Facing hostility of sorts from its alliance partner — the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), it seems, is now being attacked from within. The party is apparently divided over the issue of organising dharnas at international borders with Pakistan on January 5 “to pressurise the Border Security Force” to check drug smuggling in the State.
Unfazed, the SAD, however, made it clear that it was going ahead with its plans of holding the dharnas despite opposition from outside and within, though the number of dharnas has been reduced from four to three.
The boisterous murmurs of dissent came from the senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in Tuesday’s meeting of 14 districts to work out the modalities for holding dharnas. Dhindsa termed the “party’s decision” as “hasty and unconstitutional”.
The “protest” from the senior party leader, enjoying the stature of party’s secretary general, comes at a time when the Congress has already trained its guns at the SAD for its move to organise dharnas at the international border. The development is also significant as the discord within the party has surfaced when the party is struggling hard to keep its ties with the BJP alive.
Dhindsa, speaking during the party’s meeting at SAD’s headquarters in Chandigarh, maintained that the decision had been taken by the “party leadership” in a hasty manner — indicating that the decision was hardly unanimous but taken by the party’s power centre, the Badals.
“As a loyal worker, we would work for the party and give our best to implement the party’s decision to organise dharnas. But, it is my humble request that such decision should only be taken after consulting the party leaders and discussing the same in future,” said Dhindsa during the meeting chaired by CM and SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal.
Senior Akali leader also opined that the CM, Deputy CM or any other minister or Government representative “should not participate in dharnas as that would be unconstitutional”. However, the party has decided that the Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal would lead the dharna at Attari border, while the party’s cabinet ministers will also participate in the programmes. “They will participate in dharnas but in their private capacity and will not use their official cars for this purpose,” said the Education Minister and SAD spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema.
Justifying his “open defiance” against the SAD’s decision of holding dharnas, Dhindsa contended that it was required as there was in impression that the dharnas were being organised against the BSF and the Central Government, of which SAD is the part.
The party clarified that its move should not be construed as protest against the central forces, but “it is an awareness programme to create awareness about drugs as well as focus on the need for greater vigilance along the border with Pakistan”.
“SAD is not against the centre or the Border Security Force (BSF). However sometimes you even have to make your own police aware,” said Badal, addressing the meeting., he suggested that new techniques should be used to increase surveillance at the border to end entry of drugs from across the barbed wire fencing with Pakistan.
“I do not know how the programme got to be labelled a dharna as we take it to be an awareness programme against drugs…The programme will be completely non-violent and the party workers and leaders should be careful about their choice of words when they speak during the programme and not incite trouble,” said Badal during the meeting.
Badal maintained that party’s “programme against drugs” was not unconstitutional as it had been announced by the SAD. “I would not participate, but Sukhbir could, as he is the party president also,” he said. Badal said that the fight against drugs was a shared responsibility of the Centre and state governments and the people of the country.
Stressing that Punjab was fighting the nation’s war against drugs, the SAD patron said that it was unfortunate that the State was being defamed and even projected as if it was an “adda” of drugs.
“If we had not taken proactive action and conducted the record seizures we have, these drugs would have travelled further into the country and created havoc,” he said, adding that vested interests earlier also had portrayed Punjabis as terrorists.
“This is why we are holding these dharnas. We want to make everyone aware of the danger posed by the penetration of drugs from Afghanistan into Punjab and engage everyone in this war against drugs and give a clarion call for a “nasha mukt Bharat,” he said.
Earlier decided to hold four dharnas, the party would not organise three dharnas at international borders near the Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki check points in Amritsar, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts respectively. The proposed dharna at Gurdaspur has been put off and now merged with the Attari programme, said Cheema.
