05-19-2007, 02:02 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>A sinister plot </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Congress playing with fire in Punjab
It is extremely unfortunate that mischief-makers should be trying to unsettle the peace that prevails in Punjab within months of the Congress being voted out of power. For, let there be no mistake: The provocative advertisements featuring Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, dressed in a costume and posing in a manner that recalls Guru Govind Singh, the revered 10th and last Guru of the Sikhs, is no act of innocence. The advertisements were issued with the explicit purpose of hurting Khalsa sensitivities and inciting Sikh anger, thus unleashing sectarian violence which would have been difficult to control. Were this to happen, Mr Parkash Singh Badal's Akali Dal-BJP Government would have been more than discomfited and shown in poor light. It does not require a great deal of intelligence to figure out which political party would have been delighted by such developments since we have seen similar dangerous games being played in the past in Punjab with disastrous consequences. It is obvious that the Congress has a hand in egging on the Dera chief, whose credentials are questionable and who has been accused of various criminal misdeeds, to provoke a Sikh backlash. During the recent Assembly election, faced with a rout, the Congress had sought and secured Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim's endorsement; he had subsequently instructed his followers, strangely mesmerised by a pretender, to vote for the Congress. This injunction explains why the Akali Dal faltered in constituencies where it was expected to win and why the Congress, despite a huge anti-incumbency wave, was able to stave off a washout. In the absence of the Election Commission, otherwise so alert about religious sentiments being provoked for electoral gains - witness its absurd obsession with a bogus CD that surfaced during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election - acting against the Congress, the Akali Dal and its supporters have reason to nurse a grudge against their political opponents and a man fond of appearing in public attired in tacky fancy dress. That grudge is now threatening to take the form of retaliatory violence against the Dera's followers.
Mr Badal, an astute politician and an experienced administrator, has handled the situation remarkably well, but it is anybody's guess as to whether his Government - of, for that matter, any State Government - can douse a bonfire lit by perceived sacrilege. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>The Union Government knows full well that the Congress is a complicit partner in the entire unsavoury episode involving the Dera chief. If it does not act swiftly to maintain peace by providing the Punjab Government with all assistance and getting Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim to offer an abject apology, then it would be fair to assume that the Congress-led Government at the Centre is not averse to resorting to the same dirty tricks which led to the birth of extremism in Punjab and extracted a terrible toll through the 1980s till the early-1990s. Neither the Congress nor its president, it would seem, has learned a lesson from that misadventure.</span> Meanwhile, Mr Badal would be well advised to deal with the situation with a firm hand and ensure there is no widespread violence. The Sikh high priests and the SGPC have an important role to play in defeating the Congress's gameplan; they cannot abdicate their responsibility. <b>The people of Punjab must treat the agents provocateur with utter contempt and total disregard. The Dera chief and his patrons in the Congress deserve no better. </b>
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
Congress playing with fire in Punjab
It is extremely unfortunate that mischief-makers should be trying to unsettle the peace that prevails in Punjab within months of the Congress being voted out of power. For, let there be no mistake: The provocative advertisements featuring Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, dressed in a costume and posing in a manner that recalls Guru Govind Singh, the revered 10th and last Guru of the Sikhs, is no act of innocence. The advertisements were issued with the explicit purpose of hurting Khalsa sensitivities and inciting Sikh anger, thus unleashing sectarian violence which would have been difficult to control. Were this to happen, Mr Parkash Singh Badal's Akali Dal-BJP Government would have been more than discomfited and shown in poor light. It does not require a great deal of intelligence to figure out which political party would have been delighted by such developments since we have seen similar dangerous games being played in the past in Punjab with disastrous consequences. It is obvious that the Congress has a hand in egging on the Dera chief, whose credentials are questionable and who has been accused of various criminal misdeeds, to provoke a Sikh backlash. During the recent Assembly election, faced with a rout, the Congress had sought and secured Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim's endorsement; he had subsequently instructed his followers, strangely mesmerised by a pretender, to vote for the Congress. This injunction explains why the Akali Dal faltered in constituencies where it was expected to win and why the Congress, despite a huge anti-incumbency wave, was able to stave off a washout. In the absence of the Election Commission, otherwise so alert about religious sentiments being provoked for electoral gains - witness its absurd obsession with a bogus CD that surfaced during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election - acting against the Congress, the Akali Dal and its supporters have reason to nurse a grudge against their political opponents and a man fond of appearing in public attired in tacky fancy dress. That grudge is now threatening to take the form of retaliatory violence against the Dera's followers.
Mr Badal, an astute politician and an experienced administrator, has handled the situation remarkably well, but it is anybody's guess as to whether his Government - of, for that matter, any State Government - can douse a bonfire lit by perceived sacrilege. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>The Union Government knows full well that the Congress is a complicit partner in the entire unsavoury episode involving the Dera chief. If it does not act swiftly to maintain peace by providing the Punjab Government with all assistance and getting Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim to offer an abject apology, then it would be fair to assume that the Congress-led Government at the Centre is not averse to resorting to the same dirty tricks which led to the birth of extremism in Punjab and extracted a terrible toll through the 1980s till the early-1990s. Neither the Congress nor its president, it would seem, has learned a lesson from that misadventure.</span> Meanwhile, Mr Badal would be well advised to deal with the situation with a firm hand and ensure there is no widespread violence. The Sikh high priests and the SGPC have an important role to play in defeating the Congress's gameplan; they cannot abdicate their responsibility. <b>The people of Punjab must treat the agents provocateur with utter contempt and total disregard. The Dera chief and his patrons in the Congress deserve no better. </b>
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