Punjab Congress fears revival of Sikh anger

Chandigarh, Punjab -- The ruling Congress in the Sikh-dominated state of Punjab fears the resignation of Congress leaders named in the Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 anti-Sikh violence might not be enough to redeem the party, with the opposition Akali groups preparing to make it a fight.

A day after Jagdish Tytler quit as union minister amid growing pressure on the government to take action against Congress leaders named for instigating the attacks on the Sikhs, senior Congress leaders said it was too little, too late, with state polls a little over a year away.

"The Sikhs are still traumatized over the 1984 riots, as well as Operation Bluestar (when in June 1984, the army stormed the holiest Sikh shrine Golden Temple to flush out armed terrorists hiding inside)," a senior Congress leader said.

The immediate cause of concern for the state's Congress leaders was that the report could revive the anti-Sikh image that the party has been trying to shed since the mob killings of Sikhs to avenge then prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

Various factions of the Akali parties - including the Shiromani Akali Dal led by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal - and the Sikh religious body Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) are gearing up to corner the Congress again over an issue that is very emotional for Sikhs.

Akali parties and other Sikh organizations say mere resignations are not enough and demand that the accused leaders be prosecuted.

Punjab Congress leaders here felt the goodwill that the party had won after anointing Manmohan Singh as the first Sikh prime minister of the country last year, could fritter away if the Nanavati Commission report controversy was not handled properly.

"We may have to face the ire of the Sikh electorate in the next assembly poll, expected in February 2007," the Congress leader said.

The matter came up for discussion at a meeting of the Punjab cabinet held at Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's New Moti Bagh Palace at Patiala Wednesday.

Amarinder Singh and newly appointed state Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo have so far refrained from making any statements over the Congress-led central government's refusal to act against party leaders indicted in the commission report for instigating attacks on Sikhs.

Among the indicted leaders are Jagdish Tytler, H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Dharam Dass Shastri. Tytler and Sajjan Kumar quit their government posts, Bhagat is terminally ill and Shastri is untraceable.