The successful boycott of the Delhi-sponsored election in Punjab was a historic event in the current Sikh struggle for freedom. The Brahmin regime could produce no Longowal this time. That speaks of the maturity of the Sikhs as a political entity. The community by implication expressed its confidence in the leader-ship of militant groups. Traditional Alkali’s also played a significant role in making the boycott a success. In this manner they found an opportunity to distance themselves from their own shady past. The Rajiv-Longowal accord was the most sordid expression of the Akali betrayal of Sikhs and Punjab. A more verbal allegiance to Khalistan by Alkali’s is not enough to signify their repentance of their deplorable role in the recent past. They must condemn in clear and categorical terms the Rajiv-Longowal accord. This could substantially be done by asserting Punjab’s right to all its river waters including the waste already flowing through the Indira Gandhi canal for Rajasthan and the Bhakra Mainline canal for Haryana.

The Babbar Khalsa International has done well to issue a warning to Punjab government politicians and officers against holding any talks with India Rajasthan or Haryana on the water issue “because the entire water of Punjab Rivers belongs to Punjab.” This warning in effect is the new program of political action given by the B.K.I. along with its stress on the enforcement of Punjabi in Punjab. Thus the B.K.I. has unmistakably shown its sensitivity to the key issue in the Punjab turmoil and is not content to merely raise ritualistically the slogan of Khalistan. An independent Sikh state without its natural resources will be a body without soul. The B.K.I. program is a clear departure from the discredited Akali positions which left doors of talks and accommodation with India wide open with water all along being the bargain center.

It is a matter of regret that the so called panthic organizations which got together at a common platform at Anandpur Saheb on the occasion of hola mohalla festival last week failed to give any specific program of action for the Sikh masses. True they lent support to the Sikh aspiration for complete freedom from India. This it is a significant advance for Alkali’s in political terms. The Babbar Akali Dals working committee has already endorsed the Anandpur stand. Will the executive committees of the other participant organizations follow suit? No wonder Delhi was quick to order withdrawal of security to Akali leaders who with allegiance to the new Anandpur Saheb resolution are of no use to the Indian state. Nevertheless it was expected of the Akali groups to give some specific program to follow up the resolution on freedom.

Perhaps the Akali groups by now themselves realize that the panthic committees and the militant groups associated with them are the legitimate leaders of the Sikh community. After all the call for the election boycott had also come from the militants. It is thus only natural that the new political initiative should also come from the militants. A significant contribution has already been made by the B.K.I. the formulation of the new political initiative. The ball is now in the court of Bhai Daljit Singh Dr. Sohan Singh and their other associates to give a meaningful and precise call for action by the over ground Sikhs. A social boycott of ministers is eminently desirable but is not enough. The gains of the boycott must not be lost in political inaction. More so at a time when the Indian state is about to take concrete action on the deceptive “Punjab package” which means no more than legitimization of the existing flow of water out of Punjab and transfer of more water to Hindu states in lieu of the merger of Chandigarh into Punjab. A new program of action atone can nullify India’s new deception on Punjab.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 3, 1992