India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 15 :: No. 26 :: Dec. 19, 1998 - Jan. 01, 1999
THE STATES
The tercentennial stakes
Akal Takht Jathedar Ranjit Singh distances himself from the official Khalsa tercentennial and strikes out on his own, with tacit support from far-right Sikh groups.
PRAVEEN SWAMI
in Chandigarh
THE tercentennial of the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh is rapidly degenerating into an ugly battle for control of Sikh communal politics. The State Government-led inauguration of the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex at Anandpur Sahib, the birthplace of the Khalsa, has been followed in quick time by a second celebration organised by revanchists grouped around the controversial Akal Takht Jathedar, Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh's two-day march from Qila Anandgarh Sahib to Fatehgarh Sahib marked the beginning of a new, and possibly decisive, battle by the Sikh far right to usurp power from the centre-right political establishment represented by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Ranjit Singh's "Khalsa march" came in the wake of his boycott of the official celebrations at Anandpur Sahib on November 22. The central theme of the march, which was organised by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and the far-right Sant Samaj, was the rejection of the official celebration plans. The Akal Takht Jathedar had taken objection to the memorial complex on several counts, arguing, among other things, that the design of the Nishaan-e-Khalsa, a monument representing the ceremonial Khanda sword, was flawed. Such disputes over religious icons, however, were only a subterfuge for the larger struggle for supremacy between Ranjit Singh and his right-wing backers and centrist politicians allied with Jathedar Manjit Singh of the Keshgarh Sahib Takht and Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.
Many of the right's grievances against the memorial complex, which is described by Badal as the "eighth wonder of the world", were articulated by Ranjit Singh at his Anandpur Sahib celebrations. Some of his points appeared trivial. Two horses being mentioned as having come from the lineage of Guru Gobind Singh's horse Dilbagh at the official celebrations, for example, attracted the Jathedar's ire. Their pedigree, he claimed, was questionable. Then he objected to the construction of the extravagant memorial complex, which he said would "belittle the sanctity of the Takht Keshgarh Sahib". Other objections were more important. The holy city of Amritsar, he said, was being ignored by the State Government. Although Anandpur Sahib was as important in Sikh history, the Government had to focus on other centres as well, he added.
The emergence of Amritsar as a focal point for the dispute is significant. As the city of the Golden Temple and of the Akal Takht, Amritsar has enormous symbolic significance as the seat of Sikh religious authority. Control of the SGPC has been crucial to the political power of the organisation's president and Badal's historic opponent, Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Tohra has been a key architect of assaults on Badal, strategically using the Akal Takht to pressure the SAD centre right into compliance. Ranjit Singh's remarks appeared to suggest that the emergence of a massive Sikh monument at Anandpur Sahib would over time lead to the erosion of the political influence of the Amritsar religious establishment. The argument appears plausible, for Badal and the SAD centre right have obvious interest in creating sources of religious legitimacy over which they have exclusive control.
But Ranjit Singh's Anandpur Sahib speech went beyond attacking Badal; it sought to revive key themes of revanchist preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's platform. The Punjab Police was at the core of his concerns. The police force's Sikh officials, he said, were trimming their beards in violation of orthodox custom. "The majority of the Sikh policemen," the Jathedar thundered, "cause damage to the identity of the Khalsa by trimming their hair and beards." He demanded that the Chief Minister act against police officials "who have disfigured their identity." "Even the British," he said, "did not allow Sikh officers to cut their hair." State intervention was imperative, he concluded, if "the Khalsa identity of Sikh officials is to be restored." This edict, he added generously, "does not apply to Hindus."
THE defence of identity has been a key theme in far-right Sikh politics, and other elements of the Jathedar's speech made clear the constituency Ranjit Singh was playing to. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government's decision to make a Rs.100-crore grant to the memorial was dismissed outright. "If the BJP is sincere," he asserted, "it should free all TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) prisoners lodged in jails around the country." The BJP, he continued, had an obligation to do this since the sixth Sikh Guru, Hargobind Singh, "had rescued 52 Rajput prisoners held by the Mughals at the Gwalior fort." Tohra and his affiliates have been consistently critical of the SAD's alliance with the BJP, claiming that Badal has conceded too much to the Hindu right wing. The remnants of pro-Khalistan groups, who have allied themselves with the Jathedar, took similar positions over the last year.
That Ranjit Singh's positions had the endorsement of the Tohra faction was underlined the next day, as the procession reached Chamkaur Sahib. Lok Sabha Member and key Tohra aide Prem Singh Chandumajra demanded that work related to the tercentennial be handed over to the SGPC. "Instead of spending money on these works, the task can be handed over to the SGPC, which can further be handed over to kar seva (religious volunteer) groups," Chandumajra said. "This will not only halve construction costs but mean that the work is completed in less time than what professional builders would take."
