The Punjab state government has arrested Mr. Tohra, Mr. Badal and others on the ground that they have been encouraging the extremists and the terrorists in the state. But why now? Because the terrorists shot dead 24 bus passengers last Sunday? Because on the same day Mr. Tohra was elected president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) defeating the chief minister, Mr. Barnala’s candidate? Because on Monday a number of Congress MPs gave expression to their dismay over the government’s handling of the situation in Punjab and refused to listen to the home minister, Mr. Buta Singh? Because Mr. Barnala was told by Mr. Rajiv Gandhi that if he wanted to survive in office he would have to be seen to be acting firmly against those who were deliberately promoting extremism and terrorism in Punjab? Perhaps all these and other similar factors have influenced the state government and indeed the Union government which must be assumed to be party to the decision to make the arrests. But whatever the reasons for the move, it raises the issue whether those responsible for the decision are aware of its implications and whether they are willing to live with those consequences.
The arrests of Mr. Tohra and Mr. Badal mean that we are back to square one. The Prime Minister said so on Monday before they took place. We do not know what he meant. But for us it means that the arrests take us back to the situation as it obtained in the state prior to the release of Akali leaders and negotiations between Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Longowal leading to the accord in July 1985 and elections in September that year. Now, as then, the Indian state will have to rely mainly on force in Punjab. Indeed, it is precisely because of this appreciation of the situation in Punjab that we have been reluctant to advocate the resignation or dismissal of the Barnala government and the arrest of men such as Mr. Tohra. Mr. Gandhi cannot have it both ways. He cannot say, as he did in the Lok Sabha on Monday, that he stands by the accord with Sant Longowal and then order, or at the very least acquiesce in, the arrests of dissident Akalis. The two positions are incompatible. The accord has long been dead inasmuch as Mr. Gandhi has not been in a position to implement its key provisions such as the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. Now the whole process leading to the accord stands reversed. It is possible that as many Akali activists may have to be put in jail as had been detained in the wake of “Operation Bluestar”. In fact, it is open to question whether the Barnala ministry itself can survive this development for long regardless of the Congress party’s support to it for more Akali legislators may change sides making President’s rule unavoidable. That is why we pose the issue whether those in authority are willing to live with the consequences of their decision to arrest Mr. Badal and Mr. Tohra.
The arrest of Mr. Tohra in the wake of his re-election as SGPC chief raises another issue. Which is whether the authorities will or will not allow the present SGPC to function. If Mr. Tohra has been detained, as appears to be the case, so that he does not use his position to facilitate the return of extremists and terrorists to leading gurdwaras, including the Golden Temple in Amritsar, it follows that his nominees and supporters cannot be allowed to control these shrines. To achieve this objective, they might have to be arrested. But regardless of whether they are detained or not, the question of the management of the gurdwaras must come to the fore if the SGPC is not allowed to function. This body has been a source of much mischief in recent years. But for Mr. Tohra’s cooperation, even Bhindranwale could not have become the monster he became. Logically it cannot be allowed to repeat its disastrous performance nor should it be enabled to convert gurdwaras into sanctuaries for extremists, terrorists and other criminal elements. The SGPC Act has also attracted a great deal of legitimate criticism. It has linked religion and politics in a manner which is utterly impermissible in a modem secular state and it has even given rise to a body which seeks to function as a state within a state; its opposition to police entry into gurdwaras, however grave the provocation, flows from this self-perception. But politics is the art of the possible, it is not an exercise in logic. We have to wait and see what Mr. Rajiv Gandhi regards as possible in Punjab.