by Harihar Swarup

Diverse backgrounds, common goal

THERE is nothing common between three rebel Congress leaders who have pitchforked the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin on the centre stage of pre-poll election scene and now expelled from the party. Sharad Pawar hails from Maharashtra and belongs to the martial Maratha race, Tariq Anwar is a Muslim leader from Bihar and Purno A Sangma, a tribal-Christian, comes from remote Meghalaya. The three leaders are in the age group of 50 and their political grooming has taken place in entirely different atmosphere.

Pak intentions behind PGPC creation
by J.S. Sandhu
THE Archaeological Department of Pakistan had conducted a survey of Sikh historical gurdwaras soon after Partition. It had listed as many as 130 important gurdwaras. Detailed information about these gurdwaras was later incorporated in the book “Sikh Shrines in West Pakistan” by Khan Mohammad Waliullah Khan and published by the department in 1962.

75 Years Ago
Defects of existing Indian Constitution

ENQUIRIES show that the Government of India have been busy giving effect to their promise to the Legislative Assembly to make a Departmental Enquiry into the defects of the existing Constitution.

by Harihar Swarup
Diverse backgrounds, common goal

THERE is nothing common between three rebel Congress leaders who have pitchforked the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin on the centre stage of pre-poll election scene and now expelled from the party. Sharad Pawar hails from Maharashtra and belongs to the martial Maratha race, Tariq Anwar is a Muslim leader from Bihar and Purno A Sangma, a tribal-Christian, comes from remote Meghalaya. The three leaders are in the age group of 50 and their political grooming has taken place in entirely different atmosphere.

While Sharad Pawar’s God father was late Y.B. Chavan, the other two have come up in politics on their own. Tariq is said to be a confidant of octogenarian Sita Ram Kesri, when he headed the Congress. Earlier in Bihar politics too they were known to be close. It was precisely because of his proximity with Kesri that he was removed from the post of AICC’s General Secretary and subsequently marginalised. Sangma has come up in politics as a tribal chieftan and hails from forlorn Tura in Garo hills of North East.

Though coming from different backgrounds, three influential members of the Congress Working Committee have, at least, one thing in common; they have been systematically marginalised and their base sought to be eroded in their respective states by the coterie claiming proximity to 10, Janpath. The style was reminiscent of the late Indira Gandhi’s days; anyone who showed any sign of strength was crushed. The so-called clique simply did not realise that 1999 is not 1980, the Congress is not the ruling party and Indira Gandhi is not the Prime Minister. The “gang” conveniently misled a trusting Sonia Gandhi, who because of lack of experience, was solely guided by their advice.

Sharad Pawar’s background of unreliability notwithstanding, the Maharashtra unit of the Congress was packed with Pawar baiters, starting with PCC Chief Pratap Rao Bhosale. Though known as a straightforward and upright leader, Bhosale, popularly known as “Bhau”, has been a long-time adversary of the Maratha leader. He firmly believed and had said so in private: “You will see, Pawar will one day ditch Sonia Gandhi”,. “Bhau” may claim that his assessment was right but Pawar could not have allowed his base to be eroded.

It is generally believed in Congress circles that the leadership has been very unfair to Tariq Anwar, who is among a few leaders, still having some clout in Bihar. Those who know him say “Tariq is a young leader of an independent nature, believes in principled politics and is noted for his dynamism and fortitude.” He, no doubt, enjoyed the confidence of Kesri but did not listen to him when the old man went to Tariq’s house pleading with him to dissociate with Pawar. His unceremonious removal from the position of AICC General Secretary without assigning any reason and subsequently assigning him no role either at the centre or in Bihar had deeply hurt him. He was heard many times saying “I have no work, no role to play in the organisation.... I have become a non-entity.”

Added to Tariq’s discomfiture, a person with not so clean a record was appointed the President of the Bihar unit of the Congress. The incumbent, Sadanand Singh, was removed from the Bihar Cabinet on charges of corruption at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi in early eighties and declined even the Lok Sabha ticket. Singh left the Congress to oppose the official Congress nominee as a rebel and won. Tariq’s point was that a man of such “dubious” past should not be given charge of the Bihar Congress when the party has to fight a bitter electoral battle.

Why should generally likable, amiable and jovial Sangma join hands with Pawar is still a mystery? The former Lok Sabha Speaker, who was duped by the BJP when his second term looked certain, was not so slighted by 10, Janpath as Maharashtra strong man and Tariq. Lately, however, he was keeping himself aloof, keeping a low profile, as if, peeved by something even though he was attending the working committee meetings regularly. May be he genuinely believes what he wrote in the joint letter along with Pawar and Tariq: “It is not possible that a country of 980 million, with a wealth of education, competence and ability, can have anyone other than an Indian, born of Indian soil, to head its government”. This is the impression in Congress circles.

