JALANDHAR: The Akali Dal (Mann) on March 11, questioned the rationale of the Akali Dal (Badal) in holding a mass rally here on March 14 and cautioned the Sikhs to be wary of the “con fused politics” of Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Addressing journalist after re leasing a statement at a press conference here, party president Simranjit Singh Mann said Badal and Tohra as also former Prime Minister V.P.Singh and Chandrashekhar, all of whom were invited to address rally, had “lost their political moorings and are now running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.” He said “it is unfortunate that these four leaders have made Punjab a cockpit for their confused and unprincipled politics” and condemned the rationale of such politics.
Without questioning the right of Akali Dal (Badal) to hold the rally, Mann, however, asked if it (rally) could help enlarge the scope of democracy in Punjab as claimed by Akali Dal (Badal) when both VP Singh and Chandra Shekhar had been responsible for the “murder of democracy during their respective tenures.” He said if Badal and Tohra had invited the former prime ministers to see for themselves the “violation of fundamental and human nights” in Punjab, then “these two gentlemen have been guilty of denying the Sikhs their fundamental rights and abusing their human rights.” Mann wondered how, in this respect, V.P.Singh and Chandra Shekhar could be considered any different from Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao.
Charging the former prime ministers with having very “ambiguous” stands on Punjab during their tenures, Mann said both extended the President’s rule through 65th and 75th Amendments and thus were guilty of thwarting the process of democracy for Sikhs and annulling their fundamental rights. He said he quit his Lok Sabha seat in protest against these amendments which, he added, discriminated against the Sikhs.
The Akali leader said since both the former prime ministers were advocates of finding a solution of the Punjab problem within the constitutional framework, Badal and Tohra, therefore, should clarify their stand on the demand for “independent sovercign Sikh state” to which they were signatories in the memorandum submit ted to the United Nations Secretary General at New Delhion April 22 last year.
Mann also questioned the secular credentials of V.P.Singh and Chandra Shekhar, saying by participating in the Akali rally they would be associating with the leadership of Akali Dal (Badal) which had sent a party squad for the demolition of Babri mosque at Ayodhya. Asked if the Akali Dal (Badal) had not implicitly demarcated from Akali Dal (Mann) ideologically by backtracking on the issue of sovereign Sikh state, Mann said the Dal (Badal) leadership should state its position clearly instead of keeping the Sikh masses in the dark, They should hold the rally only after making a clear ideological distinction on the issue, he added. He did not agree with a questioner when told that Akali Dal (Badal) had already clarified its position by remaining silent on the issue during its political conference at Anandpur on the occasion of Hola Mohalla festival.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 19, 1993
