Those who speak in the name of the Akali Dal in the absence of its accredited leaders now in jail are clearly on the war-path. Their “request” to the five head priests to reconsider their decision to exonerate President Zail Singh of the charges of religious misconduct is by itself a declaration of war on the Union which Giani Zail Singh represents by virtue of being head of state. It is a measure of the extremes to which they are prepared to go in their bid to prevent restoration of normalcy in Punjab. The original “hukumnama” declaring the Giani a “tankhaiya” was a wholly political act unworthy of men of religion. But it is a worse scandal that anyone should wish to reopen this sorry episode. As it happens, the Akalis have not contented themselves with the “request”to the head priests. They have done something even more shocking. They have praised Bhindranwale, the architect of the disaster from which Punjab has yet to recover; they have appealed to fellow Sikhs to “be ready” to take revenge on the Union government; they have ruled out a compromise with New Delhi on the plea that it would be tantamount to walking over the “bodies of thousands of Sikhs who laid down their precious lives for maintaining the sanctity of the Golden Temple complex during the army operation” and they have stipulated acceptance of the Anandpur Sahib resolution with its separatist overtones as a precondition for an agreement with the Centre.
It is difficult to believe that the second-rank Akali leaders out of jail would have the audacity to adopt this kind of stance without the approval, support and even instigation of at least some of the top leaders in detention. The chances are that they are acting as mouth-pieces of a group of hard-liners. We cannot, however, be sure. Only the Union government, which is known to have maintained some contact with the Akali leaders in jail and has access to intelligence reports, would know the truth. But regardless of whether the present Akali spokesmen are acting on their own or on behalf of and in concert with those in jail, their actions cannot leave the slightest room for doubt that the extremist sentiment remains pretty strong among the Akalis. This sentiment could well prove too powerful for moderate Akali leaders to contain if indeed such leaders are genuinely interested in containing it. Again, we are in no position to say whether such a possibility accounts for the Union government’s reluctance to release the Akali leaders as well as for Mr. Rajiv Gandhi’s public opposition to their release. But whatever the truth in this regard, the new development by way of the resolutions adopted by the Akali Dal in Amritsar on Sunday must embarrass advocates of the “healing touch”. The Akalis are just not ready to allow the wounds to heal. And so long as they remain so intransigent, the Indian state has no choice but to remain firm and unyielding. It is possible that New Delhi has been too conciliatory and that this has encouraged the Akalis in the belief that they have only to hold on in order to triumph.