There was a lot of speculation in the Indian media about the proposal of Akali unity. The initiative initially came from Akal Takhar Jathedar Prof. Manjit Singh Efforts continued for several months unit l certain groups announced at Talwandi Sabo on April 14 that the unity aim had been achieved. There will be a new Akali Dal to be known as Shiromani Akali Dal Parkash Singh Badal Gurcharan Singh Tohra and others announced that the political goal of the new party would be the one set in the 1978 Anandpur Sahib resolution, namely seeking more autonomous powers for Punjab and other states to truly usher in a federal system in India. Prof Manjit Singh was not present on the occasion that his nominee Bhai Ashok Singh Bagarian associated himself with the unity announcement.

Several Akali groups now a part of the Akali Dal (Amritsar), not only distanced themselves from the unit but in subsequent statements condemned the move as unacceptable. These groups include representatives of erstwhilc Akali Dal (Mann) and the Babbar Akali Dal. These groups no longer subscribe to the 1978 Anandpur Sahib resolution. They remain wedded to the Amritsar declaration which describes India as a multi-national state and seek to form a confederation of numerous Indian nations.

In the light of developments at Talwandi Sabo and the subsequent public statement issued by several Akali leaders, it cannot be claimed that any serious degree of unity had been achieved by Akalis. Differences persist not only an organizational matters but also, and more essentially, on political matters- most Sikhs in Punjab do not any more accept the Anadpur Sahib resolution and its formulations. They prefer to stay with other Indian states as equal partners. In its absence, they would like to go in for an independent nation. That is the crux of the Amritsar declaration.

Since most pro-India Akalis headed by Parkash Singh Badal and, now also Gurcharan Singh Tohra, are not in favor of any political program other than seeking certain additional constitutional powers, it could be safely inferred that a fresh polarization will begin taking shape in Punjab soon. On the other side will be Sikhs critical of India. They are likely to join hand with farmers and Dalits to form a new axis.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 21, 1995