PUNJAB has witnessed once again gory scenes of rioting, firing, burning and looting of public and private property for over a week. At least three persons died in clashes with the police and many more injured. Several trains passing through Punjab were cancelled. Buses and other vehicular traffic was off the road and in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and many other places normal life came to a stop with schools, offices, bazaars and closing indefinitely. Some cities and towns suffered horrible experience under curfew.

Initially it seemed, the administration had abandoned its duty and the ruffians and the goons ruled the streets. Police looked helpless as if struck with inertia. The government at the political level presented a pitiable sight of powerlessness. The Akali Dal president and the deputy chief minister, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal admitted that the unexpected violent events took them by surprise and hence there was some time lag in response. Yet the lumpen elements roamed free, attacking and burning poverty, injuring ordinary peace loving folks during the curfew hours. Senior police and civil officers were freely targeted and government vehicles burnt. In Chinderah, the state capital, some senior police officers confided that the orders from the political executive were no clear; how much force was to be used to check the rioting. There may be a gain of truth in this. But do the police officials obtain orders when they kill innocent people in their custody in police stations. Ordinary mortals are just scared of the police and dare not enter police stations unless dire circumstances force them.
For Punjab it also meant loss of over one Rs 7,000 crore in terms of damage to property, workdays lost and other suffering. Thousands of passengers were stranded at railway stations like Amrtisar, Jalandhar Jammu, Ambala, Delhi and Rajpura. Sick could not be taken to hospitals and children could not go to schools. Universities had to postpone examinations and interviews. Imagine the harassment to the people. Clearly the state was failing in its primary duty of protecting its citizens, their properties and rights.

Punjab clearly sits on a volcano where a single spark can trigger a holocaust. This was the comment of a fellow journalist who has witnessed the dance death for over a decade in otherwise comparatively prosperous state. This statement may be a little harsh. But it is not totally off the mark and can not be termed as merely alarmist. Dera heads in the case of Dera Sachkhand Ballan, near Jalandhar, Sant Niranjan Dass and Sant Ram Dass were attacked in far away Vienna in Austria by some hardliner Sikhs. While the main Sant Niranjan Dass is recovering from serious wounds, Sant Ram Dass could not survive. This provoked followers this Dera who are Dalits and mostly followers of Bhagat Ravi Dass. The horror that followed is now etched in the collective memory of the people of Punjab?

The government acted, though belatedly. The Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal called an all party meting to gather strength to deal with the immediate situation. The Dera Sachkhand has tried to sooth the frayed tempers and appealed to all, especially its angry followers, to exercise restraint and remain peaceful. Mr Badal offered state funeral for the slain Dera leader Ram Dass. These measures could address the immediate problem of maintaining law and order, but would not even touch the core issue thrown up by these abrupt events.

What is the genesis of the problem that can spark into catastrophic proportions? Essentially this is the assertion for equality of the Dalits who despite Sikhism’s egalitarian nature and emphasis on equality and casteless society find the present state of affairs too stifling and too unjust. The great guru Nanak had preached and struggled hard to establish a casteless society. He was acutely aware of the scourge of caste system. The creation of institutions of Sangat [the holy congregation] and Pangat [all sitting in one body to partake the common meal that is langar] was mean to give a body blow to the oppressive caste system. His entire Gurbani is full of hymns that seek equality among all people.

The great Guru did succeed to a great degree for long many years. Its impact, as we observe the state of Sikhism and the Punjabi society as a whole is on the wane. We are more into Brahmanical rituals and the reforms agenda of Sikhism that marked itself from the run of the mill religions is on the wane. There is a school of thought in and outside Punjab that asserts that by and large one major caste; the propertied class of the landowning Jat Sikhs dominate the religious and political affairs. Management of Sikh shrined the Gurdwaras under SGPC are mainly controlled by this particular caste. At the political plane, same representation prevails. This denial of equal rights particular when we have a constitution and rule of law that obliterate any caste distinctions is too stifling for those who are at the lower rung of the social ladder. Protest looks genuine in such circumstances, particularly when a good section of the lower class and in this case Ramdassias are well off. A large number of them are in business and services and many have migrated to Europe, America and Canada and are doing well. They are more assertive and no longer accept the suzerainty of one dominant caste or class as one may call it.

There is certainly a complex mix of socio-religious tensions that lie at the root of these tensions. Religion is a strong element in this build-up, yet caste, money matters and, social assertion by a community that has been kept on the fringes is at the roots. This complex background needs to be examined by both religious and political leaders of the state.

A Gurdwara would normally mean a place of worship and congregation and social get-together. It is much more than these. It is a place where identities are played out and asserted. It is a place where cool politics take roots and of course for some there is big money too along with power. Otherwise, particularly in the western world, there is such struggle to control these places of God.

Dalits also call their temples as Gurdwaras. Ramdassia a sect is entirely independent of the Sikh religion. They have their own holy book that of course contains the Bani of Bhagat Ravi Dass, mostly from Guru Granth Sahib. In a sense there is a common link. At some of these shrines they have their own boo holy book and a picture of Guru Ravi Dass as he is called and their own heads. At some places, there is the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib. Sections of the Sikhs assert this as a sacrilegious action and can not be tolerated. Since a large number of Dalits are also Sikhs. But with the “lower castes” now beginning to find economic prosperity, have come to assert their identity too. The upper castes do not appreciate this. Hence these frequent upheavals.

In the West, most Sikh Gurdwaras over the past two decades have come to be dominated by upper caste leaders, many of them aligned with the “Khalistan” ideology. Massive donations are other reason for battle to control these places of worship. Dalits, some of them fairly affluent feeling marginalised have started building their own Gurdwaras with their own Granth. This is also not liked by the upper caste. Similar “assertion” has led to many Ravidass Gurdwaras being built in Punjab too, there is greater tension involved in the West because of the far greater donations there. There are about 75 such Gurdwaras outside India — 12 in the UK, eight each in the US and Italy, six in Canada, and two each in France and Australia.

It is time for the Punjabi society to reflect on how an exclusivist approach breeds intolerance, distrust and tensions and listen carefully to the real message of the Great Guru. We do not want Punjab to Bihar or a laboratory like Uttar Pradesh for caste experiments.

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