NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Badal finds himself between the devil and deep sea

Neena Chaudhary in Chandigarh

The stand-off between the apex Sikh clergy and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee over implementing a new calendar has divided the minority community and placed Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal in a dilemma.

On January 25 Akal Takht jatherdar Giani Puran Singh, through an unprecedented act of faxed letters to newspapers and news agencies, excommunicated SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur from the Sikh community, and summoned all the 15 members of the executive body to appear before the supreme temporal authority on February 2.

The hand-written hukumnama (edict) charged the SGPC chief with repeated violations of Akal Takht directives staying the implementation of the controversial almanac, authored by Pal Singh Purewal, a Canada based Sikh.

The action raised a hornet's nest. The jathedar had issued the edict from Guna in Madhya Pradesh, en route to the Takht Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra. Traditionally, prior to any excommunication, the accused is declared tankhahiya and summoned before the Akal Takht.

Giani Puran Singh was installed jathedar on the eve of the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa last year, by 10 pro-Badal members of the SGPC's executive committee after sacking Bhai Ranjit Singh. Similarly, Bibi Jagir Kaur replaced G S Tohra as SGPC chief.

The development took the community by surprise and provoked hectic activity in politico-religious circles. A set of five head priests met in the Golden Temple complex to reject the hukumnama . They argued that as an edict could only be issued from the Akal Takht, Puran Singh's directive could not be accepted.

Interestingly, only 50 of the 185 SGPC members attended the unofficial meeting of the general house convened by Bibi Jagir Kaur in the Golden Temple complex. Later at a meeting of the SAD's political affairs committee at Badal's residence in Chandigarh, the party decided to adopt a middle path and appealed to both sides to exercise restraint.

Rejecting the development as unfortunate and against Sikh traditions, Bibi Jagir Kaur has meanwhile convened another meeting of the SGPC executive to codify the procedures of issuing hukumnama to avoid confusions in future. She also claimed that no copy of the directive from Giani Puran Singh has reached her, and hinted at a "greater design" behind the episode.

The "sacked" jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh has appealed to all SGPC members and Akali legislators "to listen to their conscience and restore all religious traditions", which had been destroyed by Badal. He threatened to mobilise public support to force Badal to quit as chief minister if the legislators and Akali leaders failed to send him packing.

Former SGPC chief G S Tohra, for his part, justified Giani Puran Singh's decision to excommunicate Bibi Jagir Kaur. He said to safeguard the dignity of the office and the institution of Akal Takht, its jathedar was competent to take any decision on his own. He also blamed Badal and Bibi Jagir Kaur for destroying the Sikh institutions one after the other.

The situation has put Badal in quandary. It would be very difficult for him to proceed against Giani Puran Singh, who was installed in office at his behest. Any such action would bracket him with the radicals, which could prove politically suicidal for him.

In a situation where he decides to go with the jathedar and ensure the appeasement of the religious fundamentalists, Badal would have to sacrifice Bibi Jagir Kaur, exposing his government to greater factionalism as Kaur is a legislator.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report