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Badal-Tohra battle could spark a militant revival

George Iype in Amritsar

In the early 1980s, it was a troubled economy and the quest for a 'Sikh identity' that catapulted Punjab headlong into a long spell of militancy and turmoil.

Now, almost two decades later, political one-upmanship is preparing the ground for revival of the militancy and Sikh fundamentalism.

The two old war horses of the Shiromani Akali Dal -- Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra -- have drawn the battle lines. And their murky manoeuvres to gain control of the Akal Takht, highest spiritual and temporal seat of the Sikhs, could well usher in a new spell of unrest in today's peaceful Punjab.

The SAD completed two years in power on Friday. But while Badal and his ministers were celebrating the occasion, a bunch of hard-line politicians and clerics was celebrating something else with as much fanfare: the birth anniversary of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the cleric turned terrorist leader who was killed by the army more than 14 years ago.

"It is unfortunate that a section of the political class and the clergy is now eulogising Bhindranwale. It does not augur well for Punjab," said Ajit Singh Rana, a professor of history at an Amritsar college.

"Punjab's tragedy is that while the people here are hardworking and forward-looking, the political and religious leaderships have been taking them for a ride," he told Rediff On The NeT.

Rana said if the fight between Badal and Tohra continues, it could result in the revival of militancy, even if in a different form, in the state.

Bhindranwale spearheaded the armed insurrection in Punjab that ultimately resulted in a massive operation by the Indian army to clean up the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar of terrorists in the first week of June 1984.

Among the hardliners in Punjab politics are Simranjit Singh Mann and Kuldip Singh Wadala, both of whom head fringe factions of the Akali Dal. Aiding their efforts to celebrate Bhindranwale's birth anniversary was the pro-Khalistan World Sikh Organisation headed by Didar Singh Bains, who is based in the United States.

"We decided to celebrate Sant Bhindranwale's birthday because he was a selfless defender of the faith. Only such religious leaders can give political content to the tercentenary celebration of the Khalsa," Mann told Rediff On The NeT.

But "I want to make it very clear that our programmes for the birthday of Bhindranwale are not attempts to bring back militancy to Punjab", he clarified.

Political observers, however, say the hardliners are queering the pitch for the faction-ridden moderate Akali leadership by projecting Bhindranwale, an icon of extreme politics in Punjab.

And many believe a section of the powerful Sikh clergy led by ousted Akal Takht jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh is helping the hardliners to proclaim Bhindranwale as a great saint of Sikhism.

SGPC office-bearers reveal that Giani Puran Singh, the Golden Temple priest who was named acting jathedar of the Takht, has been threatened by supporters of Bhai Ranjit Singh and Tohra, which is why he has not stepped into his new office three days after his appointment.

Bhai Ranjit Singh, on the other hand, continues to attend office and give sermons with armed guards in tow.

The tussle between Badal and Tohra and the active indulgence of the Takht high priest in the political war has made the world's biggest Sikh shrine captive to clergymen and politicians whose motives are suspect.

"We really do not know what is happening. The fight between the religious and political leaders to control the Akal Takht is making it [the Golden Temple] not the right place to pray," said Gurdev Singh, a businessman who comes to Amritsar every week from Jalandhar to visit the shrine.

"Jathedar Ranjit Singh now walks through the Golden Temple complex with such heavy private security that he does not even look like a priest," he commented.

"The sad thing about Punjab is that while Sikhs are spread across the world, the state is being led by a bunch of religious and political leaders who are illiterates," remarked Gurdev Singh.

"Unfortunately, the young educated generation of Punjab has shown a complete disinterest in the political affairs of the state," he added.

Those who have been watching the Badal-Tohra fight for supremacy blame both for the mess they are creating. But many point an accusing finger at Tohra who, they say, has "only brought disgrace to Sikhism" as SGPC president for the last 25 years.

It was Tohra, whose political ambition to become chief minister or Union minister remains unfulfilled, who appointed Ranjit Singh to the Akal Takht. Singh was accused of murdering Nirankari baba Gurbachan Singh in the early eighties and spent 13 years in jail as an undertrial. As soon as he was acquitted of the charge, Tohra appointed him jathedar of the Akal Takht.

"By appointing a criminal like Ranjit Singh as jathedar of our holiest shrine, Tohra sinned against Sikhism," said an SGPC executive member owing allegiance to Badal.

"Ranjit Singh has sabotaged the interests of the Sikh Panth on the eve of the 300th anniversary celebrations of the creation of the Khalsa order," he pointed out.

But Ranjit Singh is unrepentant. "Badal is interfering in the affairs of the Golden Temple as if it is his family property. The chief minister's political intervention in the affairs of the Takht are not in keeping with the aspirations of the Sikh community," he told Rediff On The NeT.

"The chief minister and the Akali Dal are making futile attempts to denigrate the authority of the Akal Takht to serve their own interests," the ousted jathedar said.

While the religio-political fight between the two camps continues, opposition leaders worry that it could lead to a revival of terrorism in the state.

Former Indian Youth Congress president Maninderjit Singh Bitta has already submitted to the central government details of the large quantities of arms and explosives seized by security forces in the recent months.

"Our intelligence reports state that there is a move by certain terrorist groups to re-group and disturb the peace in Punjab. The Badal-Tohra public fight is aiding the militant outfits," Bitta told Rediff On The NeT.

"Badal has a religious agenda and Tohra a political agenda. And the people of Punjab are scared," the Congressman said.

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