In a body blow to the Shiromani Akali Dal after its humiliating defeat in the general elections in Punjab, former DSGMC chief Manjit Singh GK posed questions about the SAD policy leading to the party debacle and the party retorted back by expelling him from the party on grounds of corruption.  Eventually, Manjit Singh may land in jail, but who will bail out the community from the severe crises?

QUESTIONING the bonafide and policies of the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership is an uncalled-for excursion by anyone in the feudal, undemocratic set-up of the party led by Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal. With all odds against him, Manjit Singh GK paid the price for that as he was expelled by the core committee of the party on the recommendation of the Delhi unit after he wrote an open letter to the Sikh community in which he posed queries about the policies and working of the party leadership in Punjab.

Manjit Singh GK said that “he was listening to the voice of his conscience and that he was ashamed of reading news and analysis of the defeat of the party in Punjab.” He has stated in his missive that the party leadership failed to make the 1984 issue a prime election issue and though the Modi government had taken many pro-Sikh steps like cancelling the blacklist of Sikhs, the party could not encash them politically. He said that “we are on the crossroads and it is time for the intellectuals of the community to think of ways to resurrect the status of the party.”

Concluding his letter, he referred to the  times of Akali stalwart Master Tara Singh, when the slogan of the party was “Main Maran Panth Jeeve” -meaning, “Let me die, but let the Panth survive and grow.” Hitting hard at the Badal Dal leadership, he posed tongue-in-cheek, “Has the slogan been reversed?”

After two days of bickering between Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who is now the DSGMC president and his bête noire, wherein they traded abuses at each other through the media, the central leadership of the party, accepted the recommendation of the Delhi unit of the party and party leader Balwinder Singh Bhunder, an MP in the upper house of the Indian Parliament, announced his expulsion from the party on grounds of corruption, which are pending in various courts of Delhi, without touching the issues raised in GK’s letter.

During the times of Akali stalwart Master Tara Singh, the slogan of the party was “Main Maran Panth Jeeve” -meaning, “Let me die, but let the Panth survive and grow.” “Has the slogan been reversed?”

Manjit Singh GK, in an Open Letter to the Sikh community while referring to the Badal Dal leadership

Interestingly the present DSGMC leadership have very conveniently washed their hands off from the corruption which happened during Manjit Singh GK’s tenure. DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Takht Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib President Avtar Singh Hit are attempting a huge publicity blitzkrieg to win over the goodwill of the Sikh Sangat in Delhi by apportioning the whole blame game on GK and are themselves indulging in face-saving and damage-control exercises.

Manjit Singh GK, who at the behest of his party had taken on the 2020 campaigners in the US, sometime back, has landed in a soup. GK’s father Jathedar Santokh Singh, after full support from the Congress Party and especially Mrs Indira Gandhi, fought back opponents and despite the notorious route taken by him, he rendered many services to the Sikhs of Delhi.

Will Manjit Singh GK be able to save his skin? His retort at his proposed expulsion was, “those who have been outcasted by the people, how dare they dismiss me?”  With the SAD against him, the BJP in Delhi is not likely to touch him with a barge pole, though he did make efforts to get into their good books.

Manjit Singh GK is likely to be the first DSGMC president to go to jail on corruption charges. He may get bail from there, but who will bail out the Sikh community from lies, subterfuge, corruption and feudalism?

With Gurmeet Singh Shunty on his heels, not missing an opportunity to bring the alleged frauds of Manjit Singh GK, other members of the former committee and staff to justice, there seems no escape. With Harvinder Singh Sarna of the Delhi Akali Dal joining the issue with more cases against him, there is a huge likelihood of Manjit Singh GK becoming the first DSGMC president to be lodged in Tihar Jail soon.

Well, he may get bail from there, but who will bail out the Sikh community from lies, subterfuge, corruption and feudalism?