Vajpayee bid to win over Namdharis

MALERKOTLA, January 17: Satguru Jagjit Singh did not disappoint Atal Behari Vajpayee. The head of the Namdharis, the Sikh sect which is traditionally pro-Congress, blessed the person projected by the Bharatiya Janata Party as the future Prime Minister and Vajpayee gave the right signal to the minorities.

“May Vajpayee’s aspirations be fulfilled,” Satguru Jagjit Singh announced at the end of the solemn function organised on the 126th anniversary of martyrdom of the Kukas, the name by which the Namdharis are popularly known, in this only Muslim-dominated town in Punjab.

It was on this day in 1872 that 66 followers of this sect, including a child, were blown up with canons during the British rule, the sacrifice unparalleled in the history of country’s freedom struggle. They were agitating against cow slaughter. Though it was a non-political function and Vajpayee did not touch upon political issues, the signals he tried to send out were significant in the context of the BJP’s attitude towards minorities. This was with reference to power sharing by his party with the Akali Dal in Punjab. “The Akali Dal-BJP combine represents communal amity and is not just a power sharing arrangement (bhaichara hai, satta ka batwara nahin)”, he said while stressing that this was the only way to make India a great country.