SAD agitation: History repeating itself after 32 years

JALANDHAR: History seems to be repeating itself after 32 years. On July 26, 1982, the Shiromani Akali Dal organized a conclave in Amritsar and announced the launch of the Dharam Yudh Morcha from August 4. Parkash Singh Badal, who had already been Punjab chief minister twice by that time, led the first ?jatha' (group) of more than 1,100 Akali workers to court arrest on August 4.
Now, the SAD is organizing the Vishal Panthic Ikath at Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in the Golden Temple complex on July 27 to deliberate on the issue of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC). Badal has said he will lead the agitation from the front.
In July 1982, Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale-led Damdami Taksal had launched a ?morcha' (front) after arrest of his aides Amrik Singh, who headed the All Indian Sikh Students Federation and Thara Singh. In the third week of July, he merged his ?morcha' with the Akali Dal agitation. Current Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhuma is closely associated with the Akali Dal, but unlike Bhindrawale, he appears to be playing second fiddle to the Badals.
Although then SAD president Harchand Singh Longowal was unanimously made "dictator" of the ?morcha', it was Badal who led the first ?jatha'. Longowal, while sending the first ?jatha' from Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in the Golden Temple complex, said he wanted to lead the first group but Badal insisted he would be the first to court arrest. Issue of gurudwaras figured among the 46 demands of the ?morcha' launched by the Akali Dal. It also included the demand for the All India Gurudwara Act and declaration of Amritsar as a Holy town. But after the Dharam Yudh Morcha, Badal did not pursue the enactment of the All India Gurudwara Bill during three subsequent tenures as CM. Even declaring Amritsar as Holy Town, which was within the domain of the Punjab government, was pushed to the backburner.
The Akali Dal and Badal championed the cause of communal harmony while espousing Panthic issues, but the ?morcha' led to the Operation Bluestar in June 1984, which only pushed Punjab and Punjabis into further turmoil.
DHARAM YUDH MORCHA OF 1982
SAD launched the ?Nehar Roko Andolan' to stop digging of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal on April 24, 1982 after the project was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. From June 1, 1982, Akali Dal launched the civil disobedience movement. Meanwhile, Sant Bhindrawale also started a morcha from inside the Golden Temple Complex on July 19, 1982 for release of his aides claiming they were implicated in false cases. The agitations merged and evolved into a bigger movement ?Dharam Yudh Morcha' started by Akali Dal on August 4, 1982 with focus on other religious, political and economic demands. Darbar Sahib complex was made the ?morcha' headquarter for the Akalis.