C  H HA PAR (LUDHIANA):The president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann), Simranjit Singh Mann, on Sept.11, renewed his appeal to leaders of rival Akali factions for Panthic unity and invited them to share the stage with him at Guru Ki Dhab Gurdwara near Jaito in Faridkot district on Sept.18.

Addressing the biggest of the three Akali conferences at the annual fair at Chhapar, Mann said his party would be holding its usual political conference at the historic gurdwara and Parkash Singh Badal and other Akali leaders should join him there in the interest of checking growing state repression and to save Jinda and Sukha, assassins of former army chief A.S. Vaidya, from the gallows.

Mann stated that many senior leaders of his party had disappeared at the hands of the police and Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode was facing police torture and it was necessary for all Panthic leaders to join together to check such police atrocities.

At the same time, Mann dubbed the president of SAD (Badal) P.S.Badal and president of the newly constituted Akali Dal, Bhai Manjit Singh, as stooges of the government. He charged both of them with acting at the insistance of the government.

Mann disclosed that while he had always been consulting Badal about Panthic matters, the latter had been ignoring him and unilaterally announced participation in recent Municipal elections. Still, he said, he supported the announcement so as not to endanger unity,

The fiery leader charged Badal and Manjit Singh with taking part in elections to the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee on their own and handing over power to the group led by   Singh who had been Pennames and declared tankhaiya by Sikh high priests.

He reminded Bhai Manjit Singh that Akali Dals were not formed in five-star hotels but they were born out of long struggles among the people, He also revealed that ever since his election in 1989, he had always tried to carry the traditional Akalis along though they polled only 6% votes in that election.

He said the decision to hold joint conference at Chhapar Mela was taken at the meeting of six Panthic bodies at Ludhiana on August 21 where even Badal was present.

Mann held traditional Akali leadership responsible for Operation Bluestar and stated that they would again be held responsible now if Jinda and Sukha were hanged. He wondered why the Finance Minister, Dr Kewa Krishan praised Badals views against him.

The surging crowd expressed its solidarity with Mann when he sought their support. Charging the Congress (I) leaders with defrauding the country of Rs 4000 crore and bankrupting the Indian economy, he appealed to the United States and other western democracies to stop international loans to India since the end of cold war, this money would be used on unproductive defence and sustaining Indian army in Punjab,

Jagdev Singh Talwandi, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (I), speaking from the opposite stage asserted his goal as implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution and grant of political autonomy to all states. He appealed to non-Congress leaders all over the country to come together on this issue and launch a united struggle for this purpose. He called for a debate in Parliament on this matter.

Article extracted from this publication >> September 25, 1992