The intelligence agencies and the police have based their fears on hard evidence. The former has alerted the Punjab police that the 'terrorists are regrouping in the state and trying to smuggle weapons and drugs through Rajasthan.' Interrogation and recovery of arms and heroin by Rajasthan police from a recently arrested smuggler revealed that these weapons and drugs were meant for Babbar Khalsa International, the Sikh militant group operating in Punjab. S.K. Asthana, DIG, Patiala was last week quoted as saying that the police have sealed bank accounts of some persons being used by a UK-based Sikh militant to send money from abroad for militant activities in Punjab. Arrests of some militants, recovery of arms and killing of some religious leaders by militants have also taken place during the past some months.

Punjab's Akali-BJP rulers should not forget that apart from the unchecked propagation of religious extremism, it was the state's deteriorated law and order that had created the atmosphere conducive for the birth of Pakistan-backed separatist terrorism in eighties. First the ruling Akali leaders in late seventies and then the ruling Congress leaders in early eighties used to declare that militants would not be allowed to raise their head in Punjab as the police was strong enough to check them. But what followed belied their boastful declarations.

There is a danger of similar atmosphere getting built up in the state. Law and order situation has been deteriorating. Besides killing some politico-religious personnel, the militants have also been threatening to eliminate some others. Rashtriya Sikh Sangat chief Rulda Singh was killed by suspected militants. A top leader of Ramdasia Sikh sect was killed in the militants attack on the Ramdassia gurdwara in Vienna. Some Punjab and Haryana-based religious leaders including Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Singh have been under constant threat of militants.

Such killings and threats to religious leaders are indicative of the growing religious extremism like what had happened in the state in eighties. Ironically, the Akali Dal-controlled SGPC and the top Sikh religious leaders are also contributing to the creation of such a situation.

It is not only his stand on regrouping of terrorists which is in conflict with the state's top police officers; Badal's approach on some other religious and governance issues is also contradictory and conflict with that of some sober elements in the government. For instance, both he and his protege SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar are against the passage of the All India Gurudwara Bill which seeks to bring the country's all historic gurudwaras under SGPC's canopy which at present manages gurudwaras of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh only. Their opposition is based on the argument that 'the Bill could be misused by the Congress-led UPA regime to interfere in Sikh religious affairs'. It was the Akali leadership which had demanded enactrnent of an All India Gurdwara Act. The Bill has been hanging fire for over a decade. If the Akali leadership fears that the Bill if passed now would be misused by the Congress-led Centre for interfering in Sikh religious affairs, why did it not get it enacted during the NDA regime of which Akali Dal was a constituent and when the party itself was also in power in Punjab? Hypocrisy thy name is politics.

The Akali leadership has backtracked from its demand for the All India Gurudwara Act as obviously it has belatedly realised that representation which other states Sikhs would get in the expanded SGPC after the enactment of Gurudwara Act could lead to Punjab's Akali leadership losing its monopoly over the SGPC. This would deprive it of the SGPC's captive political platform and its huge funds which it has been misusing for political purposes. Its opponents in the Sikh community from different states could then make use of these for their own interests and to Akali leadership's disadvantage.

In fact, it is such fears of losing their control over Haryana gurudwaras and their funds that have prompted the SGPC and Akali Dal to oppose the demand for a separate SGPC for Haryana and allege that the Hooda-Ied Haryana's Congress government's support for Haryana Sikhs demand for a separate SGPC amounted to Congress interference in Sikhs' religious affairs. They also claim that Haryana Sikhs are opposed to the demand. If it is so, why are they opposed to Haryana Chief Minister's offer of a referendum to elicit Sikhs views on the issue? If the referendum goes against the demand, it would not only vindicate the Akali leadership's and SGPC's charge against the Congress rulers but would also show that Haryana Sikhs are opposed to the Congress and its government.

The top Akali leadership's stand on militancy-related and religious issues is indicative either of its doublespeak or its confused state of mind. This is also the case with its handling of important governance issues like subsidies, mobilisation of additional resources for pulling Punjab out of its near bankruptcy and making the administration an effective tool for implementing government policies and ensuring efficient delivery systems. If not for the sake of Punjab, for its own sake it is imperative for the ruling Akali leadership to take corrective steps on all these issues. Complacency will lead to disastrous consequences for the ruling party and for the state (IPA Service)