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After dissent, decline

Leaning in to sort out a crisis

The year was 2015. Elections to the state Assembly were a year and half away. The results of General Election of 2014 had jolted the then Akali-BJP regime out of its ‘power slumber,’ as voters rejected them over the issues of illegal sand mining and drugs.

Leaning in to sort out a crisis


Ruchika M. Khanna in Chandigarh

The year was 2015. Elections to the state Assembly were a year and half away. The results of General Election of 2014 had jolted the then Akali-BJP regime out of its ‘power slumber,’ as voters rejected them over the issues of illegal sand mining and drugs. Whatever strategies were being planned by top leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to mitigate the poll losses were not yielding any results. 

It was then that the spin doctors in the SAD reportedly tried to weave a potent alignment between a party, that prided itself in its panthic leanings, and the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the dera’s head, was accused of blasphemy in 2007, when he dressed up in a style similar to Guru Gobind Singh. A hukumnama had been issued against the dera head, calling for his social and religious boycott for disrespecting the 10th Sikh guru. This had led to social tension across villages of Malwa between the Sikhs and followers of the dera for years.

Political (mis)calculations by the SAD leadership forced them to “orchestrate” a pardon for the dera chief in September 2015. This was done just as Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s home production, MSG 2, hit theatres. The movie was initially banned in Punjab “for the purpose of maintenance of law and order”. Granting a pardon to the dera head by the then Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh, paved the way for lifting the ban. This was allegedly done in exchange for his support to the Akali Dal in the Assembly elections.  

Around the same time, another major drama was unfolding. A bir of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen on June 1, 2015, from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot. Rumours of involvement of dera followers began doing the rounds. However, their involvement was ruled out by the investigating officers from Punjab Police. It was not till September 24 and 25, 2015, that the police became active in the investigation. The trigger was two posters pasted at the samadh of Pir Dhoda in the same village, and in the nearby Bargari village. These contained offensive language against the Sikhs and challenged the police to find the missing bir. Pages of Guru Granth Sahib were then found scattered in Bargari on October 11, leading to massive protests. It was at two such protest sites — Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan — that the police used force and two Sikhs were killed.

All this while, the involvement of Dera Sacha Sauda in these sacrilege incidents and the political patronage given to the dera were being speculated. The police investigation never brought out any of these aspects. After Congress came to power, a Special Investigation Team of the Punjab Police headed by DIG Ranbir Singh Khatra “established” the role of dera followers and its top brass.  It angered Sikhs across Malwa, which comprised the core vote bank of Akali Dal. 

The fact that sacrilege had happened during the rule of Akali Dal and BJP  and they were unable to solve the crime, went against them. These proved detrimental for the party’s poll prospects in the Assembly poll. All this while, the dera kept its promise. Akali leaders were called at the dera congregations and support by the sect’s followers was announced for them. However, the panthic party was reduced to just 15 seats in the Assembly, its worst ever electoral performance. 

 The political damage to Akali Dal was not over even after its political debacle in 2017. The Congress government constituted a commission of inquiry under Justice Ranjit Singh. Though boycotted by the Akali Dal, it did them a more lethal and lasting damage. It connected the dots and established a link between the dera, Akali Dal and the incidents of sacrilege. Even as the Akali-BJP combine decided to stay away from the debate on the report in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Congress was successful in taking the gist of the report to people. 

The Implosion 

A rebellion within the party followed. Otherwise known to stick to the diktats of the party leadership, senior leaders started questioning the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal on why did he not participate in the debate on the most important issue facing the Sikh panth. This had a cascading effect and many voices of dissent started rising, especially by the old-guard (taksali) leaders of the party. A sitting MP of the party, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, relinquished all party posts, another sitting MP (Ranjit Singh Brahmpura) has been expelled along with a former MP (Rattan Singh Ajnala), a former minister  (Sewa Singh Sekhwan) and two former MLAs (Amarpal Singh Ajnala and Ravinder Singh Brahmpura). With these expulsions, Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Badal seem to have contained the rebellion. At least for now.   

A prop for sects 

It may be mentioned that the strategies to seek dera support was not just restricted to Dera Sacha Sauda, headed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, now jailed for rape. The then government decided to do nothing about cremating the clinically dead Ashutosh Maharaj, head of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, Nurmahal, in an effort to woo its followers. The Namdharis and Radha Soami Satsang Dera Beas heads and their followers too were kept in good humour. And to some extent, these deras and sects did play their part in garnering political support for the Akali Dal-BJP candidates in some pockets. But at a time when the wave was against the  Akali Dal-BJP, this support could do a little to help them.

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