Class, nation and religion: changing nature of Akali Dal politics in Punjab, India

Protection Rackets and Party Machines

“…In the post-insurgency period, we find that two-party competition correlates with more muted levels of communal and caste-based conflict, and hence we argue, with less demand for communal protection. This is because the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in particular has realised that it needs to attract voters across communal and caste divides if it wishes to obtain a majority in government (Singh, 2014). In the absence of any significant demand for protection, we suggest that in the Punjab protection is imposed and signals a more authoritarian political setup.…”

“…Moreover the sad appears to be more cohesive than the sp because it mobilises both party workers and voters on the basis of religious ideology. While Pritam Singh (2014) has recently noted that the sad has shifted its discourse towards development and away from divisive communal issues in order to lure predominantly urban Hindu voters, it is still common to hear lower-ranking party workers reminding their Jat Sikh constituents of the sacrilege committed against the Golden Temple by the Congress Party under Indira Gandhi. This emotive issue gains the support of a number of Jat Sikhs, particularly among an older generation who often claim that they will vote for the sad regardless of its performance for the sake of the Sikh faith and to oppose the Congress party.…”

Sikh Diaspora Nationalism in Canada

“…The Akali Dal strived to create a Punjabi state, but Indian national leaders remained suspicious and unyielding. It was only after the creation of the states of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh that a truncated Punjab which excluded Punjabi‐speaking Haryana was given the status of a state in India (Singh ). The politics of the Akali Dal became increasingly ethno‐nationalistic in orientation during the 1970s, and the organization opposed Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's emergency rule from 1975 to 1977.…”

“…The evolving alliance between the Janata Dal party and Hindu chauvinist sectarian parties such as the Jan Sangh further radicalized Akali Dal politics. Sikh mobilization in India thus gained unprecedented momentum from 1982, with Akali Takht (the main Sikh temple) politics holding increasing sway in the Indian state of Punjab (Nayar and Singh ; Singh ). Indira Gandhi's attempt to reach out to radical Sikhs, including the prominent nationalist leader Guru Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, in order to counter the overarching influence of the Akali Dal proved to be a political miscalculation.…”

Corruption and Factionalism in Contemporary Punjab: An ethnographic account from rural Malwa

“…Pritam Singh argues that while other Indian regional parties had their ideological roots in the Congress Party, the Akali Dal is distinctive among regional parties in that it 'evolved out of the logic of Sikh history'. 28 Moreover, ever since partition, when it started to work towards the creation of a Punjabi-speaking state, it has been in conflict with the Congress Party. Under Nehru's leadership the latter opposed this demand because it feared that it might give rise to the escalation of communal strife in a sensitive border area.…”