M A I N   N E W S

Badal changes stance
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 29
The arrival of Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, a top Khalistan Ideologue and Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, a top militant in Punjab, has started proving a nightmare to the Shiromani Akali Dal headed by the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

Reason: the gory past, which the people of the state in general and urbanites in particular, neither want to be repeated nor reminded of. It has started replaying before them like a horror movie. The issue of Khalistan, which the majority in the state had almost forgotten, is once again in the air.

Agreeing with his senior party leaders, Mr Parkash Singh Badal , left with no choice, has now taken a tough stand against them (Zaffarwal and Dr Chohan) as the leaders felt that otherwise party would be in a spin in the ensuing Assembly elections. The Chief Minister’s statement at Pathankot this morning declaring both Dr Chohan and Wassan Singh Zaffarwal as Congress agents is viewed as a significant development.

Statements made by Dr Chohan have hit the headlines in the print media. Though both Zaffarwal and Dr Chohan have disassociated from all sort of violence in the past years and denied their role in it in very strong words, but Dr Chohan’s endorsement to the concept of the Khalistan and reiteration to work for it peacefully has sent frightening signals among Hindus in the state.

Moreover, though Dr Chohan has not made it clear that what is his concept of Khalistan but the very mention of it sends a chill down the spine of those who have witnessed a large scale violence in the state from the eighties to the late nineties in the name of Khalistan. “ Very rapidly efforts were being made to push the past to the centre stage”, said a senior Akali leader, who opposed the separatist movement in the state in all possible ways.

“We have been trying to bury the past and to build an atmosphere of Hindu-Sikh unity but certain happenings during the past days have put things in reverse gear. The impression has gone around that Wasan Singh Zaffarwal and Jagjit Singh Chohan’s arrival in the state has the approval of the SAD. It requires to be dispelled in all possible ways”, said the Akali leader.

It is election year and the Opposition parties, especially the Congress party, has got the stick to beat the SAD- BJP alliance on the issue of Zaffarwal and Chohan. Already , Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Party, has alleged that Mr Badal was playing the Sikh card by welcoming the separatist leaders to the state.

What has caused concern in the SAD is the statement made by Zaffarwal praising the Badal’s party and condemning the other political leaders especially Akali leaders like Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Such statements have given a handle to the parties like the Congress to beat the SAD and to link it with militant outfits. It seems to be difficult for the SAD leadership to defend itself on this issue.

What has added fuel to the fire is the Union Government’s observation that Dr Chohan was breaching the understanding that paved the way for his return to India. Such an observation will certainly add to the woes of the SAD, which is a coalition partner of the BJP in the state as well as in the Centre. In fact, the Centre’s reported observation with regard to Chohan will also make things difficult for the BJP.

“Hindu voters are very sensitive. They would not vote for the SAD- BJP combine if the impression was created that the SAD Government is soft towards those who were killing people and propagating secessionism in recent years”, said a senior Akali leader.

The Congress leaders say that the SAD-BJP combine would not be able to counter the one simple question that why Dr Chohan and Zaffarwal had returned to Punjab during the SAD rule in the state? Congress leaders say that they would pose another question: why these leaders did not dare to come when the Congress party was in power?