The authorities in Delhi have gone to the extent of arresting Mr. Tohra and Mr. Badal in order to prevent them from visiting the recently riot-affected areas in west Delhi. Apparently the authorities feared that the visit would, or at least could, create a law and order problem for them. This is a judgment which in the final analysis they alone are competent and entitled to make, though it does appear to us that their fears were exaggerated. Certainly it could not be Mr. Tohra’s and Mr. Badal’s intention to be seen to be stirring up trouble in Delhi when they are trying to create the impression that they are opposed not only to secessionism but to violence in any form. Clearly the dissident Akali leaders came to Delhi on a public relations exercise. They are not so naive as to have believed that so long as killings continue in Punjab they could persuade opposition leaders to endorse their demands for general amnesty in the state and ‘lenient’ treatment for army deserters. But they obviously wanted to resume contacts and dialogue with the opposition. But why? Perhaps the answer has to be sought in recent developments in the state.
Mr. Tohra and Mr. Badal split the Akali Dal legislature party on May 2, not because they were utterly outraged by the police entry into the Golden Temple on April 30; politicians are seldom so outraged. In our opinion, they split the party because they convinced themselves that this development would send shock waves through the Sikh community as did “Operation Bluestar” and that the community would rally behind those who were seen to be opposed to the entry. That, as far as one can judge, has turned out to be a grave miscalculation. The Sikh community appears to have shown signs of being tired of it all.
It has been widely believed that Mr. Badal has been desperately anxious to return to the office of chief minister. That may well be the case and this consideration may well have influenced his decision to join hands with Mr. Tohra. But the former SGPC chief is not known to be guided by such “small” ambitions. Indeed, it is possible that he allowed some of his close lieutenants to stay on in Mr. Barnala’s ministry in order to ensure its survival. In any case, that served two purposes for Mr. Tohra. It denied his real rival. Mr. Badal, access to levers of power; and it kept in office a man who could serve as an easy target. The dissidents have hit at the target almost every day.
Of late the Tohra lieutenants and other friends of the extremists and the terrorists in the Barnala ministry have been restless. They have been extremely upset over the manner in which the police chief, Mr. Ribeiro, has pushed the campaign against the terrorists and snubbed their attempts at interference with the functioning of the Punjab police. They have denounced him in public, perhaps expecting either that Mr. Ribeiro would resign in despair or that Mr. Barnala would find the means to remove him. But it is notable that the anti-Ribeiro ministers have not resigned and precipitated a new crisis for Mr. Barnala. Perhaps the reason is that they want Mr. Barnala to continue so that he is not replaced by President’s rule with a reasonably competent governor this time, or perhaps something worse from their point of view. The Tohra-Badal visit to New Delhi could be the result of the same developments which have made the Tohra men in the Barnala government so unhappy.
Some of the opposition leaders can bear comparison with the Bourbons who forgot nothing and learnt nothing. So, at their meeting with Mr. Tohra and Mr. Badal on Friday they expressed unhappiness over the Akali split and urged the two leaders to reunite the Akalis. Will they kindly explain how the proposed Akali unity could help promote law and order in Punjab? By making the Akali government in the state intransigent towards the Centre? Surely these opposition leaders cannot possibly believe that Mr. Barnala, his statement notwithstanding, would have been as cooperative with the Centre in its anti-terrorist drive as he has been if he was still heading a united Akali Dal and did not need Congress support for his very survival. In any case, if and as the campaign against terrorism gathers momentum, so would efforts at Akali unity. It is not nothing that, despite bitter propaganda against him in the gurdwaras and incitement to assassinate him by some of the dissidents, Mr. Barnala too is speaking and thinking in terms of Akali unity. The visit to Delhi could be intended to facilitate that as well. The game is complex. It has to be dealt with as such.