CHANDIGARH: The five member Panthic Committee headed by. Baba Wassan Singh Zaffarwal warned Akali leaders against striking a deal with Delhi for selfish ends and said that whoever tried to barter away the Sikh sacrifices would get a proper punishment. The committee’s warning came in the wake of recent developments beginning with incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Saheb at Jullundur and Delhi, a big mass protest against these incidents by the Sikhs, the Akalis efforts to form a committee in a bid to “forge Panthic unity” and a convention at Anandpur Saheb to discuss the future course of action and the abortive talks Prime minister Chander Shekhar held in Delhi to thrash out the Punjab problem, Suspecting foul play by traditional Akali leaders, the Panthic Committee (Zaffarwal) thought it necessary to administer a strong warning to all such persons “who so ever they may be” that they would be punished should they decide to run for chairs. The committee asked Baba Thakur Singh, acting chief of Damdami Taksal, to stay away from the kind of a committee set up by Akali leaders “because your position in the Panth is above such leaders”. In fact, Baba Thakur Singh already dissociated himself from the six member committee set up in the wake of desecration of Guru Granth Saheb.
The Panthic Committee did not go into the details of the Akali activities but expressed its suspicion that the recent arrests of Akali leaders were maneuvered by these leaders themselves in connivance with Delhi. The Panthic Committee significantly made no distinction between leaders of the Mann group such as Simranjit Singh.
Mann and General Narinder Singh, who had been arrested along with leaders of other Dals such as Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Tota Singh and Capt Kanwaljit Singh. The committee’s warning was addressed to “all leaders”, whosoever they may be.
The Panthic Committee (Dr Sohan Singh) did not comment on the developments although observers do not think they have a different attitude towards the Akalis’ recent activities. What is intriguing is that the names of Mann and General Narinder Singh are also being bracketed with the other traditional Akalis.
Were Mann and Narinder Singh, too, a part of the allegedly Delhi inspired developments which would have culminated in talks with Prime Minister Chander Shekhar? The Panthic Committee (Zaffarwal) left no mistake about its assessment about the various Akali leaders, the other Panthic Committee has yet to clarify its stand. While General Narinder Singh was released last week along with other Akali leaders, Mann was set free from Chandigarh jail on December 10.
Meanwhile, various militant organisations directed their cadres through the media to shift their places of rest and activities in view of the danger of Indian Army’s deployment in Punjab.
The reported Army plans were discussed at a meeting of the five member Panthic Committee and other associated militant organisations somewhere in Ropar district last week. In a statement, Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Sarhand later said that Akalis were behind the Chander Shekhar government’s move. These selfish leaders wanted to enjoy the fruits of power after seeking the elimination of militants, Bhai Sarhand added. He warned the Chander Shekhar government to abandon the “1984like oppressive policy”. Otherwise, he said, the Sikhs knew how to repay in the same coin.
Several other militant groups in separate statements “welcomed” the reported move to deploy the Army and said that the decision would clearly expose the failure of the paramilitary forces to face the might of the Sikh militants. The Panthic Committee (Dr Sohan Singh) said that the deployment of the Army would save the Sikh policemen from the militant’s attacks because sometimes innocent policemen of Punjab too get killed in the process, the committee added.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 14, 1990
