By Karminder Singh Dhillon | The Sikh Bulletin |
The 20th of February 2022 was a day that changed the political landscape of Punjab’s politics. The two powerful and long standing parties that took turns ruling Punjab for as long as one can remember – The Akali Dal and Congress – and their traditional allies – were trashed by the people in a way unheard of. The once powerful Akalis and Congress were decimated – leaving them with 4 and 18 seats respectively within the 117-member Assembly. The new kid on the block – Aaam Admi Party (AAP) led by Bhagwant Singh Maan won a thumping 78% of the seats – securing 92 seats.
In any other democracy, life would have gone on with a sense of normalcy that can be surely accorded by a party that has a comfortable 4/5ths majority. But not in Punjab. The losers that are the Akalis were not happy that they had only won 4 seats and that all their leaders had lost. Most importantly, they were not prepared to wait another 5 years to try their luck again. They believed that ruling the Sikh-majority Punjab was their God-given right and theirs alone and that they had to do something to reverse their fate.
Doing something obviously meant doing what they had mastered for decades and become instinctively good at – morchas, dharnas, agitations, mass protests or anything that meant calling on Sikhs to take to the streets to demand whatever the Akalis wanted for themselves – naked power in the name of the Panth and Sikhi. They were masters at wrapping their power designs around the false flags of Sikh dignity, Sikh demands, Sikh rights, Punjab’s Interests, discrimination, and what have you. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it backfired. But the Akalis knew of no other way – even if their ways took a toll on Punjab’s wellbeing and the State’s stability; and came with a heavy price on those who heeded their calls for morchas and dharnas and ended up in jails or hospitals.
The “taking to the streets politics” of the Akalis also came with a heavy price to the state’s fiscal and developmental health. Funds meant for the development, health and education sectors etc got diverted to restoring law and order. The confidence level of investors plummeted – fresh investment did not want to come in, and existing investors started to relocate to other peaceful states. The outcome is for all to see – the accumulated debt owed by Punjab to the centre at end of 2022 stood at Rs3.3 thousand crore, and virtually every Sikh youth is lined up outside the gates of a ‘Foreign Visa Agent.’
But the Akalis do not know anything other than ugly politics. So why would they try anything different to bring down the government of Bhagwant Maan? So what if there wasn’t anything to protest about, to do a morcha against, or rally people into the streets? The Akalis – with the help of their beneficiary groups across Punjab would create that pretext, generate that ruse, manufacture the ploy, and then point to their self-created stunt and demand that the people of Punjab take to the streets to demand that the AAP government resign on account of that subterfuge.
This is where Amritpal Singh came in. It is difficult to perceive that a previously unknown individual leading an equally unknown mosquito party can do all that he managed to in a short span of time – rally support on the claim that he was a reincarnate of Bhindranwala, lead thousands to attack the Ajnala Police Station to free his jailed comrades, and declare himself as the defacto leader of Sikhs and call for a separate state – without the support of the major established powers of Punjab. That the dera of Bhindranwala embraced and threw their support behind him, that the Akalis came out in full force to condemn the Maan government for their inability to prevent the disturbance that was Amritpal, that the Akaal Takhat came out in support of him, and that he had managed to stage a drama of escape, eluding arrest and then staging his surrender – all point to the fact that Amritpal was not acting alone in the disorder that he and his Vaheer was bent on creating.
When The Akal Takhat Gets Politicized.
The Jathedar of Akal Takhat issued a statement with a list of demands to the Maan government and instructions to Sikhs in Punjab. He called for the release of “our youth in 24 hours and the abandonment of NSA.” He called on SGPC and Delhi Committee to file court cases against those who damaged police cars, and against TV channels who spread anti-Sikh hatred. He called on the government to lift all media restrictions, and for He called on Sikhs to fly the Khalsa Flag on their homes. He announced that the AT would arrange a Vaheer.
CM Maan in his response hammered home the point of politicization. He wrote: Jathedar Sri Akal Takat ji. Everyone knows that you and SGPC are mouth pieces of the Badals. Look at the past to see how Jathedars were used by the Badals to serve their own ends. Would have been better had you issued an ultimatum during the episode of the Missing Saroops and Disrespectful Incidences of the SGGS and not to instigate the happily residing residents of Punjab.
