Sikhs snub Sonia’s overtures

Sikhs forms a significant percentage of the voters in Delhi, Rajasthan and even Madhya Pradesh. Delhi has around nine lakh Sikh voters and the Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan, with 10 Assembly seats, are Sikh-dominated. The Sikhissue forms the weakest part of the Congress election platform and leaders from minority communities were targets of criticism in the draft Congress political resolution for the Pachmarhi brainstorming camp.

The issue also reflects the current power struggle in the party with the Arjun Singh faction gaining the upper hand in crucial policy matters. Last week, Arjun Singh held an unpublicised meeting with about 100 Sikh leaders of Delhi at his residence in a desperate attempt to woo recalcitrant Sikhs.

Among those present were former CBI chief Joginder Singh, retired Delhi Chief Justice Narula, Press Council Chief Justice Sarkaria, retired AIR DG Batra and former DTDC chief Tarlochan Singh. Apparently, the meeting ended in a disaster for Arjun whose pleas were rejected almost at once.

The meeting was the first serious attempt by the Congress to tackle the Sikh issue which the party has been avoiding for years. Arjun Singh is believed to have raked the past and highlighted his role in getting theRajiv-Longowal Accord signed but the Sikh leaders were unrelenting: only over their bodies would the Sikhs vote for the Congress they said.

The same theme was reiterated by Ahluwalia in his letter. Ahluwalia was a Rajiv Gandhi loyalist and has strong connections with 10, Janpath. Some weeks ago he had warned Sonia against surrounding herself with sycophants for which he got a showcause letter. “We have again observed October 31, it has not only reminded us about the brutal assassination of Indira Gandhi but also the brutal carnage of several thousands of innocent Sikhs in Delhi, Kanpur, Bokaro and other parts of the country 14 years ago,” he began.

There was worse to come for Sonia: “In the meantime, we are heading towards Assembly elections in four States where a large number of Sikhs reside. I am really surprised to see the functioning of a centurion party in such a casual manner. While we are approaching the Assembly elections, precaution in every step is the need of the hour but unfortunately yourdecisions are based on the advice if sycophants.” “Everybody knows that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were engineered by powerful Congress leaders like HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Dharam Dass Shastri and others.

Several thousand young and old were tortured and brutally slaughtered to death…only because they belonged to the Sikh community. After the above incident, for Sikhs, India had become a very different country.

“Last month, the CWC passed the code of conduct for Congress members. Don’t you think appointing HKL Bhagat as the convenor of the campaign committee and Sajjan Kumar and Dharam Dass Shastri in the election committee and other important decision-making committees is a defiance by the high command of the code of conduct,” Ahluwalia wrote. He adds, “The assassins of Indira Gandhi were hanged in 1988 but till today no one has been hanged for the carnage of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of the country. It is very painful to see that the leaders of this carnage aregetting protection from the Congress. I wonder how long it takes for one to decide and stand up against the sinners. Are we not behaving like hypocrites by talking of justice on one hand and making the same killer goons torchbearers of the Congress in Delhi,” the former minister asks.

“I know this harsh truth which I am communicating to you might hurt you but you must learn from a bunch of old letters of Nehru, of which you own the copyright, where he said that frankness hurts often enough but it is almost always desirable. As I understand, denying justice to victims of the anti-Sikh riots is not an accepted policy or program of the party. Now it is your turn to decide who should perish, the Congress or the mafia,” the letter ends.

A tough choice for Sonia.