Can Sukhbir Badal bury the controversies by submitting to Akal Takht?

The withdrawal of the Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum (pride of the Sikh community) title bestowed upon the late (former) Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and the punishment awarded to Shiromani Akali Dal leaders for their ‘sins’ is a watershed moment in Punjab politics.

The primary sin, as determined the Akal Takht, is facilitating the pardon of Dera Sachcha Sauda chief Ram Rahim by pressurising the then-jathedars of the Akal Takht. The SAD leaders are also accused of misutilising Rs 91 lakh on advertisements to justify the pardon.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, the former SAD president, and other SAD leaders on Monday, 4 December, accepted their guilt and admitted to making mistakes.

Sukhbir Badal also admitted to the mistake of elevating a tainted IPS officer accused of staging fake encounters with Sikh youth. One of the leaders was also accused of recommending the allotment of a party ticket to the wife of another controversial police officer, enabling her to contest an election.

Akali leaders Bibi Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Bikram Singh Majithia, Maheshinder Singh, Sharanjit Singh, Charanjit Singh, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon and Janmeja Singh Sekhon were also punished for not opposing the party decision to pardon the Dera chief.

Public questioning of Sukhbir Singh Badal and other SAD leaders on Monday, 2 December, was dramatic and sent ripples through the state. Sukhbir Badal, when he tried to explain the context, was brusquely told to reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the charges.

The withdrawal of the title conferred on the late Parkash Singh Badal also shocked the Akali leaders. They admit that the public admonition and punishment would take time to live down and pose challenges for the party.

However, the SAD leaders are also hopeful that the Sikh community will pardon the party and its leaders and they will be allowed to move on. Even Maharaja Ranjit Singh, they point out, had appeared before the Akal Takht to tender apology, which was accepted.

The Sikhs have a tradition of forgiving people who make mistakes, they point out.

The punishment signals that the religious arm of the Panth, the Akal Takht, has re-established its authority over the political wing (the SAD) after a long time. The SAD leaders were at pains, however, to dispel the view that the punishment would prompt it to again become a Panthic party and jettison its agenda on ‘Punjab–Punjabi–Punjabiyat’.

However, by submitting humbly before the Akal Takht and the punishment pronounced, SAD leaders hope to bury the controversies and revive the fortune of the party. The punishment, they hope, will help assuage the collective conscience of the Sikh community and soothe the hurt their reckless actions may have caused.

It should also, they hope, end the steady stream of dissidents deserting the party. The dissidents had cited these accusations against Badal, his ministers and other SAD leaders as their primary reason for leaving the party.

BJP leaders such as Sunil Jakhar have welcomed the development and expressed their hope that the BJP–SAD alliance may be revived in the state.

However, a former SAD MP in the Rajya Sabha, Naresh Gujral, has pointed out that the fissures with the BJP were caused by the controversial farm laws and the interference of the BJP government at the Centre in Panthic matters, including the management of gurdwaras. He also said that the government had not responded to demands to release Sikh political prisoners and sidelined Sikh leaders in their appointments.

For a long time, even the central minority commission, Gujral pointed out, was without a single Sikh representative.

Unless such issues get resolved, he felt, it would be difficult for the two parties to come together. No BJP leader since the demise of Arun Jaitley, he lamented, had really understood the unique dynamics of Punjab. Gujral did, however, hope that the Sikhs and the Hindus in Punjab would be able to come together.

The punishment from the Akal Takht came three months after Sukhbir Singh Badal was declared a tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct).

The day after the punishment was pronounced on Monday, directing the SAD leaders to clean toilets, utensils and shoes at the Golden Temple for two days, the leaders offered sewa for an hour at the Golden Temple on Tuesday, 3 December.

They will also perform similar sewa at the Takht Kesgarh Sahib, the Takht Damdama Sahib, the Darbar Sahib in Muktsar and the Fatehgarh Sahib for two days each.

They have also been directed to clean washrooms, the floor and utensils at the nearest gurdwara in their vicinity for five days. They were also directed to listen to kirtan for one hour daily.