Just a 100-odd days in power, and the honeymoon seems to be over. Even as the ghalooghara (genocide) week -- to mark Operation Blue Star -- passed off without incident, fissures have already appeared in the Shiromani Akali Dal -- BJP, coalition in Punjab.
Under tremendous pressure from the BJP, the Akali leadership ensured that the protest week was a low-key affair. Unlike Baisakhi in April, when Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Jindal and Sukkha (the assassins of General K.S. Vaidya) were eulogised and their family members presented with siropas (scarves) at the Akal Takht, this time no speeches or eulogies were lavished on the 'martyrs'. However, AISSF leaders like Manjeet Singh Chawla and Rajinder Singh Mehta as well as maverick Akali leader Simranjit Singh Mann were present during the ardaas (prayers); but that was the extent of it.
So much so that the head priest of the Akal Takht, Jathedar Bhai Ranjeet Singh, didn't use the word ghalooghara and stuck to the milder Rosh Divas, or protest day. A symbolic siropa presentation to the shastras (swords) and a brief tribute to "all martyrs" by the Jathedar marked the occasion.
The presentation of siropas at Baisakhi had snowballed into a major row between the coalition partners, and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief and senior Akali leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra was forced to repeatedly clarify that his party was firmly against a return to militancy. But this soft line seems to have only been a front for the approaching local bodies elections. Basic perceptions about 'martyrs' and national heroes do not seem to have undergone any change.
This is more than evident from the stands taken by the BJP and the Akalis on the alleged 'harassment' of police personnel, especially after SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu's suicide. Brushing aside allegations of excesses by the police, the BJP expressed unhappiness over the 'harassment' of officials who played a key role n curbing militancy in the '80s. The party demanded state protection for police officers facing charges of human rights violation.
The Akalis, on the other hand, refused to pay respect to the former Tarn Taran SSP and did not attend Sandhu's bhog ceremony. This provoked harsh criticism from the RSS, whose mouthpiece Panchajanya carried an article accusing the Akalis of harassing police officials.
Fearing that the controversy might jeopardise the alliance's future, the BJP immediately washed its hands of the Panchajanya article, with its general secretary in charge of Punjab, Madan Lal Khurana, stressing that the views expressed in the article were not his party's. Given its 'untouchable' status in New Delhi after the demolition of the Babri mosque, the BJP, as of now, cannot afford to antagonise its allies -- even if it entails diluting the party's natural stand on the Sikh 'martyrs' issue.
In a complete turnaround, the BJP has now started saying that honouring 'martyrs' is an intrinsic part of the Sikh tradition. Parallels have even been drawn between Hindu sentiments on the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya and the Sikh attitude to the Golden Temple. Said Balramji Das Tandon a former Punjab BJP chief and health minister in Prakash Singh Badal Cabinet: "I may or may not agree with it, but once they have called someone a martyr, he will always remain one. For that matter, we (Hindus) have also killed people to liberate the Ram Mandir. That is part of our history."
For his part, Badal does not wish to upset equations with the BJP although his government is not dependent on it for survival. Just as the BJP was looking for non-Hindutva partners to soften its sectarian image, the Akalis were intent on broadening their base beyond the Sikh constituency. They also felt an alliance with the BJP would help restore social harmony, which was vitiated during the decade of militancy.
So, when incidents like Sandhu's suicide threatened to push the two parties toward a confrontation, both realised the need to normalise ties. In an apparent bid to please the BJP, Badal prevailed upon the SGPC and the Akal Takht to avoid honouring militant leaders, besides convincing his Akali colleagues not to raise the Anandapur Sahib resolution for Punjab's autonomy during the election campaign.
However, Badal was at a loss for words when Outlook asked him whether he approved honouring Bhindranwale, Jinda and Sukha as martyrs. His aide Harcharan Singh Bains came to his rescue: "Even during the Congress period respect had been paid to them." But Badal later said: "These things are very delicate but you will definitely write about it. What shall I say? I request you not to make an issue out of it."
Making matters worse for Badal are the inner conflicts and contradictions of Akali politics. Tohra has launched a broadside against the RSS-BJP combine. Given his not-so-cordial political relations with Badal, he is likely to use every opportunity to embarrass the chief minister.
From its very inception, the Akali-BJP alliance has been on a dicey wicket. And there is no doubt that in case the coalition crumbles, the BJP will be the worse for it. By distancing itself from the RSS line on human rights and the police, the party has shown that it is aware of the dangers of being aggressive with the Akalis. But for how long the can the BJP afford to be low-key?
Tags