Badal amp; Badal Inc

Yet, through all these months of controversy, Bibi clung limpet-like to her post of SGPC chief, powered by megalomania, much like Lady Macbeth. The chief minister fondly allowed her to continue as chief of an organisation associated with a high measure of sanctity. Both conveniently forgot she was the CEO, not of some upstart corporate entity, but of an august organisation which frames rules of conduct for the entire Sikh community. If his Akali colleagues had not warned him that his obduracy was tantamount to committing political harakiri, Badal would probably have renominated Bibi.

True, Jagir Kaur is not the first to damage the SGPC. Charges of financial impropriety were levelled at her predecessor, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, during his 25-year, unchallenged reign. He too was renowned not for the Sikh Gurus8217; tradition of humility, tolerance and selflessness, but for intolerance and ruthlessness.

Bibi proved to be a worthy successor in this respect. Her demerits, however, pale in comparison with her successor 8212; hoary old fox Jagdev Singh Talwandi, whose son is currently undergoing a life sentence for murder. Since the latter8217;s conviction last year, Badal amended prison rules to permit him to spend more time outside jail than in it. Talwandi himself is a chip off the old block 8212; famed for chasing his own self interests, oblivious to party or faith. It thus speaks volumes for Sikh democracy that he was elected unopposed. Implicitly, then, the other Akali factions 8212; Tohra and Mann 8212; declared their allegiance to Badal, a man whose misrule they have been attacking in thinly attended assemblies for the past year. In one fell swoop, Badal has muzzled all dissent, ensuring that the SGPC continues to waltz to his tune.

The vanquished Bibi is now left to fulfill a promise she made this January: quot;I am supposed to uphold social values. If I have not done anything to violate Sikh principles, I will rub my nose not once but one lakh times before the people.quot; Ironically, her allegedly criminal actions were motivated by frenzied efforts to avert shame and public disgrace. Today she is choked by it. She was confident that the long arm of the law would be amputated before it reached her. So even after being charged with homicide, under Section 302, she managed to secure anticipatory bail from the High Court.

One might ask, Badalji, was it not your responsibility to fix accountability and ensure justice much earlier? Apparently not. For despite Bibi8217;s indictment by the CBI, Badal re-appointed her member of the recently re-constituted Political Affairs Committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal, along with a clutch of relatives. She joined a galaxy implicated in various cases, none of them a Mr Clean. Badal8217;s message to the people was clear. Crime or no crime, power conquers all. In fact in the past year, Punjab8217;s crime rate has soared.

The Jagir Kaur episode cannot be seen in isolation. It is symptomatic of deeper ills within the Punjab government. Since coming to power, Badal has systematically destroyed the autonomy of every government arm in the state.

The state police, brutalised during the days of terrorism, continues to employ the same third degree methods today. Purely through force of habit. Every week cases of custodial tortures, fake arrests, even deaths, continue to pile up in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. One of the latest involves a 26-year-old youth arrested in a land dispute in Fatehgarh Sahib, now an impotent wreck due to electric shocks. Significantly, in nine cases out of ten, the courts demand a CBI inquiry. So much for their faith in the state police. Currently public demand for CBI inquiries has reached a crescendo. For even in a high voltage case like the Harpreet murder, the state police used diversionary tactics.

They are hardly to blame. Officials in Punjab have grown to accept political dictates. If it8217;s not the CM, it is his family. Son Sukhbir, currently not even an MP, brazenly interferes in the functioning of almost every government department and PSU in the state. Procedures are reportedly tailored to suit his whims. On many occasions, this hot-tempered scion has publicly insulted district officials, on one petty pretext or the other. On sundry occasions, his fancy cavalcade has created traffic snarls in small Punjab towns, triggering protests. His tantrums are now as well-known as the helplessness of those he humiliates. During the last elections, with skewed Jat Sikh bravado, he even slapped a local photo-journalist.

Yet despite everything, the normally no-nonsense Punjabis have not revolted. In a strange paradox, the government remains firmly ensconced. In fact as time goes by, it grows more omnipotent, its longevity fuelled by the absence of a strong, cohesive Opposition. Call it the TINA factor. This then is the real tragedy. In place of Badal, who? 8212; goes the popular refrain. For the Akalis do not possess a single, dynamic leader.

And the Congress remains mired in squabbles between narcissistic, wannabe premiers. Farcical attempts to topple its own state president have made headlines more frequently than its efforts to topple the government. The Harpreet murder case is a prime example. While from the beginning there were concerted government efforts to give it a decent burial, both the Congress and Tohra group of Akalis also practically buried it by default. Even though the incident was potential dynamite, occurring as it did on the eve of the crucial Sunam bye-election. Apart from the odd murmurs of protest, there was no sustained campaign. This was followed by a period of complete silence.

It is this non-accountability which spells disaster. Today Emperor Badal is drunk on power. It8217;s time then for all patriotic Punjabis to come together in the interests of the state. Unite or watch Punjab fall apart.

The Jagir Kaur case cannot be seen in isolation. It is symptomatic of deeper ills. Badal has systematically destroyed the autonomy of every governmental arm in Punjab