Amarinder corners rivals with savvy manoeuvres on religio-political issues

Displaying shrewd political skills on Punjab's religio-political chess board, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has successfully cornered rival political parties.

Despite doing a dangerous tightrope act, Amarinder currently stands in the politically correct corner of the ring and thrown an underhanded challenge to rival Shiromani Akali Dal.

A bold move

Amarinder's latest move - directing the state’s legal aid team to extend help to the two Sikhs who face charges in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore 36 years ago - has come as a surprise to many.

Having already served life imprisonment sentences in Pakistan, they are now facing charges of sedition in a Delhi court - making it a case of 'double jeopardy'.

A political observer, while calling a it a "bold and deft move", says this is possibly the first time that a government is backing hijackers from its own state.

Amarinder has said while the hijacking was condemnable, any attempt to prosecute the two, who have already served life terms in Pakistan for the same crime, would amount to a serious travesty of justice.

Adding that this could tantamount to double jeopardy, he has directed the legal-aid team of the home department to extend help to the two if required.

Amarinder further said that while he did not want to go into the merits of the case since it is subjudice, 36 years is a long time especially considering that their life term would not have been more than 14 years.

The Srinagar-bound Indian Airlines plane with 107 passengers and six crew members was hijacked and taken to Lahore in 1981. The main hijackers, namely Gajender Singh, Karan Singh, Satnam Singh, Jasbir Singh and Tejinder Pal Singh were arrested in Lahore, Pakistan on 3 September 1981, and were convicted and sentenced to life by the special court there.

After completing the sentence, Satnam Singh returned to India through Nepal in 1999 and surrendered before the trial court in New Delhi. The court released him on bail and in 2002, he was discharged on the ground of double jeopardy.

Tejinder, who returned to India in 2000, also filed his application for discharge before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate on the same grounds but the court said it was not bound by the order of preceding court and dismissed the application. The other three accused are still abroad.

Satnam and Tejinder now face sedition charges in India, which their counsel has described as a 'classic example of double jeopardy', as the duo’s entire life would be spent in facing one trial after the other for the 'same set of facts'.

A hidden challenge

By taking this road, Amarinder has thrown a hidden challenge to the Akalis, as the party has always claimed to be the true representative of Sikhs while portraying the Congress as the enemy of the community.

The issue is already being discussed on the ground that the SAD, which is an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre, should get the central government to withdraw the charges of sedition against the two. In fact, SAD president Sukhbir Badal's wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal is a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

Observers say that Amarinder's move will also help silence elements in the West who have been trying to project him as a pro-Hindu and anti-Sikh politician.

The court, hearing their case, has granted regular bail to the two Sikh hijackers from Dal Khalsa organisation and the fresh trial under sedition charges will begin on 31 July.

According to Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh, the Indian state continues to hold anti-Sikh mindset and this case is a classic example of how badly the state treats its minorities.

Commenting on bail, he said its part relief and part fresh agony as the justice system has put them on fresh trial under after 36 years under 'sedition charges', ignoring their life imprisonment in Pakistan for the same offence.

He said the supplementary challan by the Delhi Police under sections 121 (waging war against Government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code is a clear case of afterthought.

Maintaining religious peace

Meanwhile, Amarinder has also managed to send a strong message to elements trying to raise the bogey of Khalistan in the state. During his meeting with Jalandhar born Canadian MP Rameshwar Singh Sangha on 21 July, Amarinder stressed upon the need for Canada to rein in radical elements trying to use the Canadian soil to spread strife and divisiveness in India.

He said that while such elements, including Khalistani supporters, could not have any impact on the Canadian political environment, they could influence people of India and vitiate the atmosphere here.

He spoke of how unfortunate it is that these elements have been successful in spreading their divisive messages in India through social media, and added that the Canadian government should crackdown on these forces.

Amarinder said that his government is trying to revive Punjab’s economy by wooing industry and investment into the state, but that such efforts can get derailed by the nefarious designs of radical elements operating from outside India.

“These handful of people, with their vicious propaganda, are negating the efforts of all the NRIs, including Punjabis, who are contributing immensely to the development and progress of India and Canada,” said Amarinder.

In fact, just three months ago, Amarinder courted controversy when he refused to meet Canadian defence minister Harjit Sajjan during his visit to India on the grounds that the latter is a 'Khalistani sympathiser'.

More so, over the last month, the Congress, particularly Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar and other senior leaders, launched an offensive against Akali leader and Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Kirpal Singh Badungar to contain the Akali attempts of fighting a proxy battle through the SGPC while playing up the Panthic agenda.

Observers say that the Akalis are known to take refuge in the politics of religion whenever they are out of power and this is being tried out once again with Badungar launching a Dharam Prachar Lehar and attacking the Congress at every public meeting.