must-save-moderate-akali-space-from-radicals

More than the electoral advantage that the two parties may get from a possible alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party, it will benefit the entire state.

 

The alliance, if it takes place, will definitely strengthen both the parties. The Akali Dal, which looks like it is on the retreat, will need to occupy the political space that is threatened by radical takeover. And whenever and wherever the radicals have gained an upper hand over the moderates, it has had disastrous consequences.

 

Punjab has borne the brunt for over a decade when the moderate Akalis got/ were side-lined and radicals led by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale occupied the complete space. What followed after is history.

 

A similar situation emerged in the Kashmir Valley also in late 1980s. Although unlike Akali Dal, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference is not a “religion based” political party, it was more or less like that as the majority of the Muslim Kashmiris considered it to be their representative organisation.

 

The National Conference had originally started as a religion-based party, the Muslim Conference. It was later renamed as National Conference to sound “secular” as Sheikh Abdullah, its founder, was influenced partly by the leftist ideology, which was popular those days around the world, and partly due to the influence of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

 

Post-independence and after accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India, Sheikh Abdullah assumed multiple avatars even toying with the idea of “independent Kashmir” for a while. He eventually returned to the mainstream and became the Chief Minister in 1975 after the famous Indira-Sheikh Accord.

 

Also read: Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab is a strong possibility

 

After the death of Sheikh Abdullah, grandfather of current J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, a leadership vacuum was felt in Kashmir. Although he bequeathed his political legacy to his son, Farooq Abdullah, settling him as the president of the party and subsequently as Chief Minister, the National Conference impact started to wane away.

 

The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s ambitions of installing a Congress government in the state, coupled with immature handling of the situation by Farooq created space for the radicals like Jamaat-e-Islami. During Sheikh Abdullah’s lifetime, Jamaat-e-Islami was pushed to the margins. But within seven years of Sheikh’s death, it started coming into the mainstream and by 1990 it had completely dominated the narrative. So much so, the tomb of Sheikh Abdullah, whose funeral procession was attended by about one million people, including the then President Giani Zail Singh and the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982, was to be protected and guarded round the clock by over a hundred paramilitary troops in the same Srinagar city in 1989, within a span of seven years. While Kashmir has returned to a “sort of” normalcy, it is not as normal as during the days of Sheikh and probably it never will be.

 

This is what happens when the moderate political forces get weakened for whatever reasons whether internal or external, particularly in places like Punjab and Kashmir. Both the places have remained integral to Pakistan’s scheme of things to “bleed India by thousand cuts”.

 

The Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab has been one of the most patriotic parties in the country having participated in the freedom movement along with the Congress. It has a great legacy of leaders like Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh, just to name a few. In the post-independent era, the Akali Dal lived up to its reputation. During terrorism in Punjab, it probably lost so many leaders and workers to the terrorists’ bullets, including Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, who was shot dead after signing the ‘Rajiv-Longowal Accord’ to bring back peace in Punjab.

 

While the Akali Dal did stage an impressive comeback in the 1990s and pushed the radicals like Simranjit Singh Mann to margins, it now risks meeting the same fate as it met during the 1980s.

 

Also read: Endgame near for India’s family-controlled political dynasties

 

However, it needs to be clarified that the radical leaders, including Amritpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh, representing Tarn Taran and Faridkot, respectively in the Parliament have espoused a radical agenda but have not resorted to any secessionist agenda. Although Amritpal initially would speak about Sikh community being a “slave”, eventually he took oath as an MP, swearing allegiance to the Constitution of India. But there is no certainty what turn the radical elements may take.

 

Another threat comes from the radicals and extremists sitting abroad in North America and Europe who have often been fanning both radical as well as secessionist fires. While they have not found any traction in Punjab, there will always be a risk of finding soft targets like the unemployed youth. Added to that is the easy way of radicalising the youth through social media where there is no monitoring and regulation.

 

As of now, there is not any such challenge, leave aside threat, in Punjab. But nothing can be guaranteed. Unless and until the moderate forces gain the upper hand again, there will be an element of uncertainty about the turn events may take. The feeling of “alienation” does not take much time to take root, that too, when there are elements always ready to fan these.

 

No matter how many political parties may crop up in Punjab, there will always be substantial space for ‘panthic’ politics. It is this space, which must remain within the moderate folds, as that will be in the interest of the state and the country.

 

For that, the onus is also on the Akali Dal, which has to wake up to the demands and aspirations of the ‘panthic’ constituency. An alliance with the BJP may provide it with some support and strength, but the real energy can be generated only when it is able to redeem its cadre and support base back. And the party must be well aware of how to retrieve and redeem that. May be it needs to make some amends, some compromises and some corrections, in the short term for long-term survival and success of the party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, as a whole.