PATIALA: Whether the Amritsar Declaration, adopted by Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) as its policy document through which party’s political goal is being determined, is for the creation of Khalistan or a confederation of states? To settle this issue for all times to come, senior leaders of the Dal will hold a meeting at Chandigarh on January 10.

It is a known fact that there were sharp differences among senior leaders of the SAD (A) over the party’s political goal in the light of the Amritsar Declaration. While Simranjit Singh Mann has publicly stated that the Amritsar Declaration was for the creation of an independent or sovereign Sikh state (Khalistan), Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Jagmer Singh Bala, convener of the Ad Hoc Committee of the party, have been saying that the declaration was for the creation of a confederation of states. There are a few more leaders of the party who have claimed that the declaration was not even for a confederation but was a document determining the same goal which was enshrined in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.

The January 12 meeting has reportedly been summoned on the insistence of certain senior leaders of the party who do not agree with Mann’s interpretation of the declaration and want this issue to be settled first. Otherwise, it could prove “fatal” for the unity of the party which has come into being with the efforts of the Acting Jathedar of Akal Takht, Prof Manjit Singh, they say. What has disturbed the leaders of the party like Surjit Singh Barnala and Capt Amarinder Singh, who are known as moderates in party’s ranks, is the speech delivered by Mann at the Shaheedi Jor Mela at Fatehgarh Sahib recently. Mann, in the presence of Bamala and other senior leaders of the party, had then publicly stated that only those party leaders and activists would be given party tickets for contesting the general election of the SGPC, and next vidhan sabha and parliamentary elections, who worked for the creation of Khalistan in the light of the Amritsar declaration. Such a fiery speech necessitated the setting of the issue for once and all.

Jasmer Singh Bala, convener of the apex body of the party, said here last week, that at the January 12 meeting, the party’s policy (about its political goal), programs and organizational structure would be thoroughly discussed and finalized. He said the SAD (A) was expecting the Acting Jathedar of Akal Takht, Prof Manjit Singh, to announce his verdict about the issue of unity among different Akali factions as he had already received a report from the committee which he had constituted in this connection.

Bala categorically said that party had made it clear to Prof Manjit Singh that it would not wait beyond January 12 on the unity issue and would announce its program to raise its organizational structure. The SAD (A) leadership was expecting that Prof Manjit Singh would come out with some concrete proposal for unity among the SAD (A) and the Akali Dal (Badal).

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 13, 1995