To regain ground, SAD cosies up to hardliners

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, January 2

Trying to find the lost ground after the drubbing in the Assembly elections, the Shiromani Akali Dal is warming up to the hardliners in the state.

Party president Sukhbir Badal visited the house of Satwant Singh in Gurdaspur, one of the assassins of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on Sunday.

Party defends move

Not much should be read into it. The bad time of terrorism has passed. The Akali leaders visit Hindu temples regularly and take up issues of the community whenever needed. — Anil Joshi, SAD leader

Sukhbir and his father Parkash Singh Badal had stayed away from the anniversaries of Satwant Singh or other killers of Indira.

Sukhbir’s visit is seen as a reinforcement of the party’s shift towards hardline panthic politics. It comes just a week ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is scheduled to enter Punjab. Just a few days ago, Badal attended a function at the house of late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

The Akalis had fielded the sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana, CM Beant Singh’s assassin, for the Sangrur Lok Sabha election.

The party is trying to re-establish itself among the masses, especially the Sikhs and farmers, over a series of sacrilege incidents and the farm laws. The party could win only three seats out of the 117 in the Assembly elections last year after snapping the ties with the BJP, losing Hindu votes. Since then, it has taken recourse to the Panthic issues and warming up to the hardliners.

Party spokesperson Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema, however, said there was no shift in the agenda. “We are a secular party and have always championed brotherhood. The family of Satwant Singh was members of the Akali Dal all these years.”

Political scientist Amanpreet Singh Gill, the author of “Non-Congress politics in Punjab”, said SAD seemed to be taking up a dangerous path by warming up to the hardliners.

“This is against the secular ethos of the party, which started with the inclusion of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat in the Moga Conference (February 1996). The beauty of the Akali power politics was the Hindu-Sikh unity and sharing of power by both communities. Now, the party seems to be going into isolation by targeting the pro-hardline sentiments. This is a dangerous path.”

Jagtar Singh, historian, who wrote “Rivers on Fire” on terrorism and Operation Blue Star, termed Sukhbir’s move a classic example of political opportunism. “When out of power, the Akalis resort to such opportunistic politics. Why don’t they remember the people when in power? The Badals have not attended the death anniversaries of Beant Singh and Satwant Singh ever. Now they are remembering them.”

Anil Joshi, ex-BJP leader, who is now the core-committee member of SAD, has cautioned that not much should be read into Sukhbir’s visit to Satwant’s house.

“I do not want to comment on visits by the party leaders. Hindu leaders are in the core committee of the party. The bad time of terrorism has passed. And the Akali Dal is the only party that has come out with secular agenda and policies. The Akali leaders visit Hindu temples regularly and have taken up issues of the community whenever needed,” he said.

Political commentator Prof Manjit Singh said SAD had been adopting the pro-radical stance for some time now. Just like the government of the majority community in the Centre, the Akalis seem to be trying to consolidate their vote bank on the religious lines in the state. This politics was risky.

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