CHANDIGARH: The Akali sponsored Punjab bandh against the executions of Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda evoked a lukewarm response from the people in the state although both Akalis and the Punjab government authorities made conflicting statements, one describing the bandh as a great success while the other dubbing it as failure.
The response was typical of the public behavior to such calls issued in the recent past. The public responded quite well in the areas bordering Pakistan, More distant from the border, the poorer the response in major urban centers. But the response in the rural areas where an overwhelming majority of Sikhs live was quite impressive. In Amritsar, most shops remained closed for one day but not all of them repeated the closure on Oct 12. On the other hand, most shops in Ludhiana city were open. Almost all transport services ran as scheduled but with oul many travellers. The transport services in rural areas were, however, seriously affected. Since the bandh days also coincided with the economic boycott program of B.K.U. a farmers’ organization, not many farmers brought milk and fodder to urban areas for sale.
The Punjab chief minister described the bandh response as poor. Badal, on the other hand, said that the response to the bandh call was quite good. Notwithstanding these claims, the fact remains that most people in the past responded to calls issued by militants. Hindus did so out of fear while the Sikhs responded to their calls out of respect to the feelings for the militants’ sacrifices for the Sikh community.
There has been a noticeable weakening of the militant movement as they are still in the process of regrouping.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 23, 1992
