Moga tragedy eclipses mighty Badal’s entire political career

The heinous crime of the killing of young Arshdeep Kaur from a poor dalit family who was thrown out of a moving bus belonging to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has eclipsed the long political career and achievements of his father and fifth time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who had emerged over the years as the unchallenged leader not only in the Sikh religio-political matrix but in the state itself. Like the dying conscience of the people in this once proud state, the shocking incident is also the manifestation of lack of moral courage in the man at the top. He should have had the courage to visit the family in Moga hospital and apologised to the severely injured mother. The mightiest man suddenly finds himself to be the weakest.With the stature this leader had with the longest inning in politics in this region, his visit would have soothed the hurt of the family to a large extent. He was once referred as the Saint-Statesman in the Governor’s Address to the state Assembly. A Saint-Statesman is not supposed to fail when what was needed the most was the moral courage. Issues like compensation and booking his son under the relevant provisions of the law as applicable to the owner of the company would have become secondary issues. The First Family having lost the moral courage has lost too much in the process. It is Badal Senior who has suffered the worst damage and that too within weeks of having been honoured with Padma Vibhushna. He is the only leader in the Sikh stream who was honoured as “Fakhr-e-Qaum Panth Rattan” , a new title, by the Akal Takht, the supreme religio-political institution of the Sikhs symbolising sovereignty of the Sikh doctrine.Badal has faced several critical moments in the career spanning more than half a century but those were political issues and one could interpret his moves as part of his strategy and tactics rather than his lack of moral and mortal courage. In the eighties, he failed to stand up to the use of violence as means of conflict resolution advocated by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He lacked moral courage to stick to his stand of opposing the Punjab Accord which party chief Sant Harchand Singh Longowal had signed with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. After opposing it vociferously, he ratified it for getting Assembly ticket. The appointment of militant leader Gurbachan Singh Manochahal as Jathedar of Akal Takht was announced in 1986 from the Manji Sahib Diwan Hall stage in the Golden Temple complex in his presence. It was Parkash Singh Badal again who signed the Khalistan resolution that was submitted to the United Nations. He preferred to swim with the tide. Perhaps he had lacked this courage even then but had learnt the art of making fullest use of the opportunity coming his way. He has been known to be ruthless and brutal in his politics.For hundreds of years, the dalits in the Malwa hinterland had been virtually working as bonded labour of the land owning farmers for generations. Moga used to be earlier part of Ferozepur district and then of Faridkot district, the area that is home turf of the Badals.This is a crime that is unheard of in this part of the region. The bus belonged to one of the companies of Sukhbir Singh Badal. The victim’s family now want Sukhbir to be booked as owner of the company. The clumsy handling of the case and lack of Badal’s moral courage has complicated the situation.Adding salt to the wounds is the statement of Moga Akali Dal MLA Joginderpal Jain who termed it as an accident which, he said, could be settled out of court also. The family yesterday refused Rs 20 lakh compensation and a government job for a family member. A Class IV job is never any problem for any government.
With the political parties pitching in, the family has now become adamant and want settlement on its own terms. The Aam Aadmi Party workers led by MP Bhagwant Mann today stopped Orbit buses in Sangrur district, thus pre-empting the Congress which would have staged this action in Mohali on Chandigarh outskirts on May 4. Sukhbir today evening withdrew his entire fleet from the roads. The entire staff would be sent on orientation course. This is buying time. Sukhbir should have taken yet another step. He should have withdrawn himself from the transport business that has only sullied his image due to his effort to nearly monopolise this business in the state.The tragedy of Arshdeep has brought out everything that is wrong with the Punjabi society, including the loss of courage to confront the evil and lack of moral courage in the rulers.
By Jagtar Singh