Complicating the crisis and its negotiation is the political angle. The Dera had, for the first time, openly asked its supporters to vote for the Congress in the run-up to the recent elections. That call paid dividends: the Congress won 37 of the 65 seats in the Malwa region where the Dera has a strong following. Opposition leaders allege that the Dera’s support came as quid pro quo for “help” it expected in “tackling” the CBI probe.

How the ruling Akalis and the Opposition Congress now find a way to defuse the crisis isn’t clear yet. What is clear, however, is the fact that 2007 isn’t 1978. “Sikhs do not nurse feelings of neglect and discrimination they did in those days,” says Pramod Kumar, director of the Institute for Development and Communication.

“The fringe elements are a defeated lot, the Akalis have just taken over, the Congress is a house divided,” says Kumar. “And people shudder at the thought of a repeat of those violent days. That’s the ray of hope this time.”