The unusually harsh edict issued by the Akal Takht (the supreme temporal body of Sikhism) asking all branches of the DSS in Punjab to pack up by May 27th, and the statewide bandh call for tomorrow is widely seen as bowing to the dictates of the hardliners who had surrounded the Akal Takht while the meeting of the head priests was in progress on Sunday.

It was a repeat of what happened at Talwandi sabo on May 16th when some 60 odd Sikh organizations and the Sikh head priests had gathered to chalk out a response to the DSS. Slogan shouting radicals had heckled the jathedars and forced them to revise their earlier 10 day ultimatum for action against Gurmeet Singh to three days with a demand for sealing of Deras thrown in for good measure.

The DSS chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's almost immediate rejection of the demand to vacate his deras in Punjab as also his refusal to issue a categorical apology has set the stage for a confrontation which can only be avoided if if behind the scenes efforts currently being made by the Punjab government are successful in breaking the deadlock. But that is easier said than done because the DSS, known more for its political than spiritual activities, is widely believed to have the backing of the Congress. Not only did it support the Congress in the assembly elections held in February, but the Punjab Congress leaders too have consistently taken a pro-DSS stand ever since the fracas broke out.

Consider this: As soon as the controversial advertisement showing Gurmeet Singh dressed as the 10th Sikh guru Gobind Singh appeared in some newspapers, six Congress legislators from southern Punjab rushed to Bhatinda to support the DSS followers. Then, at a time when everyone was baying for an apology from Gurmeet Singh, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal the leader of the opposition stepped in to say that there was no need for him do so. "He has already expressed regrets for inadvertently hurting the sentiments of the Sikhs", she said. More significantly, Gurmeet Singh echoed Bhattal's demand for president's rule in Punjab when his dera in Salabatpura in Bhatinda was surrounded by angry Sikhs. Bhattal had just a few days earlier threatened the same if the "false cases against Congress workers in the state are not taken back."

Meanwhile, breaking his silence over the issue, chief minister Prakash Singh Badal has said that what the DSS chief did in aping the 10th Sikh guru was "a big provocation and the resultant reaction from Sikhs was quite justified." He has also said that the best way to resolve the crisis would be for Gurmeet Singh to apologise. But that isn't forthcoming. What is emanating instead from the DSS headquarters in Sirsa is an appeal to the President and the PM to intervene and resolve the matter. It is also needling the Akali-BJP government by asking it to "be true to its Rajdharam", that is to protect people of all communities and sects.

This is not to say that the Akalis or the BJP have had no truck with the Dera during elections. Akali insiders disclose that soon after the Dera announced its support for the Congress, senior Akali and BJP leaders went hotfooting to Gurmeet Singh's dera to ask him to help them too. Though Malwa voted largely for the Congress (it picked up 37 seats), the DSS is believed to have 'helped' the Akalis in three constituencies including Lambi from where chief minister Badal contested.

For the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which is facing its first major crisis within months of forming the government with BJP support, it's a tightrope walk across a political minefield. It is a party with a Sikh religious core, in keeping with the Sikh tradition of 'miri piri' where the religious and political arms are supposed to work in tandem. It is therefore bound to obey the directives of the Akal Takht. It is also important for it to be seen to be taking a pro-Sikh line. The registration of a case under Section 295A against Dera chief Gurmeet Singh for offence of deliberate or malicious act intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion, was aimed at appeasing the Sikh hardliners.

But Badal knows well that it is more important for him to maintain peace and calm in the state as the very stability of his government depends on it. As an aide pointed out, "We know that everything depends on whether we are able to maintain peace. If that does not happen the Congress' gameplan will succeed." The Akalis are also worried that any backlash against DSS followers by hotheaded Sikhs could dent its traditional hold over the Malwa belt in southern Punjab. It also runs the risk of alienating alliance partner BJP which is already edgy over the events of the last few days because of growing insecurity among the Hindus in Punjab.

There are reports that DSS followers in Bhatinda and some other towns of Malwa have begun fleeing their homes and taking shelter in Deras or with relatives in anticipation of retribution from radical Sikh elements. Around 30 companies of para military forces have been deployed across the state, particularly around deras of DSS to prevent any untoward happening.

Some radical Sikh organizations have passed a resolution at Muktsar for the creation of 'suicide squads' to control activities of DSS. Although the Akal Takht edict is for the closure of DSS deras in Punjab, the government has been spared a moral dilemma, because as Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, director of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation points out, " the Akal Takht has served its ultimatum to close deras on the DSS chief and not the state government."

Since Gurmeet Singh has rejected the Akal Takht directive, Ahluwalia feels that the Takht jathedars must immediately decide what to do next or else the field will be open for Sikh hardliners to hijack the situation and move forward to get the deras vacated on their own. This will jeopardize peace in the state which has not seen extremist violence for a decade now. The next few days are critical for the Badal government as it faces the challenging task of being true to its Sikh credentials. But it runs the risk of losing much more if it fails to rein in the radical elements.