|
Baba Santa Singh dead, his heirs
compete for
estate worth crores
WSN Bureau
 Patiala/Kotkapura:
Death of any public figure is normally an occasion for an assessment
of his or her role, significance of his or her work, and a frank
discussion of how the community should learn further and move ahead
building up on the strengths and casting aside the weaknesses.
So when Baba
Santa Singh, the Nihang chief, died after ailing for many months, it
was hoped that the Sikh community leaders, the Akali Dal leadership
and the SGPC top brass, will re-visit the dark days of immediate
aftermath of Operation Bluestar and discuss how the Central
Government was able to find people from within the Sikh community to
somehow lend credence to its machinations in handling the fall out.
It was in such circumstances precisely that Baba Santa Singh had
come into limelight, defying the entire community and the Akal
Takht, and had joined hands with the Centre to re-construct the Akal
Takht.
What was lost
was a historic chance that the Sikh community had to preserve the
memories of a painful, heart-rending phase which saw the Indian
nation state bringing up tanks and mortars against innocent citizens
in the garb of flushing the shrine of so-called militants. It used
the official media, eternally-embedded national press corps and men
like Santa Singh to rob the community of a chance to even mull over
the loss.
Later, the SGPC
decided to pull down the edifice constructed by Baba Santa Singh and
instead re-construct the Akal Takht, again a chapter in Sikh history
that has been only casually visited by Sikhism scholars so far.
But as Santa
Singh died this week, the entire focus was on who will get to
inherit the property, the real estate, and the dera worth
crores and crores of rupees. In March 2001, Santa Singh was taken
back into the community -- a question hardly discussed in the
community to any extent -- and his heirs, all nihangs, are
known for not only quibbling but fighting armed pitched battles and
attacking, shooting and killing each other. Currently, there are two
competing parties, one led by Nihang Balbir Singh and the other by
Surjit Singh.
The latter,
currently under ground and with murder charges against him, was
elected by his group as the 14th Jathedar of the Shiromani Panth
Akali Budha Dal (Panjwan Takht) with a voice vote in his absence
at Gurdwara Dasmi Patshahi in Kotkapura. Meanwhile, Balbir Singh
displayed his hold by getting declared as the 14th Jathedar, his
main backers being Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC
chief Avtar Singh Makkar. Makkar was in fact present at the bhog of
Baba Santa Singh, organized by Balbir Singh at
Patiala. Also
present were Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib Balwant Singh Nandgarh,
Rajya Sabha member Tarlochan Singh and Cooperation minister
Kanwaljit Singh.
| |
Baba Santa Singh: A chequered past
After
Operation Blue Star, Buta Singh, the then Union Home Minister,
contacted many kar sewa babas to quickly re-build the
Akal Takht but was rebuffed as no one wanted to annoy the entire
community by doing this sarkari sewa. Everyone wanted the
government to first withdraw the security forces but Santa Singh
agreed and took the help of Baba Narain Singh and convened a
self-styled ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ on August 11, 1984 at Akal
Takht and went ahead. The government put at his disposal a big
company “Skipper Builders” owned by one Tejwant Singh who
ensured that the building was ready in a record time of one and
half months. Santa Singh was excommunicated from the Panth.
He often uttered harsh words against Sant Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale. In 2001, the exercise to take him back into the
Panth was kept a secret by Akalis as well as the clergy and he
was not asked for any explanations. In fact, the clergy was
extra-ordinarily accommodating even in matter of tankhah
citing his old age and failing health. |
|
Damdami Taksal
chief Harnam Singh Dhumma backed Surjit Singh, therefore the
competing Damdami Taksal chief Ram Singh ended up at the stage with
Balbir Singh. Since Surjit Singh is underground, in his absence,
Joginder Singh “Rakba” is to continue as the acting chief of Santa
Singh’s dera.
Neither any of
the Takht jathedars nor the SGPC chief questioned as to how
the Nihang leaders write and describe themselves as a Takht or
Jathedars or Singh Sahibs.
Surjit Singh was
allegedly involved in the massacre of four members of Baba Balbir
Singh’s family. The Akalis, so fond of vowing their commitment to
fight against deras, witnessed representatives of Nirmal Akhara
Hardwar, Nanaksar Kaleran, Mastuana, Rarha Sahib, Guru Nanak Dal,
Tarna Dal, Baba Bidhi Chand Dal, Damdami Taksal and at least 30
other deras attending the ceremony. Not a word was uttered against
derawad.
21
May,
2008
|
Read Also