I have for some time been thinking about the sad demise of Left parties in the Northern Indian state of Punjab. This is particularly disappointing given the great revolutionary tradition of Punjab dating back to the challenges posed to the feudal order by the Bhagti tradition from the 11th to 15th Century through to the emergence of the Sikh movement. This movement in particular, beginning with Guru Nanak in the late 15th Century through to Guru Gobind Singh in the later 17th and early 18th Century, represented a serious challenge to the ruling classes and their divisive ideologies and practices. Indeed, by the time we get to Banda Singh Bahadur following Guru Gobind Singh we see an uprising by the masses from which the Mogul emperors never recovered.
Continuing this struggle against power, we see in the 19th Century the establishment of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s secular and socially conscious rule. A unique feature of this period was the relative harmony that existed amongst diverse peoples of his Sikh empire which at its peak spread from Afghanistan to Delhi. And it was the British that brought this down and established their own capitalist imperial order on the Punjab. But once again we find the people of Punjab mobilising to overthrow what they determined to be unjust colonial power, and the role of the Gaddar Lehar is a glorious example in this regard.
In the post 1947 period we see Punjabi’s organising politically to fight for the rights of peasant farmers and dalits. Most notable here is the Naxalite movement. However, we know that the government of Parkash Badal in the 1970’s managed to crush this movement with brutal force. And it was some of the remnants of this movement that once again joined the contemporary Sikh struggle, which this time was crushed by the Congress government through state terror throughout the 1980’s, conveniently labelling it as a sectarian, terrorist secessionist movement. The brutal truth of the horrors of this dark and shameful episode in Punjab’s history is slowly emerging through a combination of forensic investigations by Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra and testimonies of ex police offices such as Gurmeet Singh Pinky. One can safely assert that the numbers of extrajudicial killings by the state were anything between 100,000 and 250,000.
If the extermination of a generation of Punjab’s youth represents a grave crime against humanity, the utter failure of Left parties to mobilise is nothing less than a political tragedy. Along with the general decline of Left parties globally following the collapse of Communism across the world, the Left’s failure to sufficiently condemn state repression in Punjab during and after 1984 alienated the Sikh masses. Indeed, the Left’s failure to side with the Sikh struggle against state terror and repression was a gross error of judgement. It was particularly disappointing given that the popularity of Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale was that he was basically a peasant leader/activist who dare take on the corrupt political establishment and state repression; Punjab’s own Che Guevara. Indeed, some Naxalites were attracted to his cause. It is also worth remembering that the Anandpur Resolution, which was after all the reason for the Sikh struggle at the time, was calling for the establishment of a secular socialist state in Punjab that would be part of a semi autonomous union of Indian states.
Because of the failure of Left parties at the time many progressives had no choice but to join ‘religious’ groups. The result has been that we have seen the exponential growth of deras (Religious orders led by ‘god’ men) which has in effect become the new opium of the masses. However, with the emergence of Aam Adami Party (Ordinary People’s Party) I believe the tide has turned and once again there is an option for progressive left secular activists to influence the political future of Punjab. 2016 and 17 are likely to be crucial moments for the masses to rise against both the ruling elites and the ‘God men’ who serve the rules by exploit faith and deviating people’s attention from the real causes of their misery. The recent Sarbat Khalsa gathering of over 500,000 ‘ordinary’ people is an illustration that the masses in Punjab have once again regained their courage to take on the ruling powers which have become criminally corrupt. All progressive Left leaning activists need to form a grand coalition against the moribund and criminally corrupt established parties that exploit religious sentiment and offer the people of Punjab a new future.