‘Sarbat Khalsa was a Khalistani stage and everyone there knew it’
‘Sarbat Khalsa was a Khalistani stage and everyone
there knew it’
Simranjit Singh Mann talking to
Hindustan Times at his residence
at Fatehgarh Sahib on Monday.
(Gurminder Singh/HT Photo )
He is the
man of the moment. SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann has a spring
in his step. The main orgainser of the radical Sarbat Khalsa of November 10,
Mann, unlike many who led the gathering, is unapologetic about bringing the
issue of Khalistan back to Punjab’s centre stage. Assistant editor Chitleen K
Sethi spoke to Mann about the radical Sarbat Khalsa and the politics that
ensued over it.
What do you
have to say about demanding Khalistan at the radical Sarbat Khalsa?
Sarbat
Khalsa was a Khalistani stage and everyone present there knew it. Not just the
Congress, many other parties also participated in it. There was the BSP, even
SGPC members. The conversations between Congress leaders and (Satwant Singh)
Manawa are not fake. (Harminder Singh) Gill and Manawa are neighbours. Why will
they not talk to each other? What is wrong with it? And how is demanding a
separate nation seditious? Recently Barcelona voted for a separate nation
within Spain.
Why did the
original protest leaders -- the Sikh preachers -- give the radical Sarbat
Khalsa a miss?
The abbots
(Panthpreet Singh, Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, among others) have aligned
themselves with the state for reasons best known to them. They chose to take
the easy way out.
Other
hardliner groups also opposed you.
It was
suggested that we not call it the Sarbat Khalsa or postpone it by 20 days. But
I did not agree. We were working towards uniting Sikhs to come on a common
platform for Khalistan and also for the preservation of Sikh culture, ethos and
religion. At the Sarbat Khalsa we saw unprecedented response to our cause.
People of Punjab want Khalistan.
Your
daughter, in her book, had said that you had realised that people of Punjab did
not want Khalistan.
Her writing
reflects her independent thinking. Sometimes when she keeps pestering me to say
something, I say such a thing.
How do you
justify ‘making’ Jagtar Singh Hawara as the Akal Takht jathedar?
Hawara has
been made a jathedar continuing with the concept of a saint soldier. Our
jathedars have the acceptability of Sikhs. On the day the Akal Takht jathedar
addressed Sikhs at the Golden temple, he was booed and when (Dhian Singh) Mand,
our temporary jathedar, spoke, he was cheered. Pinderpal Singh could have been
made a jathedar but he is not ready for Khalistan; he would not have given
voice to our ideology.
Why did you
not speak at the Sarbat Khalsa?
I felt it
would charge up the gathering. The government wanted a clash there. That would
have suppressed the message of the Sarbat Khalsa and the clash would have
hogged the limelight. I denied them the headlines they wanted.
But by
speaking of Khalistan you gave the government legitimacy to crack down on the
organisers.
That is what
they think. How can demanding Khalistan justify the repression that followed? I
was under house arrest till Sunday. And how could I not speak of something
which my party has worked towards for 31 years? Khalistan is the aim and it had
to be reiterated.
Now that all
your organisers and jathdars are in jail, what next?
We will
intensify our stir. Get them out. We will organise bandhs.
What about
the 2017 elections?
Our party is
ready to take along anyone who does not have a problem with our ideology. The
Aam Aadmi Party is a good party but its leaders have used derogatory words for
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. There are many who want to join our party. I
got a call from a Jat leader in UP who wanted the SAD (A) ticket from
Ghaziabad.
So you have
decided to change?
I am not a
changed man. It is a strategic shift. When the idea of Khalistan was not
resolute enough, I had to be strict. Now when it is resolute, I can afford
concessions to take everyone along.
But SAD (A)
has not done well politically after 1989.
There are
ups and downs. My party did not fare well because I refused to compromise like
others. I stuck to my ideology. People like (Parkash Singh) Badal and (Capt)
Amarinder Singh used the cause of Khalistan when it suited them.
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