Behind its show of defiance of the government, the executive of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has staged a volte face which amounts to an endorsement of the measures the authorities have taken in the fight against terrorism and secessionism in Punjab. This represents a major victory for the Indian state – second in a row – and a complete vindication of the hard line it has pursuit in recent weeks. For in sum, the executive has admitted that the SCPC had succumbed to the pressure of militants and failed to perform its duty of keeping terrorists and other anti-social elements out of the gurdwaras; it has acknowledged that by calling the so-called sarbat khalsas, the head priests had encouraged extremism and that they had also given shelter to anti-social elements in the Golden Temple; it has held the priests responsible for “Operation Black Thunder” and thus indirectly recognized that the operation had became unavoidable; it has accepted the responsibility of keeping the Golden Temple free of terrorists and decided to set up a force to begin with of 100 ex-servicemen for that purpose; it has agreed to give an assurance to the Amritsar authorities to that effect in writing; it has undertaken to demolish all fortifications in the Golden Temple complex and to remove partitions inside the rooms along the parikrama which had served as hideouts for terrorists, torturers, smugglers and gangsters of other descriptions.
It is inconceivable that members of the SGPC have experienced a sudden change of heart. It can be taken for granted that they have acted in obedience to orders and in recognition of the power realities on the ground. The new power realities are obvious enough. On the one hand, the security forces have demonstrated the capacity to secure the surrender of terrorists in the Golden Temple complex without having to enter the Harminder Sahib proper and on the other, by enacting two ordinances, banning the use of places of worship for political purposes and stiffening the provisions of the Arms Act and by threatening to amend the Gurdwara Act in a manner that would oblige the SGPC to fulfil its obligations on pain of dissolution, the Union government has finally left no room for doubt that it means business this time. But it is open to question whether this demonstration of capacity and determination on the part of the Rajiv Gandhi government would have sufficed to persuade nine members of the SGPC executive out of jail – the remaining five members are in jail – to reverse their position completely. Indeed, it is almost certain that they have acted under orders. But orders from whom?
We are in no position to say whether the orders have come through or from Mr G. S. Tohra. In plain terms, we are in no position to say whether Mr Tohra has acted on his own in appreciation of the new realities in Punjab or whether his masters elsewhere have asked him to call it a day at least for the time being. The SGPC chief is the cleverest manipulator on the Sikh political scene and no one can claim to know for certain where he stands, what his objectives are and where he gets his inspiration from. All we can say is that the initiative for the SGPC executive action has come from Mr Tohra in detention and that he would not have done so if the government had let him and his mentors in no doubt that it possesses both the will and the capacity to prevent the abuse of the Golden Temple complex in the future.
The connection between Mr Tohra and the Panthic committee safely ensconced in Pakistan has been obscure and remains obscure. So no conclusion can be drawn about the Panthic committee’s likely course of action from the SGPC executive’s move. In fact, regardless of whether or not Mr Tohra has been acting on orders from Islamabad, it can safely be assumed that being wholly a creation of Pakistan, the Panthic committee will continue to be guided by decisions taken in Islamabad. And needless to add that Islamabad, on its part, will be guided by its understanding of how determined Mr Rajiv Gandhi is to end its support for terrorists. While it has respect for India’s military power, it has had reasons to believe that New Delhi does not possess the political will to exercise the options that power gives it. The presence of the Pakistan foreign secretary, Mr Sattar, in New Delhi, especially in the context of the coup in Islamabad, gives Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s aides an opportunity to disabuse the Pakistanis of this view.
The SGPC has removed the existing head priests, including the Akal Takht chief, Mr Jasbir Singh Rode, against the express wishes of the authorities. This may be matter of some concern but not of alarm. It may no longer be particularly relevant to recall that the priests were, to begin with, nominees of the militants whom the SGPC had indorsed. But it is relevant to note that they could not possibly have delivered what the government expected of them and that the SGPC itself has offered to keep the Golden Temple free of the terrorists. This is not to suggest that the SGPC can be trusted.
On the contrary, it cannot be, in view of its record in the past five years and Mr Tohra’s continuing leadership of it. But the possibility of a new beginning has appeared that the authorities should not hesitate to take advantage of. Mr Tohra and his supporters are doubtless guided by considerations of expediency. But the Indian state can make it expedient for them to play the game according to the rules on a long-term basis if it does not dither and allow do-gooders to confuse it again.