Struggling hard for political survival by adopting a panthic agenda, Shiromani Akali Dal’s efforts to woo back the Sikh voters in the State suffered a setback with two back-to-back development — Sikh clergy’s pardon to the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head and ‘bir’ sacrilege incident.
Facing anti-incumbency of almost nine years of rule in Punjab, the party, however, on Friday got into a ‘damage-control mode’ with the Akal Takht withdrawing apology to Dera chief and the State Government ordering withdrawal of all cases against the Sikh protestors in holy book desecration incident.
The incidents came at the time when the State was witnessing the worst-ever farming crisis. The “political” decision to exonerate controversial Dera sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by Sikhs’ highest temporal seat — Akal Takht, with an eye on the 2017 State Assembly polls, boomeranged with various Sikh organisations protesting against the decision.
Situation went so bad that the Sikh organisations, upset over Akal Takht’s decision, had announced to convene a Sarbat Khalsa — an assembly of Sikh masses including all Sikh political and religious outfits — on November 10 to replace the five takht jathedars.
Buckling under pressure, the Akal Takht has on Friday annulled its hukumnama (edict) to pardon Gurmeet Ram Rahim on the grounds that it was not accepted by the Sikh community by and large.
The further damage to its panthic agenda was done by the Guru Granth Sahib’s desecration incident in Faridkot’s village this week. The incident resulted in communal unrest across the State, especially Faridkot, Moga, Sangrur, Muktsar districts, after the pages of Guru Granth Sahib, reportedly stolen from the gurudwara four months back, were found scattered near a gurdwara on Monday.
The police ignored the bir’s theft and acted against those demanding an investigation into the same. Now, the incident has come back to haunt the Akalis.
During the protests against the incident, two protestors were killed allegedly in police firing with nearly 100 injured, including an Inspector General of Police (IGP). The state Government has now set up a judicial commission under retired High Court judge, Justice Zora Singh, to probe into the incident and its aftermaths.
In an apparent troubleshooting measure, Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Friday announced to withdraw all the cases registered against the people protesting against the Granth Sahib’s desecration during the last one week.
The decisions, in a single day, came after the SAD faced opposition not only from rival political parties, but also from within. Facing criticism by its own men, the party saw a surge in resignations by the SGPC members and also by the SAD-led panchayats.
What is more, the SGPC members, head priests of five takhts, and also the party leaders are dodging attending public meetings and the social gatherings to save themselves from the mounting public anger.
Considering the same, the SGPC has also postponed the World Punjabi Conference, scheduled to be held on October 23-24.
The conventional Akali leaders have even, time and again, expressed their resentment against the model adopted by party chief Sukhbir Badal. They believed that the party has departed from its real façade.
Known for exploiting the religious sentiments to grab power, the Akali Dal had its efforts to recoup from its failures and controversies it had faced in the recent past including drug issue, Moga bus molestation case, among others, by adopting the panthic agenda and raising Sikh related issues.
The decision had, however, cast a shadow over its age-old political ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead crucial state assembly polls, scheduled to be held in early 2017.
As a part of the same, the party organized a Dharmik Darshan Didar Yatra — a journey across the state bringing Sikh masters’ relics, followed by 350th anniversary celebration of Sri Anandpur Sahib, raising several Sikh-related issues with the Centre.
It also managed to shift two Sikh prisoners — Khalistani militant Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and TADA convict Gurdeep Singh Khera — back to Punjab which has irked the saffron party. Only recently, the Centre ordered the release of another TADA convict Waryam Singh, the demand made by the SAD.
SAD, especially its patron and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, has been facing allegations of raising panthic issues “to divert public attention from his all-round failures”.
“Apparently, having realised that he has failed on all fronts, Badal has resorted to what he is best about…raking up panthic issues and exploiting the sentiments of innocent Punjabis,” stated the former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh.