Sikhs are going to boycott the elections; because participation Indian ventures tantamount to acknowledge its authority Punjab beg your pardon Khalistan”; so goes the argument. Tully appreciate the Sikh feelings: “They were outraged by the Hindu betrayal India’s perpetual bad faith negotiations and organized violence of authorities and Hindu communities. It hurt their dignity and destroyed their trust. They don’t appreciate the fancy git mit of politicians anymore; display of force irritates them; and now they don’t want to talk at all. Simple! Actually Sikhs are upset (russ gaye ne) and defiant:” These Indians understand only force: asiin ji ehnaan da goon kadh dian ge”; they declare angrily.
Why Sikhs boycott? To boycott is a Punjabi wait! AS a puraanaa Khung Punjabi Jat. I can relate to Sikh logic: “You see I have this mental block; nay a built-in reaction to matters contrary to my liking: When things don’t go my way or am unable to influence them I get angry and words fail me; I become a spoiled child instead of making a better argument as in russ jaane aan”! To compromise or admit a terror is an unthinkable option for a Punjabi hhe might as well be dead! When cornered I hide behind a psychological-morcha of “ji saanoon ki don’t care”! I dig my hole deeper when I invoke my mother’s favorite wisdom:”Jis pind nahin jaanaa ohdaa raah kayoun puchhnaa.” Thus I boycott and “decide” to go my own way. But the world passes me by may be with some reduced and unwanted burden. I have made many such stupid decisions and hurt many causes mine and others!
Sikh options: To win Punjab the Sikhs can exercise many options including (1) boycott elections and use force to create chaos after all “didn’t they win Punjab from the Mughals”! and/or (2) contest elections. With their numerical superiority the Sikhs could possibly win but they lack confidence “could they beat the non-Sikh and non-Khalistan Sikh coalition”? When pressed they raise the stakes: “We don’t trust India elections should be held under UN supervision.” This demand is de-signed to be unrealistic -it doesn’t allow anyone room 10 maneuver: The UN has many such “not potato” worthy causes around the world Also India would have none of it its international stock is high and it is thick skinned (remember the UN-mandated Kashmir plebiscite has never transpired). Besides a synthetic country like India cannot afford to agree to such an option it will have to grant autonomy to almost every revenue district!
Eighteenth century unlikely to repeat? Arguments are made that enough chaos will force India and non-Sikhs to quit and Punjab once again will fall under the Khalsa flag. Last time it happened was in the second half of eighteenth century: I would like to believe that the Sikhs did it single-handedly but it could have been a chance event. Let us not ignore the contributions of Nadir Shah and Abdali they had thoroughly eroded any organized authority from Punjab then Northern Province of the Mughal Empire; and the Sikhs were right there to fill the vacuum! They don’t have the same clout anymore; They have not yet mortally wounded the Indian-shikar!
Indian Punjab unlikely to crumble ala USSR? Khalastani optimists believe that any Indian discomfort is a Sikh gain. Prolonged chaos could conceivably cause the Indian-sponsored authority to crumble Unfortunately even though the present local and federal authority is as ineffective as ever it is likely to limp along and stumble into the twenty-first century totally unruffled Because lawlessness civil unrest and lack of freedoms does not seem to bother the Punjabis: Ask recent visitors from Punjab -in spite of a decade of privations and lack of civil liberties under the military rule they pontificate enthusiastically:”Ji jagaah jagaah te faujaan lagian ne; there is total peace and quiet; people go about their business; you can go anywhere; cinemas and bazaars are full; there is curfew after dark! One wonders why the Sikhs want India to leave when most Punjab is seem to be happy with the state of affairs. In fact “Tighten the screws” rather than “Eh sit down and talk” is a more common demand.
Controlled Chaos cannot work? Presently the Sikhs and Indian’s are at an impasse: “who will blink first? Chaos is hurting the Sikhs as much as it is helping them. In spite of condemnations of India’s human rights record by the Amnesty International the image of Sikhs as purveyors of terror and violence remains ugly. The onus has already passed from the aagoo or mohri seasoned leaders to joushiile mundiaan de hath adventurists idealists malcontents opportunities and the like. Only time will tell if Sikhs can tame the “militants” influence: flow of events regain control and transition from chaos to stable and smooth running machinery. Controlled chaos did not work for the Gandhi’s “One who rides the tiger dare not alright”!
Intensified violence unproductive. Some Sikhs advocate “all OF nothing” -they want their struggle to turn more violent. “No sacrifice is good enough for the freedom of coming generations” they argue. They would even have the Sikh farmers stop growing! Incredible; only clever Dilli wallas can have such bright ideas; what better Way to beat the Sikhs and by their own doing! Sahib saanp bhi mar jaaye aur Iaathi bhi naa toote! How do the Sikhs expect the farmers 10 feed their families and cattle? Incidentally what is wrong with the present generation enjoying some peace prosperity and happiness? “There sure must be a happy median between hardships of rationed freedom stability and prosperity so as to consolidate gains and work towards more and more freedoms.
Contested election a better option: Many Sikhs have made a psychological break with the Hindus and India; they have made a statement larger than ever numbers now appreciate that temperamentally and ideologically they must march to a different drummer Let the Sikhs legitimize their claim via electoral mandate: If the electorate doesn’t vote for their just Cause then they have done a lousy job of educating the electorate on the merits of Khalsa raj.
(The views expressed in this
article do not necessarily coincide with those of WSN)
_ Editor
Article extracted from this publication >> February 7, 1992
