Punjab’s thin Bhindranwale line: Parties attribute recent rows to ‘novice’ AAP’s stumble

Barely had the brouhaha around the pictures died down, that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee objected to Bhindranwale’s “distorted” portrayal as a terrorist in a fourth semester political science book at Punjabi University, Patiala. The varsity promptly reacted by saying it would make amends.

In Punjab’s public space, Bhindranwale is a common presence. On buses, cabs, and in temples, his photos have been a brooding presence since his death. Over a decade-and-a-half ago, the Damdami Taksal, which is headquartered at Chowk Mehta near Amritsar, used to have a small stall outside the Golden Temple, selling his memorabilia. Often, they would even play his sermons. More recently, T-shirts with his sketch are not uncommon.

According to a Panjab University professor of political science who did not want to be named, Bhindranwale redeemed himself when he decided to stay back and die in the Army action in Golden Temple, instead of taking their offer of safe passage. “Had he done so, he would have been forgotten and even vilified, but in death he was immortalised. The Sikh tradition eulogises ‘shahadat’ or sacrifice, and despite his failings Bhindranwale became a part of it.”

Successive governments in the state, be it the Congress or Akali-BJP combine, recognised this, and took care not to draw the spotlight on this issue.

The Opposition claims the episodes of the past week are another instance of the AAP government’s “immaturity”. Senior Akali leader Dr Daljeet Cheema says some things are best ignored. “People generally have different viewpoints about an individual or situation. Any over reaction by the government can cause a minor irritant to snowball into an explosive situation.”

Subhash Sharma, general secretary of state BJP, calls it an example of the government’s “weakness”. “Some people in Punjab always spoke in favour of Bhindranwale even when the Akali-BJP combine was in power, but he never emerged as an issue because we had a different agenda.’’

Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale giving a speech at a gathering in Chandigarh in 1982. (Express Archive)

Others see in it a more sinister design by some forces to drive a wedge between Hindus and Sikhs by scratching old wounds. Sarchand Singh, once a spokesperson of the Damdami Taksal but now a BJP leader, says Bhindranwale was neither anti-national nor anti-Hindu. “This is an unfortunate attempt to divide Punjabis, it’s not good for either the state or the country.”

During the recent Punjab elections though, the BJP had played into the fears in some quarters regarding AAP’s alleged Khalistani links.

SGPC general secretary Harjinder Singh Dhami, who raised the red flag on the Punjabi University textbook, claims he has never had to face such a situation in all these years. “There were issues in other states such as Himachal — the state police had objected to some vehicles bearing photos of Bhindranwale — but that is because they don’t understand our nuances. Any change in a textbook doesn’t happen overnight, it takes months. I am trying to get to the bottom of this issue. Someone is creating mischief, but I wonder why.”

Political observers blame realpolitik. As one of them put it, “The AAP government is trying to gain a foothold in both Himachal and Haryana, which have differences with Punjab on some issues, the recent steps may have been driven by their political ambitions related to the hill state.”

In May, some BJP leaders in Himachal had alleged that AAP was supporting elements that favoured Khalistan after flags backing the movement were found at the entrance of the Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala. AAP had called it a failure of security.

AAP spokesman Malwinder Singh Kang pooh-poohed the recent Bhindranwale episodes in Punjab, saying no notification regarding his photos on buses was either issued or revoked by the state government. “AAP is a secular party that respects all religions. The letter that was issued merely stated that no form of violence or gun culture should be promoted in buses. We did not mention any religion or religious leader at all.’’

For long, a section of intellectuals in the state has been calling for a reconciliation commission where people from all walks of life who suffered during the Punjab militancy – with Bhindranwale as its face — can talk about their hurts and wounds instead of just sweeping them under the carpet.

Pramod Kumar, who heads the think tank Institute for Development and Communication said he has written about this several times. “There should be a peace memorial in memory of anybody who has become a victim of violence. A group of citizens has been publicly proposing it to bring a closure to the dark decade.”