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Deadlock

The insistence of Sikh radical groups to declare Bhindrawale a martyr kicks up a row, casting a darker shadow over the regio-political machinery in Punjab. An inside look by India Today Special Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak.

"The continued resistance from the ground floor and the basement of the Akal Takht was tackled during the night of June 6 / 7...The bodies of Shri Bhindrawale and Amrik Singh were found among 34 other bodies on the ground floor of the Akal Takht." White Paper on the Punjab agitation, issued by the Indian Government, on July 10, 1984, proclaiming the death of Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale.

It's been 17 years since, but the militant Sikh leader still sparks
controversy. On June 6, the 17th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, tension returned to the Golden Temple complex as a motley crowd of 15-odd radical Sikh organisations assembled before the Akal Takht to perform the antim ardas (last prayer) for Bhindrawale. But the occasion, rather than being solemn, ended up in an ugly fracas. For the past many years, the SGPC-sponsored akhand path in the memory of those killed during Operation Bluestar has been an annual ritual inside the
shrine. But this time the radicals' new-found insistence to declare
Bhindrawale a "martyr" by holding a prayer meeting had kicked up a row, putting them in confrontation with the Damdami Taksal, the fundamentalist Sikh seminary that Bhindrawale once headed, which has since 1984 been steadfastly holding on to the belief that their militant chief is "alive and in high spirits".

The Chowk Mehta-based Taksal, once considered the fountainhead of militancy in Punjab, had taken affront to the first-time move by a section of the radicals outside its fold and warned against pronouncing him dead. But the radicals, determined to puncture the Taksal's assiduously cultivated myth,
went ahead with their plans amidst tight security arranged by the
Akali-BJP-ruled Government. The authorities allowed the radicals an entry into the shrine only after it extracted a commitment from them that no provocative speeches would be made at the Akal Takht where, as per the Sikh religious code, any Sikh could perform prayer.

Much of the radicals' fury was pre-empted on June 5 when Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, under pressure to declare Bhindrawale a "martyr", directed SGPC chief Jagdev Singh Talwandi to constitute a fact-finding committee on whether Bhindrawale was dead or alive. The open-ended panel,
comprising Sikh intellectuals, had to get in touch with all those making claims and counter-claims on the issue.

That was the clergy's shrewd move to deflect pressure and avoid any showdown on June 6 -- as borne out by the fact that no timeframe has been set for settling the row. Curiously, the SGPC had acknowledged Bhindrawale's death way back in 1995. With three out of five Sikh high priests, including Vedanti, owing allegiance to the Taksal, the clergy was in no mood to go
against the once powerful seminary which, despite its dented image, still commands sway on a considerable section of the rural Sikhs. Vedanti came up with his time-buying formula after secret parleys with Punjab Chief Minister and Akali supremo Parkash Singh Badal who, wary of offending the Taksal as well the radicals, took an ambiguous "only-God-knows" stance on the
controversy.

Desperate to revive their diminished appeal and political fortunes, the ragtag radical conglomerate, led by the fundamentalist Dal Khalsa, could not have found a better issue than harping on the Bhindrawale legacy. It is believed that raising the bogey of declaring Bhindrawale a "martyr" forms part of their "hidden agenda" to whip up the emotive issue and force the Damdami Takdal to appoint a successor to the militant leader. Never before did any Sikh organisations publicly question the Taksal's incredible stance on Bhindrawale being alive. But the radicals did so, taking the Taksal head on. "It is time to call the Taksal's bluff," says Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh Bittu.
The radicals believe that the rumour on Bhindrawale having escaped the Golden Temple during the Army Action was "planted" by intelligence agencies to forestall the appointment of his successor at the Taksal. But the Taksal refuses to accept Bhindrawale's death. This refusal has much to do with a power struggle within. Controlled by a troika of three functionaries, the
Taksal is led by an ageing acting chief Baba Thakur Singh, believed to be only a figurehead of the cash-rich seminary. Baba had debunked the radicals' plans in a strongly worded statement issued from Canada. Bhindrawale's family, which was the first to identify his body after the bloody battle, has also taken an ambiguous stance, leaving the final word to the Taksal and
Akal Takht jathedar.

That the radicals chose to raise the controversy at a time when the assembly elections are barely eight months away has betrayed their political ambitions. The radicals are hoping to making the Bhindrawale legacy a rallying point and challenge the moderate Akalis' claim on the panthic agenda. "The hardliners' attempt to arouse the Sikh sentiments on past issues is a cry in the wilderness," says Punjab Finance Minister Captain Kanwaljit Singh.

Badal, on the other hand, knows the limits of going along with the panthic agenda. He fortified his defenses by passing an asembly resolution condemning Operation Bluestar early this year, a shrewd move to pre-empt the hardline elements opposed to him. The return of former militant chief Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, who has now declared his intentions to join politics, meant the Akali Government was soft-pedaling on militant ideologues. But Badal is averse to annoying his coalition partner, the BJP, and risking his moderate image by being seen "soft" towards the radicals. What hues the radical politics will take in the run-up to the assembly elections hinges on the SGPC panel's verdict and the return of London-based Khalistani ideologue Jagjit Singh Chauhan after a two-decade self-exile. The tangled web of Punjab's religio-politics, it appears, is only getting more complex.

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