There were violent protests by Dera Sachkhand Balan followers against the killing of Dera's deputy Sant Rama Nand and injuring of its chief Sant Niranjan Das in Sikh radicals attack on Dera's Guru Ravidass gurdwara in Vienna. The crisis brought Punjab's perennially feuding ruling and Opposition on one platform -and the Centre promising the state its full support- to condemn the attacks and appealing people to maintain communal harmony and peace.

Alongwith taking strong administrative measures to deal with the situation, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on whose initiative the all-party meeting was held also announced compensation for the victims of violence besides promising compensation for the damaged properties. In the background of what Punjab suffered in the last three decades due to communal and sectarian violence engineered by radical religious elements as in the Vienna case, such united steps are appreciable. What is, however, worrying is that the state's successive rulers and the mainstream political parties have failed to go deeper into the causes of the recurring problem and take remedial steps. Unfortunately, both Akali Dal and Congress have been playing a divisive role by encouraging religious extremists to advance their own partisan interests.

Before dwelling on the issue of misuse of religions which has acquired global dimensions following the spread of activities by the Islamist terrorists, let us discuss the Punjab situation.

The first major sectarian clash between the radical Sikh elements and Nirankaris took place at Amritsar nearly 30 years ago. This proved to be a major factor for whipping up religious extremism which contributed to the development of separatist sentiment ultimately culminating in the decade-long terrorism.

The role of the Congress and the Akali Dal in nursing religious extremism is now history. After the Congress lost power in 1977, some of its leaders particularly the late Giani Zail Singh encouraged radical Sikh elements like Dal Khalsa in a bid to isolate Akali leadership among the Sikhs. In the early eighties, it was the Akali leadership's turn to use the extremist elements against the Congress and its Indira Gandhi-led central government. It allowed Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers to convert Golden Temple complex into their bastion who misused the Sikhs holiest shrine for their separatist-terrorist activities. These developments sowed the seeds of tragedies like 1984 Operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi's assassination and anti-Sikh riots that followed.

Although Punjab also saw conflicts between the radical Sikhs and the followers of some Dera chiefs like Baba Bhaniarewala and Sant Ashutosh in the last few years, the major conflict took place between the more influential Dera Sacha Sauda and the radical Sikh groups two years ago after the controversial Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh dressed himself like Guru Gobind Singh. Blaming him for hurting the Sikhs religious sentiments, the Sikh clergy issued an edict asking Sikhs to boycott Dera and its followers.

Radical groups tried to stop Dera followers from organising or attending their religious congregations which led to clashes between the two sides. In retaliation, the Dera followers comprising mainly the lower castes like Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, both Sikhs and Hindus, en masse voted for the Congress in 2007 Assembly poll inflicting humiliating defeat on the Akali Dal in its Malwa bastion. However, despite the clergy's ban, Sikh leaders including Akalis have continued to meet Dera leaders obviously to seek their followers support.

Although the Sikh orthodoxy's main grouse against the Deras is that they do not observe Sikh rahat maryada (religious code of conduct) there are other reasons also including economic and religious supremacy tussle behind their differences with the Deras. Deras like Sachkhand Ballan and Sacha Sauda have spread their influence among the underprivileged sections because they take up social projects and go beyond spiritualism to campaign against the fast spreading drug and liquor menace in Punjab, the main cause of financially ruining the underprivileged homes.

The opposition by the Sikh orthodoxy and its political patrons to the Dera culture is also due to the potential threat the Deras pose to their supremacy in religious affairs and decline in income of the SGPC controlled gurdwaras and of some of the radicals controlled gurdwaras in other countries. This is also the reason for the attack on Sachkhand's gurdwara in Vienna where some of the Punjab's militants are settled.

It is unfortunate that successive Akali leaderships who continue to follow the politics-and-religion-are-inseparable doctrine even after adopting moderate political line and opening the party's doors to non-Sikhs have not taken corrective steps to stop misuse of religion and remove the causes of conflicts between followers of different faiths which not only divide the Sikhs but also pollute the state's communal atmosphere.

Take the global context. The misuse of religion for power politics is a global phenomenon which has acquired separatist and terrorist dimensions. In the aftermath of the CIA-ISI backed Taliban's occupation of Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrawal, it first targeted Punjab in seventies-eighties, later spreading to Jammu and Kashmir and some other parts of the country. The Islamist terrorists claiming to be the sole protectors of Islam are indulging in killings, including of Muslims. In the name of shariah, they burn down schools and commit atrocities on women. It is ironical that while the self-styled protectors of religions impose on the faithful the codes framed by the religions founders centuries ago to suit the primitive or gone by eras' socio-economic and religio-political conditions, they themselves would not observe them. For instance, did the code ordain the use of the then non-existent modern weapons like AK-47 for the supposedly Islamic causes?

The situation reminds one of Sahir Ludhianvi penned memorable song in Chitralekha:


Yeh Paap Hai Kya, Yeh Punniya Hai Kya

Reeton Par Dharam Ki Mohrein Hain

Har Yug Mein Badalte Dharamon Ko

Kaise Aadarsh Banaoge. (IPA Service)