Split wide open in morcha leadership

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 10

A day after the Insaaf Morcha was called off at Bargari, several radical Sikh organisations and leaders dissociated themselves from the organisers, who are under fire from the community in India as well as aboard for allegedly succumbing to government pressure.

The Akali Dal (1920); several leaders of the United Akali Dal; Damdami Taksal breakaway faction’s leader and parallel Jathedar of Takht Kesgarh Sahib Amrik Singh Ajnala; and a key leader of the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa, Dr Bhagwan Singh, had skipped yesterday’s proceedings at Bargari. A function organised today at Bargari to honour 120 persons, who had backed the agitation since its start in June, witnessed thin attendance.

Several leaders of the breakaway group are reportedly meeting in Khanna on Wednesday to decide the course of action. Though the state government is likely to announce extension of parole (from 82 to 120 days) for Sikh prisoners lodged in Punjab’s jails in terror-related cases, there is no assurance on their release.

Gurdeep Singh Bathinda, a leader of the United Akali Dal and one of the main organisers of the morcha, told The Tribune that there was no public outrage or a U-turn by radical outfits supporting them.

“Some individuals can have a personal opinion on calling off the morcha, but we have made it clear that the struggle will continue. It is only the ‘form’ of the struggle that has been changed,” he said.

A prominent leader involved in negotiations between morcha leaders and the government claimed that except Buta Singh Ransinhian of the Akali Dal (1920), all groups supporting the morcha since its start were on board over the decision to call it off.

“The government showed them that 23 dera followers allegedly involved in sacrilege cases had been chargesheeted, while cases of murder and attempt to murder had been registered against police officers in connection with the firing incidents at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura, even as the SIT (Special Investigation Team) is on its job,” he said, adding that the Sant Samaj leadership and Simranjit Singh Mann, president of the Akali Dal (Amritsar), played a crucial role in prevailing upon the morcha leadership.