Punjab Diary: Can the Badals and SAD survive the big churn?

‘The Sikh community has politically rejected the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) due to its grave misdeeds, and now the party is using the Akal Takht Sahib as a means to revive its tarnished reputation. This party is an enemy of the Panth and no longer has the right to lead the Sikh community in the political arena. The Panth has already expressed its stance by rejecting this party from the political domain… Any attempt to absolve them of their wrongdoings through symbolic punishments will not be accepted by the Khalsa Panth,’ posted Narain Singh Chaurha who made an abortive attempt to assassinate former SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal while he was offering sewa at the Golden Temple by way of penance for his party’s misdeeds.

While Punjab police claimed it was investigating all angles—including the possibility of attempted assassination as a means to garner sympathy—the assailant appeared to have been aggrieved by the light punishment meted out to the 17 SAD leaders. Each must offer an hour’s Sewa for two to five days—this involves standing guard, washing utensils, floors, walls and toilets—and an additional hour of listening to kirtan (religious hymns).

Charges against them included the failure to prevent incidents of be-adabi or disrespect to the Guru Granth Sahib, forcing the Jathedars of the Akal Takht to pardon Ram Rahim, the Sirsa-based chief of the Dera Sachcha Sauda who was accused of blasphemy for imitating Guru Gobind Singh, and misusing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s funds to pay for advertisements defending the pardon.

Sukhbir Badal also admitted to mistakenly elevating an IPS officer accused of staging fake encounter killings of Sikh youth. One of the leaders was accused of recommending the allotment of a party ticket to a controversial police officer’s wife, enabling her to contest an election. Akali leaders Bibi Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Bikram Singh Majithia, Maheshinder Singh, Sharanjit Singh, Charanjit Singh, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon and Janmeja Singh Sekhon were also punished for not opposing the party decision to pardon the Dera chief.

The public questioning of Sukhbir Badal and 16 other SAD leaders on Monday was dramatic and sent ripples through the state. When Badal tried to explain the context, he was brusquely told to reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the charges.

While the would-be assassin Chaurha was unhappy about the light punishment, most political observers seem to agree that the Akal Takht, the temporal seat of the Sikhs set up around 1605 by Guru Hargobind, has re-asserted its moral authority over the Shiromani Akali Dal. It was the Akal Takht which dealt with issues of governance for the Sikhs; its first hukumnama ordered Sikhs to donate weapons to fight the Mughal emperors.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, formed in 1925 as a task force of the SGPC—which was formally recognised the same year by the colonial government—faces an uncertain future. With a mandate to democratise gurdwaras and free them from the clutches of powerful mahanths, SAD gradually turned into a political party, with purely Panthic concerns to uphold the interests of the Sikhs.

Between 2007 and 2017, SAD was seen to have got the better of the Akal Takht by installing Jathedars of its choice and manipulating elections to the SGPC. It was during this period that SAD strayed from the Panthic path. From being a party of all Sikhs, it sought to become the party of all Punjabis.

Its alliance with the BJP and its failure to oppose the controversial farm bills brought in by the Modi government also alienated the farmers in Punjab, and made Sikhs unhappy. From a cadre-based party of the Sikh Sangat, SAD turned into a family-centric party with a limited social base among the agrarian classes/ castes of the state.

By summoning the entire SAD leadership before the Akal Takht, live-streaming the hearing in the presence of the Sikh Sangat, admonishing the leaders, directing the dissolution of SAD and ordering it to be re-built, the Akal Takht is seen to have established its primacy over the party. By withdrawing the title of Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum (pride of the Sikh community) conferred in 2011 on the then chief minister, late Parkash Singh Badal, the Akal Takht appears to have put an end to the dominance of Badals and their brand of electoral politics.

Little wonder then that Punjab’s future seems fraught with uncertainty. What would be the new nature of Akali politics? Will radical elements get the better of the moderates? Will hardliners get the upper hand and will the separatists be strengthened? Would SAD be able to revive its cadre and build a new regional party of Punjab that also represents Sikh identity and interests? How would it change the equations between the regional politics of Punjab and the larger political context of Indian democracy?

Akali leaders admit that the public admonition and punishment would take some time to live down. They stayed hopeful that Sikhs would pardon the party and its leaders. Even Maharaja Ranjit Singh, they pointed out, had appeared before the Akal Takht and tendered apologies. The Sikhs have a tradition of forgiving people who make mistakes, and they hoped that would help them move on.

By submitting humbly before the Akal Takht and undergoing the punishment, SAD leaders hope to bury controversies, assuage hurt sentiments and revive the fortune of the party. They also hope that it would put an end to the steady stream of dissidents deserting the party, citing accusations against Badal, his ministers and other SAD leaders as their primary reason to leave.

BJP leaders like Sunil Jakhar welcomed the development, being of the belief that the BJP–SAD alliance would now be revived in the state. However, Naresh Gujral, former SAD member of the Rajya Sabha, pointed out that fissures with the BJP ran deeper, caused by the controversial farm laws and interference by the Centre in Panthic matters including the management of gurdwaras.

The Central government has not responded to demands for the release of Sikh political prisoners and has been sidelining Sikhs in prime appointments. For a long time, even the central minority commission, Gujral pointed out, was without a Sikh representative. Unless these issues are resolved, it would be difficult for the two parties to come together. No BJP leader after the demise of Arun Jaitley, he lamented, really understood the unique dynamics of Punjab.

The SAD wants its traditional vote bank to forgive and forget. By submitting to the Akal Takht, they hope to bury the past and make a new beginning. Time will tell if their optimism is misplaced.

(With inputs from Harjeshwar Pal Singh)