There is an irony in the far right's opposition to a state role in religion. Ranjit Singh's own return to Amritsar as Akal Takht Jathedar, for one, was made possible by a remission of his life term for murder enabled by the good offices of former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana and former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral. And while the SGPC, through the instrument of the Jathedar, has historically sought to obtain prescriptive power over all aspects of Sikh secular life, it has energetically lobbied the state to ensure its own perpetuation. In April, for example, the BJP-led Government handed over the management of 39 gurdwaras to the SGPC, fulfilling a promise made in 1985 that remained unkept because of resistance from local managements. And the SGPC has been seeking state intervention again to bring about legislation which will expand both its powers and those of the Jathedar's office.
SANDEEP SAXENA
The procession
on November 22 that marked the inauguration of the tercentennial celebrations
of the Khalsa.
Prakash Singh Badal's inability to respond to Ranjit Singh's assault is illustrated by the fact that he stood by at Anandpur Sahib, listening quietly. Jathedar Manjit Singh, too, attended the Khalsa march as a silent spectator. Later, Ranjit Singh added insult to injury by making it clear that the head of the Keshgarh Takht had been invited "not as a Jathedar but as a Sikh". Ranjit Singh said that Manjit Singh would not be invited to Akal Takht functions until he handed over to the Takht the financial records of the World Sikh Council (WSC). Ranjit Singh had engineered a coup earlier this year in which Manjit Singh was deposed as WSC president. Finally, Ranjit Singh charged the Keshgarh Takht Jathedar with corruption and claimed that the Gurmat Sagar Trust he ran was a "business for land rackets".
The Chief Minister's inability to tackle fundamentalism could cost him dearly. At least one key supporter of Badal, Rajya Sabha member Brajinder Singh Hamdard, has already left the official Anandpur Sahib Foundation in disgust. In a letter, Hamdard had bitterly complained about Badal's unwillingness to support centrists from the far-right. Hamdard, who edits the popular Punjabi daily Ajit, attracted Ranjit Singh's wrath when his paper took on controversial Akal Takht edicts, notably the one prohibiting Sikhs from eating the langar communal meal seated on chairs. Subsequently, Ranjit Singh described the Ajit editor as a latter-day Paende Khan, referring to an iconic traitor figure in Sikh history who was lynched by members of his own community. Although the Foundation passed a resolution asking Hamdard to withdraw his resignation, he has refused to do so.
Under pressure after his party's humiliating defeat in the Adampur byelection, Badal's ability to resist the far right's ascendancy is even more suspect than before. Poor governance and rampant corruption helped the Congress(I) win Adampur, and though the victory was by just six votes the fact that the SAD had previously won there by 17,000 votes was not lost on observers. Tohra claimed that the defeat came about because of the BJP's anti-minority agenda, but this does not seem to have been a significant factor in Punjab. State Congress(I) chief Amarinder Singh has been gleefully cashing in on the feuds in the SAD, criticising Badal for "failing to challenge fundamentalists who want terrorism to return to Punjab". His criticism of Tohra and Ranjit Singh, however, has not been explicit, for the simple reason that they both serve the Congress(I)'s interests.
In the long term, however, the rise of Ranjit Singh is unlikely to serve anybody's interests. The revival of the Akal Takht as a forum for chauvinist platforms, and edicts governing everything from how Sikhs may marry to which sects they may not associate with, are alarmingly reminiscent of the climate that prevailed during the rise of Bhindranwale. Interestingly, shortly after his return to Amritsar, Ranjit Singh honoured Bhindranwale's son Inderjit Singh at a function in the Golden Temple. Tohra shared the platform on that occasion. More recently, Tohra sought to broaden his influence with the pro-Khalistan groups by visiting families of slain terrorists in Punjab's border districts and by attending public meetings where members of Bhindranwale's family were honoured guests.
It is significant that all three previous flirtations of the SAD (or its earlier incarnations) with the Jan Sangh in its various avatars collapsed in part because of pressures from ultra-right figures in both groups. If the Jathedar has come to occupy the strategic space he does in Punjab politics, it is not because of the authority vested in him by either tradition or the SGPC Act. The real reasons for Ranjit Singh's power has been the decision of successive SAD politicians to take political disputes to the Akal Takht, granting it a decisive influence in the affairs of state.
The dangers of the situation are evident. In 1979, the then Akal Takht Jathedar, Sadhu Singh Bhaura, was petitioned by Tohra, then, as now, SGPC president. Tohra, in a political manoeuvre, demanded that Bhaura punish various alleged offences against the then Chief Minister in front of the Panth (Sikh community). Both are aware of the events that followed. Through Punjab's 10 years of terrorism, the office of the Jathedar was used to bludgeon Akali Dal politicians into submission. The Akal Takht Jathedar's "exalted office", scholar Attar Singh wrote of the period, "has increasingly functioned as the sovereign or 'the president of the religious republic' with the SGPC chief as his prime adviser." The same thing has happened again, and despite Karl Marx's dictum, the second time round it still is not farce.
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