By B.S. Mahal

A TACIT AGREEMENT

The July peace accords were trumpeted to signal the beginning of the end of the crisis in Punjab. Though the accords did not pretend to remedy any of the ills. They promised a more thorough diagnosis and a possible cure.

On the face of it the accords were flawed since they contained very little that set them apart from earlier negotiations. Even so, most Sikhs got their hopes up believing that there was more to the accords than met the eye.

A majority of the Sikhs will have bet on that behind closed doors, face to face, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi made a secret, inviolable bargain with Mr. Longowal agreeing to Akali Dal demands in return for a downright renunciation of Khalistan. If this were not so, then, they wonder, for what cause did Mr. Longowal turn his back upon his followers whom he, and Akali Dal had urged for so long to wage a struggle for religious freedom and socio-economic reforms.

At issue is also Mr. Longowal’s ‘death which appears to be shrouded in mystery; was he a Judas felled by an avenging hand for his betrayal of his faith and abandonment of his people or was he a victim of a Machiavelian plot intent upon keeping the lid on the tacit agreement.

Mr. Longowal has been silenced; however, Akali Dal remains equally answerable to the Sikh people for the accords,

CALL TO THE COLORS

In 1699, at Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh urged his followers to walk the straight path and charged that Sikhs were duty bound to uphold the cause of Dharma Yudh. In 1973, at the very same hallowed grounds, Sikhs were beckoned by the Akali Dal to cross the Rubicon in defense of their faith, culture and identity.

The goals outlined in the Anandpur Sahib Resolutions (1973), though somewhat asymmetrical, were not backed up by a well-thought ‘out strategy to make good. No wonder that at the negotiations Akalki Dal were at all times outmaneuvered by the Center. The political naivety of Akali leadership was no match for the seasoned and crafty Careerists.

Another failing of the Akali leadership was its inability to mobilize Punjab citizenry, from the start, trolley around the cause. As years rolled by and the negotiations dragged on with no end in sight, no one took the Akali’s seriously anymore, And even when the Akali Dal held the reins of power they did little to advance their own cause.

SHIETING SANDS

It was not so much the loss of credibility in Akali leadership but the machinations of the Centrists and born-again Hindus which finally aroused the young Sikhs and the true-believers to circle the wagons to defend their faith, culture and identity.

Fearful of the loss of their power to the young Turks, the Akali’s ‘countered by launching Morcha’s. It was too little too-late. The momentum had shifted from the weak-kneed Akali’s to the hotheaded young blood. With the coming of the charismatic Bindranwale the Akali leadership paced up their bags and went sulkily away.

Now, as in the past, the Sikh family was deeply fractured. Sikhs ‘outside of Punjab made no bones over their distrust and unhappiness with Akali Dal politics. Within Punjab, the urban Sikh saw little in common with the Sikh peasantry. The young Sikhs lost patience with the modus operandi of the elder politicians. Such divisiveness blurred the focus on the matter of concern. The Center took advantage of the shifting sands by putting Sikhs against one another.

FUSE IS LIT

Frustrated, the young Turks vented their rage in the streets. Those suspected of being turncoats were killed. As violence escalated the Center sent in the military. Blood spilled through the streets and the mood changed. Whereas before the Sikhs were divided over means, now they stood split over the ends,

One group, led by the Akali Dal, continued to espouse greater autonomy within un-fractured India. The other group, under no known banner, advocated an independent state of Khalistan, Punjab’s agony had just started,

With the storming of the Golden Temple, the slaying of Bindranwale and the November slaughter, the situation had worsened. It now, dawned on even the most gullible of the Sikhs that the holocaust was symptomatic of a hitherto latent racism. While paying lip-service to secularism, most Indians have turned their back upon pluralism,

ACCORDS SPRING A LEAK

On taking office, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi made re-approachment with Punjab his top priority. Behind the Scene, negotiations brought about the July 24 accords. However, the accords kick-d up a dust as some Sikhs viewed them as 2 breach of trust. And so seeds of discontent were shown again.

Mr. Longowal chose Anandpur Sabib, and not Amritsar, to explain the accords to his followers. To some the choice of Anandpur Sahib was symbolic. After all, it was on these sacred grounds that Akali Dal had first proclaimed the 1973 Sikh manifesto and no better place to announce its fulfillments.

Others saw the choosing of Anandpur Sahib as a crafty political maneuver. After all, it represented Mr. Longowal’s strongest constituency. To them if there were to be any redemption, it ought to have been at the desecrated city of Amritsar. They felt that Mr. Longowal lacked the courage to sell the flawed accords at Amnitsar, lest he should meet with his Waterloo.

ELECTIONS A FARCE.

A good many Sikhs have questioned the indecent haste in holding of elections in Punjab. Holding of elections with the military peering out of the bushes and gun toting candidates stalking the land cannot be said to hold any meaning. Some suspect that the elections were held not only to avoid anti-Akali Dal backlash but also so as not to make the accords a moot point of a referendum.

The Congress (1), bitter foes of the Akali Dall in times not long past, were now covertly canvassing for Akali Dal candidates. The ‘opposes of the accords had been rounded up by the military and effectively silenced.

Even the most imaginative of the Indian film-makers could not have scripted a better farce.

PEACE AN ILLUSION

Now that the accords have been bandied about as a cure for Punjab’s ills: and, now that the Sikhs have one of their own firmly in power, should everyone rest and be thankful if all is well. Then why is the Indian government chasing the dissident Sikhs in Pakistan. Britain, USA, and Canada with a bull-dog tenacity seldom seen in those who speak of bygones are bygones?

Punjab continues to be militarily occupied. Its borders remain Sealed to outsiders who need a Permit to enter it. Victims of the November carnage remain destitute. While the perpetrators of the Program go about unrepentant and unpunished. Sikh regiments have been disbanded and Sikh soldiers who put their faith above all wait for rehabilitation, Young Sikhs languish in detention camps on trumped-up charges.

MASTERS OF THEIR OWN HOUSE

The sword of Damocles continues to hang over Punjab. Sikh faith, culture and identity remains no less threatened today than in 1973. Too many sacrifices have been exacted from the Sikh people, too much blood has spilled Over to revert to the status quo.

In raising its voice for more, Punjab failed to see the rising tide of Hindu fundamentalism, Minorities, be they Sikh or Muslim, must not only be mindful of India which is in fact Hindu India, but they must also fall into line.

Therefore, Sikhs must decide for better or for worse their political policy. For example, they can stay wedded to the status quo: a minority, an unequal partner within a federation dependent on hand-outs from the Big Brother.

Or they can seek greater autonomy, within the federation, wherein, they are masters of their own house: a special status not unlike that of Quebec within the Canadian confederation.

Sikhs should take comfort in the words of Guru Gobind Sing, part of the epilogue to Chandi Charter

May I never refrain From righteous acts; May I fight without fear All foes in life’s battle.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 31, 1986