Congress Strengthens Pakistan’s Hands in Punjab

Punjab is the border state and like any border state needs special political attention more so when it shares borders with enemy nation like Pakistan. That Pakistan was a country born out of communal ideology supported by the Congress and continues to run on communalism and is always trying to foment communal trouble in India is well known. Congress has a history of neglecting the border states to the detriment of India. Kashmir is the classic case where the issue which should have been settled with the accession instrument kept boiling for over seven decades through the undeserving special status given to that Himalayan state. Congress party subsequently allowed the exodus of Muslims from East Pakistan into the border states of Bengal and Assam for the sake of political power in those states. The illegal entry of Muslims in those states, especially in Bengal, are now controlling the electoral fate. Congress unashamedly contests elections in alliance with the Muslim parties like the AIUDF and ISF at the cost of national interests.

For Congress it is the Nehru dynasty’s interest, party interest first and national interest the last is confirmed when it allowed the Khalistan movement to grow to reduce the political influence of Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab. The tragedy of Punjab ended in the late 1980s’ and the nation paid a heavy cost. Congress also suffered through the assassination of its own leader Indira Gandhi. However, the Congress party, led by the Nehru dynasty, has not learnt any lesson and is once again trying to stoke religious sentiments through its manipulative narrative of sacrilege issue of 2015. Retention of power even at the cost of resurrected Khalistan movement seems to be a short sighted agenda for Congress.

Congress was in power for the last five years but never took action against those involved in the sacrilege activities. All these years, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was dodging the action because of his vested political interest. Now the dissident group of Congress led by Navjyot Singh Sidhu, who was part of the Punjab cabinet till two years back and was silent all through, suddenly woke up to the issue of sacrilege and the non-action of Amarinder Singh as an issue to bolster his own image among the Sikh faithful. Navajyot Singh Sidhu, the cricketer-turned-politician, is highly ambitious and has set his eyes on the Chief Minister’s chair. To achieve his short term goal he is exhibiting political immaturity by projecting himself as a ‘radical’ and unfortunately he has the support of some of the members of the ‘first family’ of Congress party.

The internal group politics left unsettled intentionally by the high command of the Congress has now taken the religious turn. The first incident of alleged sacrilege was reported in 2015 when the ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from a gurudwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot and was allegedly followed by about 170 such similar incidents. The then Prakash Singh led SAD-BJP alliance appointed Justice Zora Singh Commission of Enquiry and the commission submitted its report in September 2016 exonerating the Badals and recommending action against some officials. Congress party, then in opposition, was not interested in the truth behind the incidents, so it milked the sacrilege issue to its electoral victory in 2016 elections. After assuming power Amarinder Singh rejected Justice Zora Singh Commission’s report as “inconclusive” and appointed a new commission headed by Justice Ranjit Singh. The committee summoned the father and son duo of Badals but they refused to appear. Instead of taking action on their refusal to testify the commission was reportedly asked by Amarinder Singh to submit the report and it did so.

The Special Investigating Team (SIT) appointed by the government has reported that the sacrilege incidents happened because of some Sikh elders criticising the Dera Sacha Souda sect and exhorting Sikhs following Dera to leave that sect as Sikhism is against any human as guru other than the Guru Granth as ordained by the founding Guru of Sikh panth. But the CBI, which also investigated, hasn’t accepted that report and even filed a closure report. Even the Punjab and Haryana High court has dissolved the SIT headed by Khatra. In January this year as the dissident activity in the party increased targeting Amarinder Singh, the Punjab government hurriedly formed a SIT in January this year and Parmar, the IG of Police, came with the similar report as that of earlier SIT. Even the suspected Dera followers were arrested in the last week of May. These arrests and trials should have been taken to the logical end in the courts. But the punishment of the culprits is not what Congress leaders want but their main interest in keeping this issue boiling is to have political gains for their internal groups.

Instead of asking not to rake up the highly sensitive sacrilege issue in volatile Punjab, the Congress high command is holding parleys with the two groups treating this sensitive issue as a political issue of the Congress party. This internal rivalry of the Congress party and the high command’s intention to use that as a political tool to win 2022 elections is going to impact the peace of Punjab. First the Congress failed to solve the issue and do justice to the hurt feelings of the Sikh community in the last five years of governance. Now through its murky politics, Congress is giving a chance to Pakistan to meddle in Punjab.

The intelligence reports indicate that “ISI cornered in Jammu and Kashmir is planning to open a new front in Punjab and Rajasthan. The Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI and Pakistan rangers are engaged in supplying drugs and weapons through drones”. Some drones were shot down and some were captured by the Indian forces in the recent past. The Indian intelligence reports mention the ISI plans to spread violence in Punjab. It also mentioned about the ISI organised meet in the last week of May in Lahore where the Babbar Khalsa International, International Sikh youth Federation, the commander of Khalistan Zindabad Force and Khalistan Commando force representatives were present. ISI is known to fund Sikh For Justice in a major way. As the Pakistan backed extremists are eliminated in the Valley in a systematic way and the local politicians are being checked for their support to extremists by the Indian security forces in the post Article 370 abrogation situation where the forces have been given a free hand by the Delhi authorities to deal without fear, the supply chains of material and money to the terror groups and their local supporters, the ISI is desperately trying for new routes to create trouble in other areas in India.

The main opposition party, Congress instead of supporting the government on issues of national interest such as peace and harmony in Kashmir and strengthening the morale of security forces who are trying to end the violence in the Valley, is unfortunately playing into the hands of Pakistan through its wrong handling of sacrilege issue and taking action on the culprits.

Why has the Congress government failed to investigate the cases of sacrilege in the last five years? Why the dissidents who are silent all through suddenly chose to cry wolf now, the election year? With the Congress high command compromise formula of offering Navjyot Singh Sidhu the Deputy CM will subside the sacrilege issue? If so, was it not a political dishonesty of the Congress party? As the Congress government lacks the political will to tackle the ISI moves and control the sleeper cells of Khalistan, is it not indirectly damaging the control the Indian security forces have built in the borders of Pakistan?

When will the Congress learn to keep precedence for national security? As things stand the Congress internal politics of Punjab are turning out to be advantageous to the Khalistan forces and their handlers across the borders and it high time the Punjab voters understand the crooked political thought of that party leaders.