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The Shiromani Akali Dal as a political party claims to have been born in a meeting in 1920 presided by Sarmukh Singh Jhabal. The records show that in that meeting Shiromani Akali Dal was constituted to mobilise volunteers for the Gurdwara Reform Movement. There was no mention of any political agenda. The Sikh leaders who were active in public life had constituted the Central Sikh League to project Sikh political aspirations. It was much later, when Master Tara Singh as a Shiromani Akali Dal leader took over the Central Sikh league, that the Shiromani Akali Dal could be officially said to have become a political party.

The Gurdwara Reform Movement generated a general upsurge among the Sikh masses the like of which had not been witnessed after the era of the Gurus. The upsurge was not for the creation of politicians or leaders of the SGPC or the Shiromani Akali Dal. The politicians in the movement, however, quickly came to master the ways of channelling the movement towards objectives of their choice, as can be seen from Nabha agitation.

The activists of the Gurdwara Reform Movement were getting restive after the Guru-ka-Bagh Morcha when the Nabha issue came up. The leaders of the Sikh movement decided to take up the cause of the Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha. The repression of the movement by the Nabha state authorities and abdication by open announcement of the Maharaja of Nabha had almost smothered the movement when a thoughtless action of the Nabha police at Jaito resulted in interruption of an Akhand Path. This enabled the leaders to whip up the religious fervour and launch the successful Jaito Morcha. Except that many Sikhs suffered in jails or had their properties confiscated, the success of the morcha brought no benefits for the Sikh community. However, the episode taught the leaders the idiom and the discourse that was required to keep the Sikh masses behind them.

Bhai Ranjit Singh The Sikh fear of being submerged in the Hindu avalanche spearheaded by the Arya Samaj was effectively used to create a clear Akali constituency. The British historians particularly highlighted the anti-Muslim sentiment that prevailed among the Sikhs due to the oppression undergone by the Sikhs during the Mughal rule. The publication of the various accounts of that suffering during the Mughal period under the inspiration of the Singh Sabha Movement during the colonial period had generally embittered the mind of the Sikhs against the Muslims. It made it impossible for the Akali leaders to have any meaningful dialogue with the Muslim League leaders who had become more and more strident about their separate identity and destiny. The Sikhs could have been a group joining Gandhiji to prevent the Partition of India, thus carrying forward the heritage of Guru Nanak but the circumstances so conspired as to make the Akali leaders take a lead for the partition of Punjab on a communal basis.

The post-Partition disenchantment among the Sikhs was further strengthened when the demand for formation of a Punjabi-speaking state was rejected. Thus, the Akali constituency among the Sikhs remained secure. The creation of the Punjabi-speaking state spelt a threat to the Akali constituency. It was in this phase that the emphasis shifted to Akal Takht to make the faithful line up behind the Akalis.

Akal Takht owes its origin to Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru. He held consultations and hearings at Akal Takht on problems and issues which were temporal in nature. When Guru Hargobind moved to Kiratpur Sahib, the place gained historicity. Amritsar ceased to be the centre of the Sikh movement till Mata Sundari, the widow of Guru Gobind Singh issued an edict for the Sikhs to meet at Amritsar for their annual Diwali and Baisakhi get-togethers. The leader of the Khalsa, chosen by consensus, conducted the affairs of the meet and he was addressed as the Jathedar. The last consensus leader was Jassa Singh Ahluwalia who died in 1783. The granthis and pujaris of Akal Takht were never called Jathedars.

It was during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh that Nihangs assumed the control of Akal Takht and their leader Akali Phula Singh has been often described as Jathedar of Akal Takht. Since the Akali hold on the Sikhs was threatened, therefore, the leaders controlling the SGPC and others who were interested, started projecting various granthis as Singh Sahebs and Jathedars. Their pay and perquisites were raised and whosoever had the clout did not hesitate to make use of the Jathedar for his personal or political ends.

Bibi Jagir Kaur The other term which has been effectively subordinated to the design of politicians is the Khalsa Panth. We can say that all Amritdhari or baptised Sikhs constituted the Khalsa brotherhood or the Khalsa Panth. The Khalsa Panth had no role to play during the era of the Gurus except during the Baisakhi and Diwali get togethers. There was no constitution nor any election or selection procedure laid down for the leader of the Khalsa Panth. The Sarbat Khalsa that emerged during the misl ascendancy was an informal get-together of the Khalsa activists who deliberated on issues and problems facing the Khalsa when they met on Diwali or Baisakhi at Amritsar. Many people have called the SGPC as the Parliament of the Sikhs. However, again and again, the institution has failed the Sikhs. The record of the Shiromani Akali Dal is equally disappointing.

The Dharam Yudh Morcha of 1982 perhaps will stand out as the last morcha of the Akalis. The price that had to be paid for the morcha has made the Sikh masses wary of the Akali leaders. Earlier the Akali leaders, when pushed, resorted to extremist and separatist postures. The dynamics of elections in Punjab has compelled the Akali leaders to restrain themselves, which in itself is a healthy development.

Among the Akali leaders, Parkash Singh Badal seems to have perceived the reality behind the religious slogans and symbols. He succeeded in defying the Akal Takht head priest who tried to force Akali unity by getting the Badal Akali Dal dissolved. The same stand was in evidence when Bhai Ranjit Singh came in his way. However, one wonders as to why he and the scholars who share his view avoid doing anything to explode the myths and the make-believe created for dealing with issues that are no longer in existence.

Punjab has suffered a lot because Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs, have allowed religious symbols, idioms and institutions to play with their emotions and sentiments. The selfish and calculating leaders have achieved their political and personal ends in this manner.

The present generation of the Khalsa has to recapture the spirit in which the Khalsa was born 300 years ago and evolve institutions that are able to meet the challenges of modern times rather than hark back to ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ in place of the SGPC or other such impractical alternatives. If the present situation helps to clear the fog blinding the minds of the masses, it shall have served its purpose.