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When Badal picks
up a pen
Sach Kanwal
Singh
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Never has Parkash Singh Badal taken up a pen to write a single
sentence about Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Or about
Operation Bluestar, or the thousands killed in Dlehi in 1984.
Bow he has taken up a quill to write hosannas to AB Vajpayee.
“If I have to pick one national leader as the ultimate
embodiment of the widest political consensus in the country, it
will have to be Atalji.” Among many things that Badal has lost
is the idea of shame. |
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 Sardar
Parkash Singh Badal has never picked up a pen to write one word
about Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He has never held a quill to
write one sentence about the more than 4,000 Sikhs burnt to death on
the roads of Delhi. And it is for sure that if ever any of the
acolytes will erect a statue to any of the Badals, he will never
show a pen or a book in his hands.
But for his
saffron lobby guru, his political master and his soulmate RSS wala,
Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prakash Singh Badal has written a full fledged
article in a leading English language newspaper Indian Express.
Describing his relationship with "Atalji", Badal wrote that it has
"always been very special."
But while
blaming the Congress for Operation Bluestar, Badal conveniently
forgot that his friend LK Advani has taken credit for forcing Indira
to go in for Operation Bluestar in his book "My Country, My Life".
The article,
whose diction and twist of the idiom is of a retired out of work
school master variety and is clearly ghost written by some lazy
brain sought to deduce that the alliance between Akali Dal and the
BJP has saved Punjab from communal discord.
"After the
elections, a BJP-led government was to be formed at the Centre with
Mr Vajpayee as Prime Minister. They were looking for allies. I
realized that this was a crucial and even a historic moment to undo
the feelings of mutual suspicion. The Shiromani Akali Dal had swept
the polls in Punjab. We went over to Mr Vajpayee's residence and
announced unconditional support to him.
Vajpayeeji
embraced me in front of a large gathering that had come to his
residence to express solidarity with him. A picture of Vajpayeeji
and me on Page 1 of a prominent national daily the next morning did
more to bridge the emotional chasm that had been created between
Hindus and Sikhs. It was an emotional moment. And in Punjab,
emotional gestures count for more than material factors. The picture
sent a strong message. The future Prime Minister of the country and
the leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a party which the Congress
had worked hard to paint as anti-national, contained a strong
emotional symbolism. I can never adequately explain what our coming
together has done for creating an atmosphere of mutual goodwill in
Punjab. And for the rest of the country, it meant the undoing of the
propaganda of hate against the Sikhs carried out by the political
opponents of our party in the state."
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Here is how Badal describes “an emotional moment” in his life:
“A picture of Vajpayeeji and me on Page 1 of a prominent
national daily the next morning did more to bridge the emotional
chasm that had been created between Hindus and Sikhs. It was an
emotional moment.” Readers can make their own guesses about his
world view and perspective. |
What else is
megalomania? A picture of Badal with an RSS leader as a guarantee of
goodwill in Punjab? Do Badal's pen pushers have any shame left? Or
is this piece to be blamed on Badal Jr?
And how much
store Parkash Singh Badal sets by this alliance? Here is some more
from the horse's mouth: "I have always maintained that the SAD-BJP
alliance in Punjab and at the Centre is more than a political
arrangement. It represents the social and emotional harmony of
Punjab. Mr. Vajpayee, who enjoys tremendous respect among the Sikhs,
has always been a symbol of the emotional integration of various
sections and religions of our country."
For a moment, an
unsuspecting Sikh may think Badal is writing about the Guru's choice
of Sain Mian Mir or the raising of Guru Ki Masit. Vajpayee as a
symbol of emotional integration? Even the most obsequious have not
fallen that low.
Badal went on to
call Vajpayee "arguably the highest common factor in a nation
comprising many different religions, castes, languages and
geographical identities."
Calling Vajpayee
"totally clean and incorruptible", and "the most loved leader",
Badal needed an authority to back his argument. So whom did he fall
back on? Well, in Badal's history books, the greats come from either
the BJP or the Congress. "Even Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru held a young
Vajpayee ji in great esteem," Badal wrote, before concluding, "If I
have to pick one national leader as the ultimate embodiment of the
widest political consensus in the country, it will have to be Atalji."
How nice of him.
A bit of carelessness and he may have fallen for Maharaja Ranjit
Singh, or Baba Kharak Singh, or Master Tara Singh. But he knows
where his soul mates are.
30
December 2009
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