Mohinder Singh
The rising tempo of struggle for gurdwara reform and the ever-increasing number of shrines coming under Akali control necessitated formation of a central body to organise and coordinate the work of reform. This became imperative when the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht at Amritsar also came under the Akali control on October 12, 1920. The Akali leaders realised that in the absence of any organised and carefully delineated line of action, the reformers might be carried away by their zeal, leading to anarchy.
The leadership of the community created three organisations -— the Shiromani Akali Dal to provide the volunteers, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to manage the gurdwaras and the Central Sikh League to provide leadership in the provincial politics. After liberation of the gurdwaras and passage of the Sikh Gurdwaras and Shrines Bill, Shiromani Akali Dal’s assigned role was over. Like the Indian National Congress, which did not heed to Mahatma Gandhi’s advice to dissolve the body after the liberation of India, Akali leaders also refused to dissolve the Shiromani Akali Dal as they found merit in encashing the heroic sacrifices of the martyrs of Nankana and Jaito tragedies to serve their political interests. Ironical as it may seem, in their quest for political power, the present-day Akalis have gone far away from the spirit of the original Akalis, and the average Sikh wonders as to which political party is going to take care of the ‘Panthic’ interests.
While the SGPC provided the Akali movement a well-knit organisation, the Shiromani Akali Dal furnished it with a solid base of activists in the form of various ‘jathas’ functioning under its control. In the summer of 1920, when the struggle for reform intensified, a number of prominent Sikh agitators came forward to take part in the movement. As the tempo of reform quickened and the struggle took a definite shape, individual efforts of the Akalis were supplanted by those of the well-defined ‘jathas’ of reformers.
While the SGPC provided the Akali movement a well-knit organisation, the Shiromani Akali Dal furnished it with a solid base of activists in the form of various ‘jathas’ functioning under its control. In the summer of 1920, when the struggle for reform intensified, a number of prominent Sikh agitators came forward to take part in the movement. As the tempo of reform quickened and the struggle took a definite shape, individual efforts of the Akalis were supplanted by those of the well-defined ‘jathas’ of reformers.
However, it was left to Darshan Singh Pheruman, a devout Sikh with an Akali-Congress background, who like Bhai Lachhman Singh, leader of the ‘jatha’ which attained martyrdom for liberation of Nankana Sahib, also restored the sanctity of ardas by going on fast unto death and attaining martyrdom on the 74th day. His determination can be seen from a letter that he wrote to Indira Gandhi in response to her appeal to break the fast. “My dear child, do not take my ardas to mean any kind of pressure. The ardas of a Sikh offered with sincerity can never be intended to exert pressure on anyone or hurt anyone’s feeling. Its purpose is absolutely pure.”
A comparative study of the three most powerful agitations by the Akalis reveals some interesting facts, the most important of them being the role of the leadership. It shows how the Akali leaders in the past succeeded in channelling the popular religious upsurge during the Gurdwara Reform Movement (1920-25) into a powerful instrument for India’s struggle for freedom and brought the Sikh community into the freedom struggle.
Three distinct features of the past struggle made it more effective than its later manifestations. The first was that the Akali leadership realised the value of press and public opinion. They not only started an English daily, The Hindustan Times, with S Mangal Singh as the Founder Editor, in addition to two vernacular papers, Akali and Akali te Pardesi, but also secured support of Prof Ruchi Ram Sahni, a Trustee of The Tribune.
The second was that from the very beginning, they eschewed violence and quickly disowned the violent activities of the splinter group, the Babbar Akalis. And third, the movement was never allowed to take a communal turn. In contrast, the recent Akali leadership has failed to carry with them support of the larger section of Indian society and the national media.
During the turbulent period of 1980s, both the SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal failed in their duty in ensuring the sanctity of the Golden Temple by checking the extremist elements from carrying their activities from the sacred premises. Rather than fighting from the front like the past Akali leaders, they ensured their own safety by managing to get their ‘detention’ extended to stay in the safe haven of circuit houses.
A fine balance of power was maintained between SGPC and SAD so long as a veteran leader of Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra’s standing was at the helm of the apex body of gurdwara management. However, with the unceremonious exit of Jathedar Tohra as president of the SGPC, and systematic marginalisation of the traditional Akalis, hegemony of the Shiromani Akali Dal on the SGPC and the Akal Takht became obvious. As goes the common saying, ‘Power corrupts and the absolute power corrupts absolutely’, corruption has become the bane of the two premier organisations of the Sikhs.
Master Tara Singh’s famous slogan ‘main maran te Panth jeeve’ (I may die so that the Panth lives) seems to have been reversed by the present Akali leadership with consequences which may be disastrous.
!The writer is the author of ‘The Akali Movement’ and is Director, National Institute of Panjab Studies, New Delhi)
Courtesy: Tribune
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