Shift focus from politics of religion to governance
Amritsar attack reveals tenuous peace; Capt must change politically toxic narrative centered on contentious matters of faith
Punjab has long emerged from the dark days of militancy, but it remains vulnerable to terror plots orchestrated by foreign elements. While most were thwarted in time by security agencies, a few have succeeded as sporadic targeted killings in the recent past. The recent grenade attack on the Nirankari congregation in Amritsar cannot be termed as a precursor or precipitant to the revival of troubled times of the scale and intensity Punjab went through in the ’80s. Yet, it underscores how tenuous normalcy is in the border state.
The latest terror act, according to chief minister Amarinder Singh, has Pakistan intelligence agency ISI’s signature style. In the subsequent arrest of one of two perpetrators, police found the trail of conspiracy and handgrenade to a Pakistan-based operator of Khalistan Liberation Force, a once-dreaded but now largely defunct terror outfit. It is also reminiscent of the 1978 SikhNirankari clash that led to the killing of 13 Sikhs in Amritsar — a turning point that created the Bhindranwale phenomenon and pushed Punjab into a prolonged vortex of blood-letting and religious extremism.
Targeting a Nirankari gathering after a long hiatus could well be a diabolical design to resurrect a dormant sectarian fault line in the state’s tumultuous religio-social matrix. It fits well into Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat’s recent warning on a bid to revive insurgency in Punjab through “external linkages”. Underscoring his red flag is the fact that security agencies have in two years busted 17 terror modules, mostly comprising youth radicalised through social media by foreign-based pro-Khalistan outfits.
PANDERING THE RADICALS
The Amritsar attack has set alarm bells ringing on another front, too. It has ignited the debate on the politics over emotive religious issues that have lately been dominating the state’s narrative and overshadowing the agenda of governance. It has fuelled fears, not entirely exaggerated, of the resurrection of the fundamentalist fringe. Under critical scrutiny are the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government’s tactics of stepping into the Sikh religious domain to politically corner the main opposition, the Shiromani Akali Dal. This brings to mind the earlier Congress ploy of propping up radicals to checkmate the Akalis with disastrous consequences.
In his dogged pursuit of holding those responsible for the 2015 incidents of sacrilege of the holy Sikh book and killing of two Sikh protesters when the Akalis were at the helm, the chief minister has pinned the blame on former fivetime chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. In retaliation, the Akalis brought up the issue of distortions in the narrative about Sikh gurus in school history textbooks. Such competitive politics on controversial matters of faith may be a convenient diversion from the pressing issues that the government was elected to address. But, this is fraught with the real possibility of stoking people’s passions which inimical forces are waiting in the wings to exploit.
In his drive to throw the moderate Akalis off-balance, Amarinder has given radicals a handle when they have been spearheading the five-month-long Bargari Morcha pegged to the sacrilege incidents. That has also exposed him to the charge of pandering to radicals. Their stir, though peaceful, has touched a chord among the Sikhs and become a rallying point for hardliners of all hues.
In that sense, the Amritsar blast is a wake-up call. It is time that the state government focused on governance rather than controversial religious issues. Punjab can’t afford to lose the plot on hard-earned peace.