Amitabh Shukla /
Militant philosophy, extremist ideology and separatist tendencies, which marked the
Those professing extremist ideology or advocating separate state of Khalistan have not only been consistently losing their support base in successive elections but also their relevance in the socio-religious and cultural milieu of the state.
Sample this. The claim to fame of Sarabjit Singh Khalsa is that he is the son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He wanted to contest the 2012 polls from Bassi Pathana segment but could not do so as he himself said he did not have the requisite money.
The fate of Simranjit Singh Mann, the former IPS officer, and a votary of Khalistan is no different from Khalsa. Over a period of time, those having militant view fought from his party Akali Dal (
The last electoral victory of Mann was a good 12 years ago when he won the Lok Sabha polls from Sangrur. Since then, he is struggling to find support in Punjab and even his son Emaan lost the SGPC elections held in September in which only the Sikhs voted. Mann entered politics with a bang in 1989 in the heydays of terrorism in the state by winning the Taran Taran Lok Sabha seat by a record margin. He still advocates “Right to self determination” and “Khalistan” during his press conferences in
Mann is contesting the assembly polls from Fatehgarh Sahib but is yet to catch up with his rivals Prem Singh Chandumajra of SAD, Congress candidate Kuljit Singh Nagra and sitting MLA Didar Singh Bhatti of PPP. Feedback from the ground suggests, he would be Number 4 and lose his security deposit.
The 2007 assembly polls marked the political waterloo of Mann’s party when it contested on 37 seats and all its candidates forfeited their security deposit. In the entire state, the party could get 65248 votes or 0.52 per cent of the votes cast. It was a marked change from the 2002 polls when SAD (
When President Pratibha Patil rejected the mercy petition of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a Khalistan Liberation Force terrorist and the mastermind of the Delhi 1993 blast in which nine people lost their lives, in May last year, there were hardly any murmurs in Punjab except routine statements. Now when Assembly elections are being held, none of the parties have thought fit even to bring the issue in public domain.
“The issue of terrorism and extreme views is past its expiry date. No one is bothered – neither the people nor the parties to rake up such issues,” an Akali leader said. He said people suffered during those days and no one wants to remember the sad past.
Sectarian issues like the voting rights of Sehajdhari Sikhs (those Sikhs who had trimmed their beards or flouted religious norms) in the SGPC elections did crop up in the run-up to the polls. Congress tried to cash in on the issue and the party of Sehejdhari Sikhs, which was contesting the Assembly polls, withdrew in favour of Congress. But it never flared up or became a poll issue.
Some fringe elements did try to cash in on the refusal of a school girl in Hoshirapur to take a cycle from the state government which had the photo of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal last month, saying he was responsible for the problems which the community faces post 1984.
The radical Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani) gave her a scooter and also Rs 20,000 for fuel expenses. She was also gifted a cycle having the photo of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Encouraged by the gift of a scooter, some more students refused the cycle, offered by the state government to girl students under a scheme, but when no scooters were forthcoming as replacement, the protest against the bicycle having Badal’s photo ended abruptly. (27.1.2012)
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