Recently, renowned liberal journalist Yoginder Yadav wrote an article in the English newspaper Hindustan Times, calling the intervention of Akal Takht Sahib to resolve the crisis of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) unfortunate and against the provisions of the Election Commission and the Constitution. He said that this cannot be tolerated. Yadav’s argument is that due to Akal Takht Sahib, the Akali Dal has changed from a regional party to a religious community party, which is unfortunate.
This same issue with Yadav was raised by the Akali leaders of the Badal faction, including Shiromani Gurdwara Committee President Harjinder Singh Dhami and Akali Dal spokesperson Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, that the recognition of the Akali Dal may be revoked due to the recognition of the committee established by Sri Akal Takht related to the revival and recruitment of the Shiromani Akali Dal. But according to renowned lawyers Manjit Singh Khaira and Harvinder Singh Phulka, advocates of the Akali Dal, there is no legal obstacle to holding new recruitment or organizational elections under the committee appointed by the Akal Takht, as the Election Commission and the Representation of the People Act prohibit obtaining votes only in the name of religious intimidation.
S. Khaira said that during the 1979-80 assembly elections, due to a conflict between two main Akali leaders, the late Parkash Singh Badal and Gurcharan Singh Tohra, over the distribution of party tickets, a committee was formed by the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht for the distribution of tickets, which selected the candidates and after the elections, the late Darbara Singh, who became the Chief Minister of the Congress, filed petitions against all the Akali MLAs, making the intervention of Sri Akal Takht an issue, and the Akali Dal responded to these petitions in the High Court. All these petitions were rejected by the High Court. Similarly, a petition was also filed against the famous late Akali leader Hukam Singh for seeking votes in the name of the Panth, but this petition was also rejected by the court and it was clarified that the Panth is a path or a path.
The principle of Miri Piri is recognized in the old historical constitution of the Akali Dal. Rejecting it is an insult to the tradition and history of the Akali Dal. If the Sangh can establish a political structure like the BJP by adopting the tradition of religion and Hindutva in the politics of the Hindu community, then why not the Akali Dal.
It is noteworthy here that according to the affidavit given by the Election Commission in the Supreme Court on the occasion of Syed Wasim Rizvi’s petition, the Election Commission had clarified that according to the law, there is no restriction on stopping the registration of any party on the basis of religion. The Commission also referred to Section 6-A, 6B, 6C of the Representation of the People Act and said that the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena have a strong religious heritage but this cannot be stopped. After the clarification of the Election Commission, the said petition was also dismissed by the Division Bench of the Supreme Court.
So when the court and the Election Commission do not impose this ban, why is this issue becoming a problem for the learned writer Yoginder Yadav that Sikhs should not have a political class? The Sikh community is going on believing that the Badal Akali Dal should correct the old allegations and accept the Hukamnama of the Akal Takht Sahib for the interests of the Panthic and Punjab so that the Akali Dal can regain its old political ground.
The truth is that the future of the Akali Dal ended when it lost its Panthic power and chose only to gain power. Under the leadership of the Badal family, the Shiromani Akali Dal was neither a Panthic party nor a regional party. By paying for the center’s stand on the Kashmir issue, the Shiromani Akali Dal had lost its regional presence. The thing to remember for Yadav is that the uniqueness of Sikhism lies in the Miri Piri principle, where religion, morality are first, politics and power are secondary. Without this principle, the Sikh Panth cannot accept the Akali Dal.
The basis of any minority community is its political organization. Taking away the right of political organization from it is an attempt to erase its existence. The existence of the Sikh Panth rested on this tradition, where the Guru Granth, Guru Panth and Akal Takht Sahib are a combination. It is in this combination that the sun of Sikh Panth politics appears.
Since ancient times, the Sikh movement has been basically a movement of farmers, laborers and the downtrodden, which has always protected the poor, workers, the downtrodden and respected every religion and the Khalsa Raj has also been run by giving equal share of power to people of all religions and has rejected bourgeois thinking. This is a matter of those times when democracy, Election Commission and modern constitutions had not come into existence. The French and Russian revolutions came into existence after the Sikh revolution.
