Fallout of Badal-Tohra feud

  MR Hari Jaisingh in his article "Badal, Tohra and Daler Mehndis" (March 5, 1999) has made a fair analysis of the Badal-Tohra tussle and its fallout. The political and religious scenario on the eve of the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa is dismal.

Holding of two separate functions at Anandpur Sahib on Hola Mohalla and the levelling of charges and counter-charges against each other by the two warring leaders shows that the Akali Dal is heading for a vertical split. This has inflicted a severe blow to the stature and credibility of the two leaders, who have a bounden duty to come up to the hopes and expectations of the electorate. Fighting and mud-slinging by the two is for their own vested interests at the cost of the crying needs of people and issues of much wider significance.

The government has not taken proper cognisance of rural discontent, witnessed in the form of more than 100 suicides committed by Punjab farmers. No effort has been made to revive the rural economy. Even in the industrial sector, the Badal government has failed to deliver the goods. The common man is worst hit by non-governance and all-pervasive corruption. The state is passing through an unprecedented financial crisis. Yet the Chief Minister is seen spending lakhs of rupees on media publicity every day. All the moves and manoeuvres of the Chief Minister, including his support to the BJP on the use of Article 356 in Bihar, seem to be dictated by political expediency.

The phenomenon of unlimited power in the hands of one leader is fraught with grave dangers. At stake is not merely the image of the Akali Dal but also the prestige and sanctity of the institutions like the SGPC and Akal Takht. The unceremonious manner in which Bhai Ranjit Singh has been removed from his office has no parallel in history. It has endangered the time-honoured institution of Akal Takht. The Badal group may be the immediate beneficiary of this game, but it does not augur well for the future of the state.

As it has been rightly pointed out, Punjab needs a dynamic and charismatic leader with a vision and statesmanship who can inspire hope and confidence among all sections of society. A sizeable section of the people are disappointed with the lacklustre performance of the Badal government.

GURDARSHAN SINGH DHILLON
Chandigarh

Fight to finish: It is an admitted fact that when out of office the Akalis fight unitedly against the powers that be, but when in power they fight among themselves. However, this is perhaps for the first time that the intra-party fight is religion versus politics.

Another feature of the present confrontation is that unlike in the past when Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who commanded the support of an overwhelming majority in the Akali Dal, fought shy to oppose the fundamentalist minority headed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, he has come out openly against the manipulative politics of the SGPC President. The present situation leaves nobody in doubt that Mr Badal is determined to take the fight to the finish. All the signs of a split are discernible in the latest developments in the Akali Dal.

There is no doubt that Mr Badal has been the best bet for Hindu-Sikh unity in Punjab and a bulwark against the return of militancy in the state. The author and several others are of the view that the apprehensions of the state lapsing back to the bad old days of militant violence in the 1980s are misplaced. It is true that many factors which combined to cause and sustain terrorism in Punjab during those days are non-existent now. But new factors have arisen. The seeds of militancy will be sown if the intra-Akali power struggle is allowed to develop into a fight between religious extremists and political moderates.

The confrontation between the two Akali stalwarts has already reached the point of no return. The focus has shifted from good governance to competitive religiosity. May better sense prevail upon either side because neither Punjab nor the country can afford even the slightest hint of religion-based violence returning to the state!

K.M. VASHISHT
Mansa

NEWTON'S LAW & AKALIS: Being the one who has conducted Mr Badal's blood tests when he became suddenly ill in Amritsar on February 10, 1998, in my opinion, his physical condition may be stable now but his political condition has suffered a serious setback and is unstable. Contrary to Newton's Law, Mr Badal is acting “unequally" to his rivals’ actions. So much so that one gets the impression of "panic" reaction. As rightly advocated by Mr Jaisingh, he needs to focus on "performance", for at risk is his reputation of being "Swaran Singh of the Akalis"!

K.J.S. AHLUWALIA
Amritsar

CM'S DETRACTORS: Punjab is the granary of the country. It feeds India's defence forces in a big way. It has been second only to Maharashtra in prosperity. But the way the feuding leaders are behaving in the open does no service to the state, nor to the country.

The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, is facing a crafty politician in Mr G.S. Tohra, who seems to be lying low at the moment, but he has the capacity to come back to the fore. Through the gurdwara politics he has good enough hold on the rural Sikhs.

It is as a result of his feud with Mr Tohra and others that the Chief Minister has lost his grip on the state administration though he enjoys popular goodwill and is a mass leader. He has to get firm with his detractors and act with an iron hand. He must attend to real business. As the writer has rightly held, "Punjab needs an all-round revolution in education, employment generation, social uplift and infrastructural development." Will Mr Badal address himself to these tasks with determination?

DURGA BHARDWAJ
Solan

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Clash of test dates

I would like to point out that the dates of the IIIT examination clash with those of the CET — May 23 and 24. The Project Manager of the IIIT, Hyderabad, should look into the problem and shift the exam dates as per the candidates' convenience.

PRATIMA SWANI
Ambala