Out, at last

The supreme spiritual body of the Sikhs, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, has at long last rid itself of an extremely controve...

The supreme spiritual body of the Sikhs, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, has at long last rid itself of an extremely controversial chief. With Bibi Jagir Kaur being replaced by Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi as president of the SGPC in Thursdayacirc;euro;trade;s election, a particularly turbulent and difficult phase in Sikh affairs has come to an end. Bibiacirc;euro;trade;s departure had, of course, been on the cards ever since she was charged under Section 304 IPC culpable homicide not amounting to murder in a CBI case involving her daughteracirc;euro;trade;s mysterious death in April. It was expected that she would either be asked to go by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was instrumental in her elevation to the SGPC presidentship in the first place, or the lady would herself choose to resign.

It redounds to neither personacirc;euro;trade;s credit that they chose not to exercise these options, even after the charge against Kaur was changed to Section 302 of the IPC that is, murder. Badal chose to duck the issue rather than confront it. In the event, he allowed Kaur to serve her term and then had her quietly replaced.

Perhaps he felt obliged to adopt this course, seeing that the Kaur appointment was his acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;master strokeacirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; in neutralising the threat from the Gurcharan Singh Tohra faction within the SGPC. But by maintaining a studied silence on the Harpreet Kaur murder case, Badal emerged as a man willing to compromise on moral issues, even when it so closely concerned Sikhismacirc;euro;trade;s highest spiritual body. As for Kaur herself, she tried numerous strategies to survive, from disappearing mysteriously on one occasion to loudly berating the acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;media campaignacirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; against her on another. Never in all these months did she even indicate a willingness to step down. The question was not of proven guilt or innocence, it was oneof abiding by certain ethical standards: As long as she was not proved innocent, she really had no right to her office.

Unfortunately, what seems so crystal clear to the citizens seems to elude the politician: That no matter how high you may be, the law is always above you; that it is important, not just to be innocent, but to be seen as innocent. In a state adjoining Badalacirc;euro;trade;s, a similar tableau of crime and unaccountability is being played out. With Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala publicly stating that the director general of police in his state, A.P.S. Rathore, who figures as the main accused in the CBI chargesheet in the Ruchika molestation case, had no reason to resign until he is proved guilty, once again the principle of accountability has been given the go-by. As legal experts have pointed out, the Haryana chief ministeracirc;euro;trade;s public backing of the DGP amounts to destroying evidence, because it conveys the message to the entire state administration that Rathore has to be supported. It is then very unlikely that anyone, in these circumstances, will come forward and testify against the man. This could, in turn, leadto the derailing of justice. Haryanaacirc;euro;trade;s political establishment seems to have taken a leaf from Badalacirc;euro;trade;s book.