Events in Punjab are being watched with interest and concern. Vast sections of the people in the State view the ‘new era of peace” ushered in by the Government with grave misgivings and cynicism. Under the seeming quiet of the surface, there is acute frustration, abiding anguish and a deep sense of injustice and deprivation. A real messiah of peace would be a person who would feel the pulse of the people, whose heart would throb for Punjab, who would lift the pall of gloom from the tramatized state by healing the sores. Ignoble self-glorification and selfnighteousness are no solution. They only deepen the wounds and widen the alienation.

The phenomenon of militancy in Punjab has been nothing but a reaction to the unjust policies of the Government. Political problems warrant timely political solutions. But unfortunately the government kept the issues hanging indefinitely and then started applying violent solutions, ignoring that violence and vengeance aré counterproducture, Rajni Kothari, the wellknown political scientist rightly observed that ‘ when political problems are allowed to fester government’s monopoly of violence is bound to be challenged by counter violence, He noted that bullets, cannon balls and rockets are not the answer to political problems, Noregime.can flourish on the negation of justice. Naked force alone cannot be the symbol of power and authority. It is only alien govemment that applies purely law and order measures to. Social or economic problems, for a democratic Government such steps cannot restore normalcy and peace. For, the forcible suppression of symptoms can only aggravate the disease. The need is to free the people from the terrible sense of oppression, and injustice. Unfortunately the entire apparatus of the government works on the law and order from only. Iris the police who are the master, ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail,” said Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist.

A dispassionate analysis of the events in Punjab over the past few decades reveals that the crisis in the State has been compounded by the government’s failure to hammer out a fair and equitable solution to the legitimate economic, linguistic and territorial rights of the State. When vested interests and political expediency take the place of justice and truth, disputes, discords and dissensions take the place of peace, security and stability and lead to a chain of miseries.

The most important dimension to the multidimensional Punjab crisis is the economic dimension. Unrest in Punjab has been nothing but an embittered response against the unjust policies of the Government leading to economic erosion of the State. Economic cum political issues have been the root cause of the Punjab crisis, Only a month before the Blue Star action. Chandigarh was the scene of a massive nonviolent “camp in’ by over 50,000 farmers. In an exemplary peaceful way these burly good humored rustics built a temporary township of thatched huts in the leafy residential suburb around the govemor residence. The farmers were determined to see that the concemed officials should sit-down across the table and talk business. It was no ghost of Khalistan, the CIA, or Pakistan but a straight forward demonstration by farmers big, medium and small. Governor was stranded in his house for a week; these were the same people who had supported the Akali struggle against the Center. But here they were talking about their bread and butter, matters, like the reduction of electricity rates paces of agricultural inputs and many other issues concerning the welfare of the farmers. Unfortunately no heed has been paid to the genuine demands of these farmers. The recently held farmers rally at Chandigarh on July 9 has revealed that farmers, irrespective of their political, affiliation are still agitated and restive. No sane government can afford to ignore the just demands of a hard working peasantry, contributing 65% to the food basked of the country. Oliver Goldsmith had once lamented that “a bold peasantry, a country’s pride, when once destroyed can never be supplied.”

Here, it is necessary to refer to the ill-conceived policies of the Govemment, concealed under the camouflage of nationalism and secularism, These policies have been communally biased, inconsistent and even discriminatory in their application to Punjab, It was nothing but knavery on the part of the Congress to rob Punjab of its riparian rights and economic wealth, A Punjabi farmer demanding more waters to irrigate his fields is dubbed as antinational, unpatriotic and communal. Unfortunately, all the Congress Chief Ministers of Punjab without any exception have been shy of asking for a constitutional and just solution of the water and power problem. They have shown apathy towards the just socioeconomic demands of Punjab. Haryana Chief Ministers, on the other hand, have always been vociferous and articulate in pleading, the cause of their State, with no worry about damage to their secular and nationalistic credentials. It is the communal attitude of the Congress leadership, projected as national interest, which is undermining the democratic foundations of our country.

The present Congress regime has neither the inclination nor the will 10 find a political solution in a spirit of justice, statesmanship and farsightedness. In the beginning the Chief plank on which S.Beant Singh, the Punjab Chief Minister, sought to build his image was that he would first tackle militancy and then try to resolve the water issue on fresh lines, invalidating all the Awards 1976, Agreements (1981) or Accords (1985) signed since 1966, He repeatedly asserted that he would not allow the completion of the SYL Canal till then. Home Minister S.B.Chavan also gave assurance about a ‘package’ on Punjab. But the Government’s volte-face soon became apparent, when the Home Minister categorically stated that he had no package in mind. The Chief Minister announced the merger formula to annul the formation of Punjabi speaking state and gave a green signal for the construction of the SYL Canal, taking no cognizance of the vital economic interests of the State. Facts and realities do not vanish by our ignoring them or covering them up through polished platitudes. They have a way of emerging in unexpected ways. Forces undreamt and unexpected are suddenly let loose by providence that watches over the affairs of men and ultimately restores justice.

Militancy is just a symptom and not the disease itself. The situation can be redeemed by curing the disease. Justice cannot be negated for long. Demands that are politically and morally irresistible cannot be” called law and order issues. While the police chief, breathing fire and fury, counts the daily toll, and the Chief Minister reaps the dividends, even though short term, the vast sections of the people are seething with anger and anguish. The Prime Minister with his sphinx like silence seems to be too happy to leave the reins of political power in the state in the hands of stooge, though unrepresentative, government.

‘The lesson to be learned in Punjab is; don’t be misled by the surface: calm. Widespread alienation, massive resentment, ever-increasing allegations of excesses, tortures, arbitrary arrests, fake encounters and human rights violations hold out ominous portents. In the absence of a political initiative, the State could be in for yet another disaster.

Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 17, 1993