Attack on Sukhbir Badal attempt to finish moderate space in Punjab, says Naresh Gujral

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Naresh Gujral with party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. (File photo)
| Photo Credit: MOORTHY R.V.

Former Rajya Sabha MP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Naresh Gujral on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) described the attack on the life of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal as an “attempt to finish the moderate space in Punjab politics.”

Speaking to The Hindu immediately after the assassination attempt, captured on camera, came to light, Mr. Gujral said that the murderous attack was “an attempt to take Punjab and the country back to the dark days of the 1980s” when Sikh militancy in the State was at its height.

“It is an attempt to destabilise the State of Punjab and the National Investigative Agency (NIA) should look into whether there is involvement of Pakistan or other forces, in terms of trying to revive the demand for Khalistan,” he said.

Amity and peace between the Sikh and Hindu community was being sought to be broken, he added, with law and order in a precarious state under the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

“We have been saying for months that law and order is in a bad way in the State, that gangs are roaming free. Punjab Police are demoralised, with officers being arbitrarily transferred here and there,” he said.

Mr. Gujral acknowledged that lack of employment and poor procurement of paddy this year had led to a general atmosphere of dissatisfaction in Punjab.

The SAD was a former ally of the Punjab BJP, before the two parties parted ways on the issue of the three farm laws passed by the Union government in 2019.

“When the old alliance was formed between Badal saab [former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal] and Vajpayeeji [former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee] it was to foster bhaichara [brotherhood] between the Hindu and Sikh community after the violent 1980s, and it did result in a peaceful Punjab,” Mr. Gujral said.

“The new NDA does not follow the same coalition dharma as the old one, and the BJP tried to get into the political space of its allies, which didn’t work and created a vacuum-like situation. In fact, the vacuum is the reason that the two gentlemen who got elected to the Lok Sabha from Khadoor Sahab and Faridkot succeeded,” he said.

Mr. Gujral was referring to Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh Sandhu, in jail for separatist activities and Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, son of the assassin of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, being elected to the Lok Sabha in 2024.

The political situation in the State is definitely going to be affected by the assassination attempt on Mr. Badal, and will have international ramifications, since Punjab, as a border State, has always been sensitive.