed atop its entrance.
Hypocrisy is the fine art our politicians excel in. Sukhbir who had supported the construction of the memorial by the radical Damdami Taksal but the Badals had avoided visiting it earlier in view of sharp criticism against its construction, paid obeisance at the memorial dedicated to Bhindranwale by visiting it on April 15.
The emerging volatile situation in Punjab is the result of the Akali leadership’s “religion and politics are inseparable” doctrine. It found its echo in the developing confrontation between the right wing Hindu and radical Sikh fringe elements whose activities are spreading communal hatred in the State.
An instance: The right-wing Hindu Suraksha Samiti and All India Hindu Students Federation organized a ‘Lalkar’ rally -aimed at challenging the pro-Khalistan supporters –from Chandigarh to Amritsar on May 25. To counter the move, scores of radical Sikh activists held an ‘anakh’ (self-respect) rally and gathered on the Beas bridge to stop the ‘Lalkar’ rally from entering Amritsar. A clash was averted as the Hindu activists cancelled the rally at the eleventh hour with the police intervening. It later registered cases against unnamed followers of both the groups.
The latest developments indicate that, notwithstanding the claims to the contrary, the state’s religio-political calm faces threat as the Assembly elections near. The rulers need to introspect as it is mainly their loyalists whose actions threaten to shatter the calm. (IPA Service)