RAJIV’S LOLLY-POP AND REALITIES With the lolly-pop of a limited State autonomy, Rajiv Gandhi has temporarily succeeded in taming Mr. Laldenga, the fiery leader of Mizo rebels. Whether Laldenga has consented to compromise his stand out of sheer impatience and desperation or has made a calculated move to operate more effectively from the administrative corridors of the government is best known to him. To an unbiased political observer, however, his action is fraught with the grim possibility of a shattering rebound that can leave him in political wilderness.

The compromise is likely to alienate the hard core among his followers. His present admirers are also in for a shock when they would find him either unwilling or unable to accommodate their personal ambitions. Laldenga will shortly find himself in the unenviable plight of Barnala where he will have no option but to tamely submit to the dictates of Delhi. The day is not far when yesterday’s hero will be denounced as a base traitor and will in all probability go down in history unsung and unwept.

A new leader will surely take the mantle from his slippery shoulders and re-organize the movement. His dis-illusion followers will in due course desert him and swell the ranks of the hard core. The position would revert to square one. Rajiv’s triumph ‘would prove a passing phase and the familiar story of Punjab would be repeated with all the attendant blood-shed.

What is it that foredooms Delhi’s attempts at solving the ticklish issues? The answer is simple. The ruling tribe’s habits of playing hide and seek with its solemn pledges and publically pronounced policies coupled with its congenital district of the minorities are at the root of the chronic malady. The post-independence history of Punjab is a sordid chronicle of the majority community’s distrust of the Sikhs and its clownish antics beginning with the disowning of its mother-tongue through conceding first the Sachar Formula, then Regional Formula, followed by Punjabi speaking State and now the 50 called Punjab Accord.

Insincerity and half measures have been the tragic bane of the Congress rule in India and Rajiv is a willing prisoner of the depraved Brahmin legacy. Whereas his offer to negotiate with Badal and Tohra amounts to an open admission of the inadequacy of the Punjab accord, it is also a revealing commentary upon his essentially crooked approach to minority rights and privileges. The offer shows that his conditioned mind refuses to recognize the realities and is hopelessly clinging to listless straws. The transparent strategy to ‘woo Badal and Co. has double objective.

First, he wants to break the monopoly of the formidable AISSF and Damdami Taksal combine as the authentic voice of the Sikh masses. Secondly, he is attempting to create a viable alternative to the discredited Barnala government. After ordering troops into the Golden Temple, Rajiv has no more utility for Barnala. Barnala has become irrelevant and his ouster is a matter of time now. With Badal and Tohra in the saddle, Rajiv hopes to manipulate issues to his advantage.

The myopic Rajiv does not realize that the success of his plan will surely plunge Punjab into an unparalleled orgy of communal violence and spell disaster for the whole country. Instead of obstinately and unwisely pursuing a suicidal course, he would do India a singularly distinguished service if he were to take a bold initiative and recognize the legitimate aspirations of the minorities and create an atmosphere where no Laldenga would be alienated from his hard core, where Badal and Tohra would sincerely tread the path of AISSF and Damdami Taksal, where Barnala would be consigned to the dust-bin of history.

Badal and Tohra must also scrupulously avoid duplicating Barnnala’s perverse and treacherous role if they wish to survive on the Political horizon of the Sikhs.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 18, 1986