Analysis: Politically marginalized, Shiromani Akali Dal (B) trying to regain its lost glory through ‘emotive issues’

Long-pending issue of ‘Bandi Singhs’ (Sikh prisoners) was chosen to bring all the factions of Akali on a single platform- presumably to achieve the political goal by gaining Sikh voters' sympathy.

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Amritsar: After being politically marginalized, the SAD(B) is in a  desperate bid to regain its lost mass base with an aim to once again recapture the political power in Punjab, and to achieve its goal the party has chosen the most sensitive and emotive  Panthic issues which are being taken up  through the religious platforms. Punjab’s grand old Panthic party was decimated in the recently concluded assembly elections in Punjab as it barely managed to secure the win on 3 out of 117 seats.

The elections also witnessed the humiliating defeat of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his father patron SAD(B) Parkash Singh Badal forcing the party think tanks to strategize a revival plan even at the cost of compromising on party ideologies which eventually saw the friends turned foes once again embracing each other.

And the long-pending issue of ‘Bandi Singhs’ (Sikh prisoners) was chosen to bring all the factions of Akali’s on a single platform- presumably to achieve the political goal by gaining Sikh voter's sympathy. 

Not only the Sikhs supreme temporal institute Akal Takht but also the Sikh’s single largest representative body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) issued appeals to the divided Panthic forces to sink their differences and get together for a common cause.

Till the recent past, the Panthic leaders who had been speaking ill of others on public platforms and were rife with conflicts of interests and power and often indulged in hate-mongering against the other came together on a single platform during a 'Panthic Gathering’ convened by SGPC to mull over the issue of release of Sikh prisoners.

Though the political analysts are of the view that the rival Akalis wouldn’t have come together without behind-the-door understanding. All of them agreed upon forming a committee to take up the issue with both the Centre as well as State government.

On May 16, the SGPC  constituted a 9 member committee comprising SGPC president  Harjinder Singh Dhami, SAD (B) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, SAD (D) president Paramjit Singh Sarna, SAD (A) president Simranjit Singh Mann, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa (on behalf of Sant Samaj), head of Tarna Dal Harian Velan Baba Nihal Singh (on behalf of Nihang organizations) Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Harmeet Singh Kalka,former DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK and Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal. 

Three days later, on May 19, two members including Takht Sri Harmandar Ji Patna Sahib management committee president  Avtar Singh Hit and Paramjot Singh Chahal on behalf of the president of Takht Sri Abchalnagar Hazur Sahib management board Bhupinder Singh Minhas were added.

But, immediately after the formation of the committee, one of its key members  Baljit Singh Daduwal, president Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee objected to including Sukhbir Singh Badal in the committee- not because he was a politician but, according to Daduwal, Bagal government was allegedly responsible for the majority of incidents including sacrilege incidents and ‘atrocities’ on Sikhs.

The issue of the release of prisoners is highly emotive in Punjab because most of them have been in jail for many years. There are others who are awaiting commutation of their death sentences to life imprisonment. The SGPC, the Akal Takht, and the SAD have done nothing significant in all these years to secure their release. 

Apparently, Sukhbir Badal is trying to hog the limelight through a religious issue now, irrespective of the fact that the involvement of his family with religious issues was the prime cause of the downfall of the SAD (B)-BJP alliance in the 2017 assembly elections, in which it secured just 18 seats.