There was absolutely nothing new in the special session of the Punjab assembly about expressing its resolve not to spare an extra drop of water for any other state, including Haryana. There have been many “such special sessions” held in the past and there will be similar “special sessions” in future as well.
The resolution, however, could not have come at a worse time. Convening of the special session on the issue of “not providing extra water” to a neighbouring state could have been postponed, since the country right now is engaged in and is planning how to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack that was ordered and executed at the behest of Pakistan.
The entire attention of the country is focused on dealing with the situation that has arisen in the aftermath of the terror attack. However, the Punjab government and the opposition parties chose to debate and discuss something else, purely for rhetoric reasons and political posturing.
India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty. It has already stopped the flow of Chenab water to Pakistan. The country is planning further responses to the terror attack. At this juncture, the priority of the Punjab government should have been national security instead of taking an aggressive stance against a neighbouring state, which just 60 years ago was part of Punjab itself. Moreover, the two neighbouring states do not have any hostility against each other. The division, which was obviously done at the behest of the Akalis, was quite smooth.
No doubt, the Punjab assembly did start with condemning the Pahalgam terror attack and offering condolences to the bereaved families of the victims, but the entire focus of the session was something else. The only issue that was debated and discussed by the treasury and opposition benches alike was how to “save” Punjab’s waters from being “robbed” by the neighbouring Haryana.
Given the political sensitivity attached to the issue, no political party can gather the courage to offer any note of dissent even at this sensitive hour, lest it be judged as being “anti-Punjab”. All the political parties with whatever representation they have in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party with 94 members to the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party with just one member each, were unanimous in their resolve to save Punjab’s waters.
The issue, as mentioned earlier in these columns, does not concern the people much, not at least as much as the political parties are trying to make it. Besides, the people of two states, the peasantry in particular, which should be the most affected either way over the release or stopping of the water, remains indifferent. Moreover, the bonhomie between the farmers of the two states during anti-farm law protests was remarkable. It is difficult to imagine that they can turn hostile towards each other, as the tone and tenor during the special session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly sought to suggest.
The message that obviously has gone out after the “special Punjab assembly session” is that the two neighbouring states have daggers drawn at each other, while actually that is not the case. The Punjab government did indeed overreact. After all, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had not forced the state to “give away” extra water to Haryana. Also, the control over the Bhakra dam remains with Punjab. The situation for the special session could have arisen in case the central government had tried to force the Punjab government to provide “extra” water to Haryana or there was any Supreme Court directive.
The Punjab government should ideally have convened the special session of the house to express a different resolve that the state stands like a rock against the enemy. Punjab has always remained and served as the protective shield for the country, not only in terms of geography alone, but also in terms of the number of soldiers and officers who serve in the defence forces. The “special session” could not have come at a worse time as it only conveyed the message of two important Indian states fighting against each other, at a time when the enemy was knocking at the door.
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