By Daljit Ami
Right
now the farmers in the south of Punjab, the belt where Dera Sachha Sauda has
influence, are protesting against the government for compensations of their
failed cotton crop. They have rejected the government package of Rs 600 crore,
calling it way inadequate. At the same time, amidst mounting opposition, the
Dera Sachha Sauda head has just released his second movie 'Messenger of God 2'.
In the midst of it the five high priests of the Sikh faith have given the Dera
head Gurmit Ram Rahim Insaan a general pardon on a year 2007 blasphemy
allegation that he dressed in imitation of Guru Gobind Singh and conducted Naam
Charcha, baptizing his folk into his faith, the way Amrit is a ritual in
Sikhism. In present scenario it was almost certain that the decision to forgive
Gurmit Ram Rahim Insaan will lead to a controversy. Most of the non-SAD Sikh organisations
feel that the SGPC and the high priests are hand in glove with the ruling
party, therefore, it is inevitable that politics will be read in any engagement
with Dera. Moreover, the timing of pardon is important. On the one hand ruling the
SAD is taking stock of situation with the 2017 assembly elections in mind and
on the other hand the protesting farmers have prevented the SAD leaders
including ministers from visiting areas where cotton crop has failed.
The
farmers agitating for compensation are rejecting politicians who are showing up
at their rallies expressing sympathy. The Sikh groups have rejected the
decision of the high priests. The one connecting factor between these two
rejections is that the people have unmasked the face of the politicians who
believe they own the society and the priests who believe they own the religion.
Mainstream politicians from ruling and opposition parties stands discredited.
Their decisions and sympathies have been rejected.
The
question of pardon is not new. The real question is who can ask for pardon and
from whom can one ask for pardon. What are the basis of apardon? An apology is
often a link and a milestone between time past and time future. An apology can
be a way to prevent a controversy from raging on, a foundation to build good
relations, it can pave way to a common destination, it can solve raging issues,
but the immediate gains from an apology can also be an issue.
Given
Punjab's current situation, it is important to establish what can be considered
a due apology. Has the apology evolved out of a process or it has it been
imposed like an edict? Does one meeting, one letter, or one event qualify for
an apology? Yes, it can provided it is rooted in reflection and introspection.
It is effective if the two sides agree that the events of the past were a
mistake. The aggressive side needs to shed its ego and acknowledges the price
it needs to pay against repeating its mistake. With this are associated the
discourse of atonement, compensation, and punishment. An apology rests on such
a discourse. In such a discourse an apology comes somewhere along the argument,
it is not the aim for which the two parties meet. The event of an apology is a
moment in the path on which the two parties decide to walk with each other.
Without acknowledging the whole discourse an apology is merely a way to escape
the situation and not engage with it. A mere apology, without the discourse, is
almost always selfish and temporary.
Both
the letters in this case of Sachha Sauda exhibit this behaviour: temporariness
and selfishness. The Dera head's letter on plain paper terms the circumstances
to be 'misunderstandings' and proceeds to give 'clarifications'. While the high
priests have termed it to be a 'petition seeking an apology'. It is clear the
sides are making it an argument about languaging and not about the essence of
theblasphemy, the controversy or the pardon.
Newspapers
report that it was in a meeting between the president of Shiromani Akali Dal
and the head of the Dera in Mumbai that the ground for these letters was set
up. There is a longer history to the letters. Once the controversy erupted the
Dera followers had to face a number of sanctions. On the one hand there were
moves to assimilate the formers back to the Sikh fold and on the other they
were forced to not include the Guru Granth Sahib in their ritual worship. The
argument was that those in power are punishing the Dera followers for voting
for the Congress in the 2007 assembly elections. The Congress got a substantial
victory in the Malwa region despite loosing in state elections.
Over
time people, mostly in the villages and the controversy was also mostly rural,
understood that there isn't much of clash between the Dera followers and the
Sikh identity. Most followers visit the Dera casually and visit the Gurdwaras
as well. The situation eased after the discord and the Dera did not clash
politically with the Shiromani Akali Dal. The Dera supported the SAD allay BJP
in the Haryana assembly elections and even participated in the Swachh Bharat
mission led by the Prime Minister Modi. In fact, now there is no reason for the
SAD and the Dera to not come together, their appointees meet each other. For
SAD the matter is closed and that is what can be seen through this exchange of
letters.
Yet,
what needs attention here is an examination of how the Shiromani Akali Dal
converts political issues into religious ones. The SAD leadership benefits from
such stances and its splinter and
rival groups keep the issues stuck in religion. SAD finds a new issue to
milk and washes its hands off the communal seeds it sprinkles. The Dera has practically
apologised from SAD in the political field which has culminated in pardon
granted by high priests but the issue will keep simmering until it can be
stroked again with another event or statement by the leaders. In this one can
read the opportunism of the SAD. With such issues the SAD keeps the communal
pot on the boil.
The
Panthic (religious) outfits that distance themselves from the SAD view their
politics only from a religious framework. These outfits pick the issues that
SAD discards. With these issues they may not gain politiccal mileage but their
activities continue. From time to time, per their need, the mainstream politial
parties exploit the sentiments these Panthic outfits raise. Foreign aid from
North America and Europe comes in handy and the diaspora media provides enough
space for outbursts to such voices. These outfits have held that they shall not
forgive the earlier crimes against the community but does not address the
current issues. In the coming days these voices will pose questions on the
performance of the high priests. The questions will be justified but even these
Panthic outfits are in no position to answer them.
The
political-economy of these Panthic outfits is associated with their agression.
They keep searching for an other, an enemy. This other couldbe someone from
whom they can distance themselves, or a government agent, or a traitor to the
cause of Sikhism, or an old co-believer who has now turned a revisionist or
reformist. Such outfits have a wide diversity in their views and thoughts but
forgiveness is not one of them. They might mention the mistakes they themselves
have committed in their documents written as introspection but never go into
the details. How can those who do not need to apologize for their own errors
ask someone else to apologize or can grant apology? The question of an apology
can not be limited to the Dera Sachha Sauda alone, neither can it be limited to
the Panthic groups.
On
the one side the farmer organizations need to make people aware of how the
politicians defraud them and on the other side the religious outfits need to
keep their relevance alive. The powers that be and the opposition keep avoiding
the people of Punjab but will revert to them at the time of votes. Isn’t this a
chance to analyze mainstream politics, the Panthic outfits, and our agitations
whose pain the people bear?
Translated
by Amandeep Sandhu, author of Roll of
Honour which has been translated by Daljit Ami into Punjabi as Gwah De Fanah Hon To Pehlan