The moot point is that if Sangma, and his two working committee colleagues, feel so strongly about Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, why did till recently they were shouting, as if, from the house top that she is the Congress party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. Pawar asserted so at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Why did they keep mum when only weeks back the Congress Party declared that a non-BJP government can only be led by Sonia Gandhi? This raises doubt if they were speaking on her foreign origin out of conviction or political consideration.

On the other hand when Sharad, Sangma and Tariq talked about the clique, they appear to have been reflecting the real anguish: “However, of late we have noticed what we hope is only a temporary aberration...... we believe that this is the work of a few self seeking individuals..... we pray that you will be able to disengage yourself from such minds”.

This is the real issue but, sadly, relegated to the background and the emotive issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin has come to the fore plunging the Congress party in a first rate crisis. The trio have by a letter put a question mark on the future of not only Sonia Gandhi but the Congress too. Of the three Sharad Pawar is known to have been nursing the Prime Ministerial ambition, Sangma’s name was once casually mentioned for the high office and Tariq has no such ambition at all. The three expelled members of the CWC have their standing in their respective states.

Sharad Pawar: Four-term Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Pawar was a protege of the late Yashwant Rao Chavan. He was made the President of the Maharashtra unit of the Youth Congress and an AICC member when he was barely 21. He became MOS Home in the ministry of the late V.P. Naik for the first time in 1972. It is generally said about Pawar that he can become very friendly with a person if he wants to cultivate him. As MOS he would walk into newspaper offices in Bombay and establish direct rapport with journalists. Pawar emerged as Maharashtra’s strongman in the nineties.

P.A. Sangma: He was minister at the Centre for 13 of 19 years of his parliamentary life. When the Congress party was not able to form the government after the 1996 elections. Sangma became Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had immense liking for the young tribal leader from the North-East and Mrs Gandhi gave him the first break in 1980 by inducting him in her council of ministers as Deputy Minister for Industry.

Tariq Anwar: He is basically a man of the organisation with ability to carry people with him. He was President of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee and crossed sword with as powerful a leader as Jagannath Mishra. He also headed the Youth Congress and the Seva Dal. As far back as 1989. Tariq was offered the post of a cabinet rank with Finance portfolio in the Bihar Ministry, headed by Satyendra Narayan Sinha.

Pak intentions behind PGPC creation
by J.S. Sandhu

THE Archaeological Department of Pakistan had conducted a survey of Sikh historical gurdwaras soon after Partition. It had listed as many as 130 important gurdwaras. Detailed information about these gurdwaras was later incorporated in the book “Sikh Shrines in West Pakistan” by Khan Mohammad Waliullah Khan and published by the department in 1962.

These shrines include 28 gurdwaras built in the memory of Guru Nanak Dev Gurdwara Janamasthan, Nankana Sahib; Gurdwara Sacha Sauda; Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abdal; Gurdwara Chaki Sahib, Eminabad; Gurdwara Darbar Shaib, Kartarpur; Gurdwara Bairi Sahib; Sialkot, etc. One gurdwara, Janamasthan Guru Ram Das, Lahore, marks the memory of the fourth Guru, Sri Ram Das.

Eight gurdwaras, including Gurdwara Budhu ka Awa, Lahore; Samadhi of Guru Arjan Dev; and Gurdwara Haft Madar, Sheikhupura, are in the memory of the fifth Guru, Sri Arjan Dev. There are 12 gurdwaras in the memory of the sixth Guru Shri Hargobind.

Each of these gurdwaras has its own property in the form of agricultural land and buildings. Such land had been donated by Sikh devotees from time to time for the maintenance and upkeep of these gurdwaras. Some of these gurdwaras thus have thousands of acres of land. The property of these gurdwaras is worth hundreds of crores of rupees. This property came under the control of the Waqf Board after Partition and has since then been systematically misused and misappropriated. Except for very few gurdwaras, where Sikh pilgrims from India are allowed to visit in the form of jathas on religious or historical occasions, not a rupee has been spent on the maintenance and upkeep of other gurdwaras by the Waqf Board.

Sikh devotees, who have acquired foreign nationality and could visit some of the gurdwaras (beyond access to Indian Sikhs), have come back with horrifying accounts. These gurdwaras are not only in a bad state of disrepair but have been systematically desecrated by local residents who use them as shelter for domestic animals and as ground for drying dung cakes. Shops have been set up on the gurdwara premises and essential routine of prayers is not being followed. These grand sites marking significant events in Sikh history are today but lifeless and decrepit buildings.

Knowledge of the sad state of gurdwaras in Pakistan has been commonplace among Sikhs worldwide, there has been an intense desire among them to gain access to all gurdwaras in Pakistan so that they can be surveyed before repair work is undertaken and moves are initiated with the administration for eviction of encroachers and for restoration of alienated land. On its part, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has been demanding that the gurdwaras in Pakistan, part of its domain between 1929 and 1947, should be restored to it. The SGPC has made several appeals to the Pakistan Government in this regard. The intensity of the Sikhs’ desire to accomplish this task is amply reflected in the fact that, in prayers said twice a day, every Sikh beseeches God to bless him with free access to the gurdwaras in Pakistan so that they can be maintained just as the gurdwaras in India are done.