He issued a statement that was carried by the local newspapers. One such report reads: “The decision on who is innocent or guilty will be made by the law and courts of the country. The government will not change its decisions based on the call by a Gurdwara Sahib Granthi. The laws of the country are the same for all and no one has the right to interfere in the workings of the government. Those who do so will be severely dealt with. Punjab is part of India, and action will be taken against any person, be it Amritpal or anyone else them who indulges in talk to secede the state from India. If the Jathedar of AT were to give statements against the interest of India, then lawful action can be taken against him.”
The CM has exposed the fact that the strategies of the AT – Vaheer and flag especially – are meant to rile up Punjab to bring down his government at the behest of the Badals who cannot wait for the next cycle of elections to get back in power. The Badals were expecting the AT to continue where Amritpal left off. Politics will always be politics – but at the end of the day, what matters is that the position of the AT has gone down yet another notch. For whatever it is worth, the Jathedar did respond: “Bhagwant Maan ji. I represent the Sikhs just as you do Punjab. I have a right to speak on behalf of the innocent youth of my community as much as the responsibility. You have rightly said that innocent religious people often get used by politicians, but I am fully aware in this regard. But you need to pay attention that in the process of making political hay, politicians such as you don’t get used by politicians by turning Punjab into a cauldron of fire. Let’s discuss politics later. First let’s come together to save Punjab, return innocent jailed youth to their mothers awaiting them in their homes and get their blessings.”
The fact remains that asking Sikhs to fly a flag that is not the legal flag of India and not the Nishan of the Khalsa is wrong, illegal, and anti-nationalistic. Most of all – it is an unnecessary and unwise call. What can possibly be achieved from such a call other than proving fodder to the anti-Sikh elements who will say “see, these are the seeds of separationist tendencies being planted by AT.” Instead of de-escalating the situation, such a call is adding fuel.
As for calling the Vaheer to be initiated from AT – this is clearly political as the AT is allowing itself to be used by all the Anti AAP and Maan groups – the Badals, Dhummas and BJP. The Vaheer has no purpose other than attempting to show that large swaths of people are anti AAP and Bhagwant Maan government. A Vaheer getting out of hand and out control is a real possibility – with or without provocateur agents. The Vaheer was the root of the problem with Amritpal. And now AT wants to take over this law and disorder movement?
If the AT goes ahead with the above two hukms – the outcome will be 1) a worsened law and order situation caused by the Vaheer and 2) more arrests. The police will be arresting those who fly the flag on charges of activities against the state or other related offenses.
One does not have to be a rocket scientist to know that these are the two issues the anti-Sikh media is going to harp on.
How a meeting called to resolve the Sikh Panth’s most pressing challenge of the day succeeds in coming up with a list of shaky resolutions within a couple of hours can only happen if (a) the list of resolutions were prepared by some other party and handed over to the AT Jathedar to read out; (b) the job description of the invited attendees is to let out Jaikaras at the end of every sentence and (c) there was no debate, discussion, deliberation on the resolutions with the exception of speeches by some invited speakers.
The most telling sign was that the Jathedar did not have his heart and soul into the resolutions. He did not even understand them. For example, when demanding that the social media accounts of Sikh youth be restored in 24 hours, he said “new ones will be set up if they are not.”
It is obvious the resolutions were drafted by the Badals. They want their social media accounts restored. They are interested in freeing Amritpal’s gang. And the Vaheer is a Badal vehicle to rile up Sikhs, cause disorder and bring down the government. The Badals want the AT to call for and lead the Vaheer in order to continue where Amritpal left off.
The duly elected government of Punjab under CM Maan should be allowed to serve its full term – even if only to honor the decision of the people of Punjab to put this government in power. The Akalis, Badals, Congress and BJP must wait till the next elections to see if the people want to give them a chance again or re-elect the AAM government. All acts to destabilize the state government must be stopped by the authorities. The Nattak of Democracy in Punjab must end.
Sikh thinker, writer and parcharak Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston), is a retired Malaysian civil servant. He is the joint-editor of The Sikh Bulletin and author of The Hijacking of Sikhi. This article appeared as the editorial of the The Sikh Bulletin – 2022 Issue 3 (April-June 2023). Click here to retrieve archived copies of the bulletin. The author can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com.
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