Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention last month is being seen as the moment when the crisis was defused. In all probability, the Hooda Government will continue not to accept the Chatha Report, the 30-day ultimatum by the HSGPC (Ad Hoc) will pass without event next month. And things will be as they were in both Haryana and Punjab.

The HSGPC (Ad Hoc) issue confirms a wider pattern of the politicisation and regionalisation of religion, says Pramod Kumar, director of the Institute of Development and Communication, Chandigarh. It also plays into a new tension coming to the fore in Punjab. “Ever since the Moga declaration of 1996, there has been a shift in Akali politics — from Sikh to Punjabi identity, from anti-Centrism to cooperative federalism. This is on account of political compulsions and lessons learnt from the terrorism years”. The HSGPC (Ad Hoc) demand could disturb the balancing act in mainstream Akali politics — the recent bill making the Punjabi language compulsory in schools, and the CM’s withdrawal of consent to Central status for Punjab University a few days ago, are markers of this tightrope walk.

This issue could accentuate another slideback, says Rajeev Lochan, who teaches history in Punjab University. “Claiming ‘discrimination’ has become a big strategy for moving forward. Even powerful communities claim they are a minority.” The Akalis have often tried to portray Punjab Sikhs as a community under siege. The HSGPC demand could play into the politics of “minorityisation”.       

In the end, the problem is power, says J S, Grewal, former V-C of GNDU, Amritsar, and director, IIAS, Shimla. “The SGPC has become more and more centralised. It will have to grapple with the challenge of a pan-India framework in which local autonomies are accommodated.”

... contd.