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For Akalis, religion equals politics

The latest Badal-Tohra conflict has once again established that religion and politics are inseparable in Akali affairs.

The edict issued on Thursday by Akal Takht jathedar (chief) Bhai Ranjit Singh, barring the Akali Dal (Badal) high command from initiating disciplinary proceedings against Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra before April 15, demonstrates this passionate embrace.

The jathedar ignored pleas from various quarters to the Takht, the highest religious and temporal seat of the Sikhs, not to interfere in the Tohra-Badal confrontation.

The Takht has always wielded an influence over the affairs of the Akali Dal, whose foundation was based on a religious directive. On December 14, 1920, then jathedar Teja Singh had issued a hukamnama (edict) directing Sikhs to form a new party. Thus was the Shiromani Akali Dal born.

History says the Takht showed its supremacy in the early 1960s when the Akalis demanded a separate Punjabi suba (province). As there were differences between then Akali Dal supremo Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh on the issue, the Takht issued a hukamnama directing the two factions to maintain unity.

In 1961, the Takht directed some Akali leaders to undergo tankha (religious punishment) for breaking the indefinite fast undertaken by Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh to press the demand for a Punjabi suba.

In 1979, the Takht once again intervened when Akali Dal president Jagdev Singh Talwandi and SGPC chief Tohra resigned from their posts, levelling allegations of corruption against Parkash Singh Badal, who was chief minister of the state even then. The Takht directed Talwandi and Tohra to withdraw their resignations, which they did.

In the 1980s, the Takht played a very significant role in the dharam yudh morcha (religious war agitation) launched from the Golden Temple. When Talwandi and Sukhjinder Singh undertook their own separate morchas in 1982, the Takht intervened and directed them to join the dharm yudh morcha. The two politicians complied.

In 1987, jathedar Darshan Singh Ragi directed the presidents of the different Akali factions to submit their resignations so that unity could be brought about. But then chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala and jathedar Rachhpal Singh of the Master Tara Singh group refused to comply. They were ex-communicated from the Sikh Panth. Only after they served the punishment ordered by the Takht were they re-admitted to the fold.

Barnala was tied to a pillar in the Golden Temple complex, with a slate around his neck proclaiming him a sinner.

In 1994, Professor Manjit Singh, acting head of the Akal Takht, initiated efforts to bring about unity among the factions headed by Badal, Simranjit Singh Mann, and various other politicians. Singh's efforts paid dividends only in January 1995 when Badal agreed to merge his group, which was then the most popular, with Tohra's faction.

UNI

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