BARNALA AGAIN STABS SIKHS IN THE BACK
The role of Barnala faction in the election of two Rajya Sabha members by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has proved beyond a grain of doubt that the Punjab Chief Minister would not hesitate to sacrifice the entire Sikh nation just to keep his chair secure. He has gone a step ahead of the notorious Sikh renegades like Zail Singh, Darbara Singh, Buta Singh and Gurdial Singh Dhillon in undermining the Sikh interests.
The choice of Gen. Jagjit Singh Arora as Akali candidate was clearly made at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi who was keen to reward him for his services before and after Blue Star Operation. Gen. Arora had consistently opposed the Dharam Yudh Morcha and had gone to the extent of describing Anandpur Sahib Resolution as antinational. It was Gen. Arora who specially flew to New York in August, 1984, to lead the Indian Independence day celebration parade, barely two months after the destruction of the Akal Takht by the Indian Army, His participation in the parade at a time when Sikh hearts were bleeding all over the world was not merely to sprinkle the proverbial salt on the Sikh wounds, it had a definite political Purpose.
Indian government wanted to demonstrate to the world in general and New York in particular that “eminent” Sikhs approved of its army action against the Golden Temple. Besides, unnerved by the massive show of unity and determination at the July 28, 1984, Sikh Convention in New York and the formation of World Sikh Organization, Indian government wanted to project through Arora that Indian Sikhs do not subscribe to the anguish, pain and protest of Sikhs living in foreign countries. The idea was to draw a line between the Sikhs in India and Sikhs abroad so as to create the impression that all Sikh protests outside Indian borders were irrelevant and inspired by countries inimical to India. Gen. Arora pandered to the dictates of Delhi Sultans in the hope of bagging either Governorship or an Ambassadorial assignment. Later he formed Sikh National Forum to create divisions between Sikhs living in Punjab and those living out-side Punjab. He blamed Punjab Sikhs for the Delhi Holocaust in which 10,000 Sikhs were massacred by the Congress (I) goondas.
He has been rewarded for his services and ironically through the g00d offices of Barnala Akali Dal. Like Khushwant Singh, he would now be appearing in the foreign media T.V coverage’s projecting a wholly untrue and distorted picture of the Sikh predicament in India. In him Sikhs will have to contend with another detractor and a saboteur.
As if selection of Arora as Akali candidate alone was not enough for show his allegiance to Delhi, Barnala saw to it that S. Simranjit Singh Mann was defeated. Sardar Mann could easily win if Barnala faction had released its surplus votes to him.
Since Mann could win by the surplus votes of Arora, Barnala issued a mandate to his faction not to cast second preference vote to any candidate, thus, ensuring the victory of the Congress (I) candidate. Barnalas open preference for the Congress (I) candidate shows where his loyalty lies. Sardar Mann had resigned from his coveted position of Deputy Inspector General of Police in protest against the army attack on the Golden Temple. In a courageously worded resignation letter to Zail Singh, he had fully exposed the discriminatory and anti-Sikh policies of the Indian government. Barnala can.no more claim to be Akali Dal Chief Minister. He should drop all pretense and like Bhajan Lal, join the Congress (I) along with his band of self-seekers and seek fresh mandate from the people of Punjab, Let the people decide whether they want to be ruled by a Central governments “rubber-stamp” or by a true representative of their collective aspirations.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 4, 1986
