It may not appear appropriate as per the etiquette for such occasions, but for reasons not far to fathom, Jagjit Singh Chohan’s rather lonesome death reminds me of T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘Hollow Men’: “...This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper.”

Chohan lived life by crafting grandiose political dreams and making dramatic gestures. He began as a medical doctor before he developed political ambitions. First he chose the conventional route: Won a seat in the Punjab Legislature as a candidate of Republican party, joined the Akali-led coalition government and rose to become a minister. Loss in a mid-term election upset him so much, however, that before you knew it he had turned an ideologue of Khalistan.

The next you heard about him was when he left the country. Once abroad, he set up the Republic of Khalistan, declared himself President of its government in exile, floated currency and issued passports — all this while living in England, far away from the heat of militancy and violence in Punjab. He made provocative statements and grabbed newspaper space. In the process, he gathered a motley crowd of camp followers among the Sikh diaspora.

Then he made the grave mistake of making what he thought was a triumphant return to Punjab. It is a separate matter that his return had become possible thanks ironically to the constitution-minded judiciary of India. Yet by this time, the Khalistan movement had all but died. He said he was determined to revive it, even though it would now be through democratic means. To that end, he set up a Khalsa Raj party. Results of recent elections showed, however, that his dream had no takers ‘back home’. He was let down by those whose ‘cause’ had brought him back to India.

... contd.