How issue of 'sacrilege' has impacted electoral politics in Punjab in recent years

As Punjab gears up for the assembly elections due to be held in 2022, the issue of religious sacrilege has come to the forefront again.

On December 18, a man was beaten to death for an act of 'desecration' in Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. This was the second incident of attempted sacrilege in four days at the Golden Temple. On December 15, an individual threw a book containing verses from the Gurbani into the holy tank.

Political leaders across the board condemned the issue, with some even calling this incident a conspiracy, and an attempt to disrupt the atmosphere of Punjab.

In a set of tweets, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi condemned the 'the most unfortunate and heinous act to attempt sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Harimandir Sahib' and also 'assured government’s full support and cooperation to get into the bottom of the case'.

Five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal described 'the heinous attempt to commit sacrilege at Sachkhand Shri Harmandar Sahib as deeply shocking and exceedingly painful'. He said that 'the whole conspiracy needs to be probed, exposed and those behind it be given exemplary punishment'.

Attacking the state government, SAD President and Badal's son Sukhbir Singh Badal stated that after the incident of a gutka being thrown in the sarovar just a few days ago, the state agencies could not have been unaware of a deep-rooted conspiracy that led to Saturday's shocking sequence of events.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, 'Had the sacrilege accused not been killed, information about the conspiracy behind the act of sacrilege could have been extracted from him and the truth come out.” The minister, however, added that on sacrilege issue, members of Sikh community act on “emotions”.

The opposition, including BJP accused the Congress government of failing to 'take action' against past incidences of sacrilege.

On Sunday, another unidentified man was lynched in Kapurthala's Nizampur village over allegations of sacrilege.

Two months ago, in October, a man was lynched to death at the farmers' protest site at the Delhi borders over an alleged sacrilege attempt.

The issue of sacrilege has been so important in Punjab politics that the BJP-SAD govt in 2015 had to bring in a law against it and according to political analysts it is also one of factors behind the alliance’s loss in 2017 polls.

Several incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib were reported across Punjab in 2015. Protests took place in various districts and highways were blocked by protestors. In one such instance, two protesting Sikhs were allegedly shot to death by police officers attempting to disperse the crowds.

In November 2015, the Parkash Singh Badal-led govt introduced an addition to Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. According to the new law, the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib would lead to life imprisonment instead of earlier 2 years. The bill was passed in March 2016 but the Union Home Minister rejected the change in law on the grounds that it would violate India’s secular principles.

The Amarinder Singh-led Congress led govt in 2018 re-introduced the law but included Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible along with the Guru Granth Sahib to cover other religions.

In 2017, the year of Assembly Elections, three separate incidents of attempted sacrilege were reported in different districts of Punjab.

During Captain Amarinder Singh’s tenure he too faced immense pressure to ensure completion of the investigations in the 2015 sacrilege cases.

Several of his opponents within the Congress party accused him of failing to control incidents of sacrilege in the state. Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, whom he was constantly at loggerheads with, too raked up the issue while criticising the now former CM.

The following year in 2018, torn pages of of Gutka were found lying near a Gurdwara in Moga district.

According to data given by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Punjab’s rate of crimes registered under Sections 295 to 297 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deal with sacrilege, was the highest between 2018 to 2020.

Also Watch: 'Sacrilege' attempt at Golden Temple; how the incident unfolded

The recent alleged incidents of sacrilege in Punjab could prove crucial in deciding who wins the assembly elections in a democracy where religion and politics are so entangled.