These factors have yielded negative ‘gains’ not only for the Modi government but also for some of the states ruled by the BJP and its allies. Among the worst affected are Punjab and Haryana.

The situation in Punjab threatens to destabilize Punjab’s Parkash Singh Badal-led Akali-BJP government not only by the on-going politico-religious turmoil but also due to the state government’s failure to compensate the farmers- Akali Dal’s main support base- for the almost total destruction of their cotton crop by whitefly attack caused by the supply of spurious pesticides.

In Haryana, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government, which completes one year in office on October 26, finds itself in the dock with the chief minister earning the stigma of being one of the major contributors to the attempts to communally polarize the country.

Numerous factors have made the Punjab situation potentially volatile acquiring alarming proportions. The latest among these is the spate of demonstrations, dharnas and road blockades held by the agitating Sikh groups to protest against the desecration of the Sikhs holy book Guru Granth Sahib. This has further worsened the state’s already deteriorated law and order situation. The most alarming development is the re-emergence of the fringe extremist and separatist elements.

Apparently unnerved by the developments, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has held the “external agencies and some internal political groups responsible for trying to vitiate and disrupt peace in Punjab”. The validity of the Badal’s charge that some external agencies, obviously implying Pakistan’s ISI, are behind creating the unrest, will become trust worthy only if state’s investigating agencies come out with credible evidence about the cross-border agencies involvement in the holy book’s desecration cases.

Badal’s contention, however, needs to be viewed in the background of the role Pakistan had played in sponsoring and promoting terrorism in the 1980s, the prevailing strained relations between the two countries and the belligerent attitude Pakistan has lately adopted towards India.

In this context, it may not be irrelevant to recall the CIA-masterminded and ISI-executed ‘hate-India, hate-Indira’ plan of sponsoring and promoting 1980s terrorism in Punjab with the object of destabilizing Indira Gandhi government. The US President Richard Nixon’s government wanted to topple Mrs. Gandhi whom it considered the Soviet Union’s ally. After Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984 by two of her Sikh guards in the wake of Operation Blue Star, the US administration started withdrawing its support to Punjab terrorists.

It is in the above background that Punjab’s prevailing volatile scenario created by the top Akali leadership’s use of religion for political ends needs to be seen. It started with the Badals securing exoneration of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurneet Ram Rahim Singh from the Akal Takht Jathedar in the case of allegedly wearing Guru Gobind Singh’s attire in 2007. The Takht hukamnama had called upon Sikhs to boycott dera chief.

The Akali leadership’s motive behind seeking Ram Rahim’s exoneration was to ensure support of thousands of Dera followers, particularly of the Akali Dal’s main support base Malwa where the dera has a large following, in 2017 Assembly elections.

Ram Rahim Singh’s exoneration followed by incidents of sacrilege of Granth Sahib’s has turned the tables against the Badals and their party. The widespread protests by Sikhs against the holy book’s desecration have not only forced Akal Takht Jathedar to withdraw his controversial edict of exonerating Ram Rahim but has also caused split in the SGPC leading to protests and resignations by some Akali supporters and other SGPC members.

In the backdrop of the above situation the Badals who have been in power in Punjab since 2007 are heading for tough times. With the 2017 Assembly polls not far away, there are already signs of nervousness in the Akali camp. With the Modi government having also lost much of its sheen in the last 17 months, the fear of losing the 2017 elections seems to have started haunting the ruling Akali and BJP leaders. They may, however, find some consolation in the fact that its main challenger Congress continues to be hit by deep fissures which its high command has so far failed to bridge.

While Haryana’s Khattar-led government has not shown any outstanding performance during its first year in office, it must have earned the title of the RSS storm trooper for implementing the divisive saffron agenda. Among the controversial steps it has taken include saffronisation of education and appointing people of doubtful merit in positions of some of the institutions of excellence.

Khattar’s biggest achievement is his joining the ranks of RSS disciples who described the lynching of Mohammed Akhlak of Dadri as the “result of a misunderstanding”. What was more shocking was his statement that “Muslims can continue to live in this country but they will have to give up eating beef because the “cow is an article of faith here”. Now RSS hotheads would decide what Indians should eat, drink or wear. Supposed to be more knowledgeable about Vedic era culture, they are, however, ignorant about the claims of eminent historians that consuming beef was not a taboo not only in the medieval era but many Hindus in the country’s southern states and tribal areas also eat beef today. Like cow, religion is also an article of faith which every Indian is free to follow.

It is time that Parkash Singh Badal and Manohar Lal Khattar introspect and take remedial measures to ensure peace and normalcy in their respective states. (IPA Service)