With the Akali parties seemingly endeavoring for unity, all well-meaning citizens of the country must without fear or prejudice, spare a thought for Punjab and all those who live therein. As Devinder Singh brings out in this book, the existence of the poll religious Akalis cannot be just wished away, and any enduring solution of the Punjab problem which to a large extent is really a Sikh identity problem, can only come about when their legitimate grievances are addressed with grace and a sense of despatch by the powers that be at the Center.
Devinder Singh has tabulated the records well like any other “narrator of events”, but has held himself back to a cursory few pages of a “Conclusion” thereafter. Here also he bows out without a message of any kind, when he says, “Akali politics has had a long history of factionalism, internal friction and infighting. This has weakened the party, which is a potential force in Punjab politics.” So what is really new in this, for is not this the condition of every other political party in India, whether regional or at the national level?
The mere addition of the text of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution at the end, without a discussion on what the resolution means, is of not much value to the reader. In fact, he is left vaguely incomplete about the politics of it all when he goes through the Anandpur Sahib Resolution verbatim as it appears in the book for all he finds is a call for a federal constitutional structure for the whole of India “with equal representation at the Center for all the states, “
The author having completed his work recently could have discussed whether this was all that the Akalis were asking for or something more. And whether the Center had done all that it could have done to heal the extreme hurt and wounded psyche of the Sikhs after Operation Bluestar. He does cover some of the minor demands acceded to by the government, but fails to discuss in any depth, the two salient issues of redressal of the hurt Sikh sentiments, and the possibility of a federal setup, with more autonomy not only to Punjab but all other states within the framework of the Constitution.
Singh’s views of the Akalis as men of grit and steel have a ring of truth about them. The courage and in many cases the reckless bravery exhibited by the Akali “jathas” in wrestling the gurdwaras from the mahants in the twenties led Mahatma Gandhi to rightly observe that this was the classic case of organized, passive nonviolence in British India, which had succeeded. Later on too, as the author brings out, the Akali volunteers resisted the imposition of Emergency in 1975 with all their might. ‘Whereas they do unite in adversity and for a headlong confrontation with their adversary, they are never found lacking in the pursuit of self-destruction when they find themselves in power, which is rare enough was we all know.
Some other observations that the author makes are worthy of note, since they will always have a bearing on politics in Punjab. The reluctance of all Punjabis to accept Punjabi as their mother tongue, the Jat and the non Jat structure within the Sikh society, and cross voting at election time leading to shaky coalition governments in Punjab, will always leave the Akalis and with it the whole of Punjab in a restless frame of mind. Despite Devinder Singh’s self-inflicted parameters of sum and substance of the Akali life and times, this study is a welcome addition to present-day writing on the subject in the English language. ‘One lives in the hope that the author will follow up with a more penetrating and analytical sequel of a subject that is the very guts of Indian polity and statesmanship. Today.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 11, 1994