Yadav ji needs to get information about the history of the Akali that the Shiromani Akali Dal was formed from the Akal Takht on 14 December 1920, a month after the formation of the Shiromani Committee. Later it became the representative political party of the Sikh community. Due to its secular outlook, it has continuously worked for the development of the weaker sections of the society and the Dalits. It has always been at the forefront of all movements against social evils.
The old constitution of the Akali Dal states that the main objective of the Akali Dal is to serve the Panth, the country and the oppressed people; the Anandpur resolution was an important resolution of the Akali Dal which was a message of the dominance of the Khalsa Ji and the greater rights and regionalism of Punjab. Against this backdrop, in 1996, the Akali leadership under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal organized a big conference in Moga and celebrated its silver jubilee, announcing the change from Panthic to Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat, destroying the Akali principle, due to which the Akali Dal is stuck in political challenges.
Now the question is whether the Akali Dal was able to achieve the party’s goal in 1996 when Parkash Singh Badal took over the party.
Can one cross the drawn line and go back to the original identity and historical tradition? The issue here is the uniqueness of the existence of the Akali Dal. Sukhbir Badal’s politics or Yoginder Yadav’s thinking about Akali politics cannot prove to be suitable for the Akali Dal. The word Akali Dal itself is linked to Sikh religion, history, Sikh tradition, changing its form and principles is in itself disloyalty to the Sikh community.
Yes, if the Badal faction does not use the word Akali and abandons the Panthic institutions Shiromani Committee and Akal Takht Sahib, then the issue is resolved. Then the Sikh Panth and Akal Takht Sahib do not need to oppose it. Some time ago, the victory of Bhai Amrit Pal Singh and Bhai Sarabjit Singh from Faridkot and Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituencies respectively confirmed that the existence of the Akali Dal has to be preserved by adopting tradition and principles. According to the Shiromani Akali Dal’s vision of 1920, the Sikh Panth needs to reinvent the Akali Dal from the beginning, which should adopt democracy, protect Sikh interests and work for regionalism. The evil spirit of familyism will have to be abandoned from the Akali Dal. History is witness that Master Tara Singh used his miraculous coin on the Akali Dal and the Shiromani Committee for almost four decades, but during his lifetime, none of his descendants could contest elections or hold any office in the Shiromani Committee or the Akali Dal. The Akali Dal needs to take guidance from this history.
Yadav’s absurd argument is that if we accept the Sikhs’ view that the Akali Dal should remain a Panthic party, then how can we criticize a party like the BJP that wants to run this country according to the wishes of the majority Hindu community?
Does Yadav consider the Sikh tradition, philosophy and humanistic system to be one? Can he give a single example of anyone being discriminated against on the basis of religion or caste by the Sikh government in Sikh history? The political philosophy and doctrine of the Sikh Panth is based on the idea that we should all be friends, and that we should not be like ourselves.
Yadav’s understanding of Sikh tradition, philosophy and history is that the purpose of the Akal Takht is to provide guidance to the nation in matters related to faith. He does not have the authority to order the reorganization of a political party.
While the Akal Takht is the political throne of the Sikh community from where the Sikh community maintains its existence according to the Miri Piri principle. According to this, morality and religion have to be kept above politics. No worldly power can change this. Since its establishment till today, Sri Akal Takht Sahib has been the conscious center representing the theoretical group of Sikhism. While this throne has been related to all kinds of religious, cultural and political issues of the Sikh community, it is such an integral and visible part of the Gurmat ideology that the entire Sikh consciousness has achieved. This is the unwavering philosophy of the Gurus, it cannot be changed by citing any law. The Akali Dal is a part of the Akal Takht. Without understanding this philosophy, it is not appropriate for the scholar Sajjan Yadav to make harsh comments on Sikh politics and the Akal Takht Sahib.
