India is ablaze with hate and anger. The situation is too grim to admit of evasion and euphemism. It would be dishonest to say that the hatred is directed only or even mainly against the Akalis, the secessionists and the extremists. The exercise would also be futile. In city after city from one corner of the country to the other enraged mobs have gone and are going about systematically burning and looting Sikh properties and assaulting Sikhs without discrimination. The people know the truth. They do not depend on newspapers to tell them the facts. It will be equally dishonest to say that only anti-social elements are engaged in these activities. These elements are doubtless active but others have also joined them. Those who shouted “blood for blood” on Thursday in front of Teen Murti House in New Delhi where Mrs. Gandhi’s body lay in state were mostly educated people and not denizens of the underworld. The anger against the Sikh community is sweeping large sections of the Indian society.
The explosion of hate and violence has, of course, been sparked off by the unimaginably brutal murder of Indira Gandhi by two Sikh members of her security guard who, it transpires, had been retained on duty at her residence at her own instance. But the storm of anger, bitterness and revenge might not have assumed the intensity it has if the Sikh community had followed the lead of the five distinguished Sikh leaders who at once denounced the dastardly crime and joined the rest of the nation in its grief. Unfortunately some of the so-called Sikh leaders have chosen to add fuel to the fire. The fact that the Akal Takht chief, Giani Kirpal Singh, should regard it necessary to deny that he had issued a statement expressing grief over the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi speaks for itself. The Giani may not be grieved but why did he have to advertise this fact?
This is of a piece with what has been happening in Punjab for well over two years. During this period Sikh “leaders” stood by as silent spectators as Bhindranwale’s band of assassins murdered more than 500 persons and converted the Golden Temple into an arsenal and a sanctuary for criminals. The Indian people could have forgotten and forgiven all this if saner counsels had prevailed, especially among the Sikh intelligentsia at least after Operation Bluestar. Instead they continued to preach hatred of the government. Thus if a breach has opened between the Sikhs and the rest of India, the Sikh “leaders” and their intelligentsia are largely to blame.
We must not, however, repeat the performance of the Sikh “leaders” and intelligentsia and fail to condemn the present wave of violence. Nor can we rest content with mere denunciations. We just cannot allow this breach to go on widening even if we cannot narrow it soon to make it bridgeable. Thus while the authorities must use the entire machinery of the state to restore law and order, all opposition parties must back its efforts and exert all their influence with their supporters to end this orgy. This is a test for Mr. Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister which he must not fail. But not to speak of the long-term, even in the short-term, the Akalis and the head priests too need to contribute to the process of restoring normalcy if the government’s efforts are to succeed. They have misjudged the mood of the Indian people in the past. They must not repeat the blunder again. Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination has touched a very, very, deep chord in the Indian psyche. The popular feeling of outrage has to be assuaged and it can be assuaged only if the Sikhs are seen to be willing to heed appeals to reason and patriotism. For the first time Sikhs outside Punjab are realizing how vulnerable they are. Those in Punjab should not only not add to their woes but try and lighten them by proving that they have abandoned the politics of confrontation and secession. This may appear unduly harsh in the present context. But a soft-hearted approach is not going to convince those who need to be convened that the Sikhs are willing to live as peaceful and law-abiding citizens of the country.