It is worth recalling that the Sikhs had to wage a prolonged struggle to recover control of gurdwaras from corrupt Mahants, who were using the resources of gurdwaras for personal aggrandisement. The Mahants had taken care to keep the British on their right side. The patience and persistence of Sikhs involved in the struggle to liberate the gurdwaras was rewarded as the SGPC was formed as an elected body to run the gurdwaras. In the wake of Partition, the Waqf Board took over charge of the gurdwaras in Pakistan and the results are for all to see. The Waqf Board has fared no better than the Mahants. The pain in the hearts of Sikhs is so intense that it cannot be imagined.

Three centuries have passed since the 10th Guru, Sri Gobind Singh, ordained the Khalsa. In commemorating this event recently, the entire Sikh community paid tribute to the vision of the great Guru, resolved to abide by his ministrations and undertook not to spare any effort for the preservation and advancement of Sikhism. Many world leaders, including Heads of State and the governments of India, UK and Canada, have felicitated the Sikhs and made complimentary references to the honesty and integrity exhibited consistently by members of the Sikh community. At this momentous juncture, as all Sikhs celebrate and rededicate themselves to the ideals cherished by their Gurus, Pakistan has delivered a body blow to the entire Sikh community. The Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PGPC) was formed through a recent notification. Its autocratic chief, Lt-Gen Javed Nasir (retd) was quick to show his true colours, as he prevented the SGPC from maintaining its traditional right to collecting offerings made by pilgrims on important religious occasions, when Indian Jathas visit the important gurdwaras in Pakistan.

If the Pakistan Government was sincere in its protestation of concern for the Sikh community and if it wanted to make a symbolic gesture on the occasion of the Khalsa tercentenary, it need not have wasted its time in setting up the PGPC. Without even giving up the stranglehold that it has maintained over the gurdwaras in Pakistan, it could have announced a phased programme for their restoration and repair, and for the restoration of alienated lands.

Instead, it proceeded to appoint Pakistani Sikhs to the PGPC, so that it could project that the Sikh community was being allowed to run its own affairs there. It does not need any effort to understand that neither Gyan Singh of Baluchistan, nor Ram Singh of Peshawar, nor Satnam Singh of Sindh, and their three other Sikh colleagues have religious credentials and that they are but instruments in the hands of General Nasir.

One fails to understand why three Muslims have been appointed on the PGPC. Is there an intention to Islamise Sikhs in this Islamic Republic which is inexorably sliding towards obscurantism? Clearly, no discerning Sikh would regard the creation of the PGPC as a step in the right direction.

General Nasir has already displayed his real intentions. In an interview (April 23) to “Jung”, the largest circulated Urdu daily in Pakistan, the former ISI leader did not so much as outline any plan for the restoration of gurdwaras in Pakistan to their original glory but proceeded to suggest that the creation of the PGPC would provide a fillip to the “separatist” movement in Punjab, which, in due course, would “threaten the very integrity of the Indian nation”. One wonders why an experienced General should believe the myth that there is a separatist movement in Punjab and why he should lay store by a non-existent phenomenon to achieve what might be regarded as a military objective. Clearly, he remains burdened primarily by military preoccupations.

All previous protestations of friendship of the Sikh community ring hollow and it is becoming increasing clear that Islamic fundamentalist elements, who control the government, have decided to appropriate unto themselves Sikh gurdwaras and the properties attached to them, so that all traces of the Sikh faith are removed from the firmament in Pakistan.

Sikhs have combated such challenges in the past and will do so now. Let the Pakistan government and its operatives not forget that the raison d’etre of the Sikh religion is its ability to protect the meek from oppression by Muslim rulers.

The Sikh Gurus made several sacrifices in the course of their such campaign. Two of them, the 5th Guru and the 9th Guru, were martyred in the process and the four sons of the 10th Guru were brutally killed. Many other loyal adherents of the Gurus gave up their lives in the struggle to liberate this land from the clutches of ruthless and avaricious Muslim rulers. The Sikhs maintain the spirit even today and will not hesitate to shed blood, if necessary, to protect their religion and all elements of their heritage, no matter what the locale.

75 YEARS AGO
Defects of existing Indian Constitution

ENQUIRIES show that the Government of India have been busy giving effect to their promise to the Legislative Assembly to make a Departmental Enquiry into the defects of the existing Constitution.

They have already addressed a circular letter in the Local Government indicating the probable lines on which the report on the working of the Reforms should be submitted.

As soon as the Local Government’s replies are received, special officers are likely to be deputed to sift the material collected for the formulation of the Government of India’s views and their submission to the Secretary of State.