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Sukhbir tells his partymen whom
to learn from, it's Congress
Says no Cong
leader ever criticises Sonia Gandhi, so don't criticise me
WSN Network
 CHANDIGARH: Now,
this was touching, and oh, so very hilarious. Akali Dal president
Sukhbir Singh Badal wants his party's rank and file to learn, from
all the people, the Congress. Well, there is no harm in learning
from even the devil, but just see what Sukhbir wants the jathedars
and the lower minions to learn: Do not criticise the leader. Ever!
Last week,
Sukhbir, addressing the general council of ruling Shiromani Akali
Dal at the party headquarters in Chandigarh, shocked many party
workers by asking them to see how the Congress promotes its leaders,
and wanted them to emulate the Congressmen and women.
"In the
Congress, no one, including workers and officebearers, ever speaks
up against the president. They are disciplined and capable of
projecting even insignificant achievements of the party in a big
way.
On the other
hand, we have done so much of development work during our tenure,
yet it has not been projected at the ground level," Sukhbir Singh
Badal said.
The message was
very clear: Do not utter a word against Sukhbir Singh Badal or
Parkash Singh Badal. The top family is sacrosanct.
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In
Libya, saying "Qaddafi" aloud is thought to invite trouble. So is
criticising his actions or policies. This is exactly what Sukhbir
Singh Badal talked about last week. Don't criticise "Pardhan Sahib." |
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Sukhbir comes in
this respect very very close to
Libya's
leader, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, who calls himself the permanent
revolutionary. It is impossible to criticise Qaddafi even for
widespread malnutrition and anemia. Hundreds have gone to jail for
pointing out that in a country where alcohol is illegal, so many die
of cheap poisoned liquor. Just as Parkash Singh Badal claims he
never plays any role in internal matters of the SGPC, even Qaddafi
claims that he has no formal role in
Libya
and is simply an avuncular figure dispensing wisdom when asked.
But so afraid
are Libyans that they do not even utter Qaddafi's name, except in
official contexts, where it meets with predictable cheering. The
general euphemism is "the Leader", something that is also true of
Sukhbir since most, even those much senior to him in age, call him
"Pardhan Sahib".
In Libya, saying
"Qaddafi" aloud is thought to invite trouble. So is criticising his
actions or policies. This is exactly what Sukhbir Singh Badal talked
about last week. Don't criticise "Pardhan Sahib."
As if there was
any doubt left in anyone's mind, Akali Dal MLA Bikram Singh
Majithia, whose standing can be only understood if the fact of his
being a "Saala Sahib" of Sukhbir Badal is mentioned as a suffix,
backed his "Jija ji" and asked the general council not to criticise
the party chief minister or president at any forum.
"In fact, you
should all give a befitting reply if someone tries to run down your
chief minister or president," he said. That should be a code to
Akali workers to beat up any Congressman in sight who dares take
Sukhbir's name.
Sukhbir, who
will complete two years as SAD president on January 31, had
surprised many senior party leaders when in September last year he
decided to hold the "vichar sammelan" of the party in Shimla. Later,
it turned out that Sukhbir had no intention of listening to anyone's
"Vichar" and merely wanted to air his own.
The latest "Do
Not Criticise" commandment comes at a time when Akali Dal workers
are angry about fresh taxes and withdrawal of subsidy from power and
asking the farmers to first pay and then claim bills. Sukhbir in
fact asked his partymen to sell the impossible theory that the new
taxes and reimbursement of power bills would actually help the
farmers.
"Now it is clear
that we are expected to keep mum and not complain about the fact
that there was a total lack of governance at the district, tehsil
and village levels," said a senior leader.
3
February 2010
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