Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar’s one year in office appears to have con founded the Sikh polity and has nearly made the Akali Dal (Badal) politically irrelevant. Brar succeeded Beant Singh who was killed in a powerful militant bomb blast about a year ago. The Congress (I) government came to power in the wake of boycott of elections by almost every Sikh group and thus barely represented 10% of Punjabi upper caste Hindus. During his three year tenure, Beant Singh sanctioned killings of thousands of Sikh youths fighting for Khalistan and the Punjabi Hindus regarded Beant Singh as a messiah of peace. What is anomalous is that the Congress (I) in Punjab had not been isolated even among Sikhs during the Beant Singh rule and more so in the past one year. If anything, the patty’s government which nearly started from a scratch has made inroads in the rural Punjab and the Sikhs. This is not to suggest that the party will be returned to power in the event of a contest in the next year’s election. It is undeniable that the credibility of the Brar government has grown. What is behind the riddle? The reason probably is that the main Sikh party the Akali Dal (Badal) has given up the Panthic platform. It regards anti Congress tongue lashing as a substitute for a proper Sikh politics. No other Sikh group seems viable or credible enough to satisfy the Sikh aspirations in the present circumstances.
A number of measures taken by the Brar government in the past one year has not only enhanced its credibility but has correspondingly discredited the Badal outfit In the first instance, the public has been led to compare the personal image of Brar with Badal’s. Here, Brar wins hands down in comparison with Badal. Secondly, it was during Brar’s tenure that human rights were substantially restored in the state symbolically, India’s rented, butcher police chief, KP.S. Gill, was ousted from his post. Later, his bloodthirsty substitute, O.P. Sharma, too, was eased out. The State government reversed the Beant decision to defend dozens of police officers facing charges of murder of Sikhs leaving them to fend for themselves. Thirdly, the chief minister boldly announced time and again that he would not like a single brick to be added to the construction of the anti-Punjab and anti-Sikh S.Y.L. canal project. It was asserted by Brar that Punjab did not have a drop of water to spare for Haryana or Rajasthan. In fact, the Congress (I) chief minister rightly chides Akalis for constructing the S.Y.L. canal during their rule.
Not only that, the Akali Dal (B) holds an annual meeting at Longowal in August to remember Harchand Singh Longowal and to commend the Rajiv Longowal accord. The cornerstone of the ac cord happens to be the completion of the S. Y.L. canal. A message clearly goes out of the Akali conference that it does not give a hoot for the Sikh interests. These policies and the contrasting approaches of the Brar government and the Akali Dal (B) make the Badal faction irrelevant where the interests of Sikhs or Punjab are concerned. That possibly explains the inroads the Congress (I) has made in the rural Punjab and among the rivals The Akalis have blunted the Sikh conscious ness that earlier had been sharpened by the operation Blue Star and the subsequent events. The ordinary Sikhs in the circumstances are be wildered. The Badal faction is deeply mired in the power game. The other Akali groups are neither viable nor credible at the present, thanks to self-centered policies adopted by their leaders. Brar’s one year in office has, if nothing else, exposed the hollowness of the Akalis and their shallow policies.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 11, 1996
