Poster released in 1921 by the Secretary Akali Dal, appealing to all Akali factions to unite or face extinction, Amritsar, circa June 1921. Digitized by the Panjab Digital Library.
Akali Dal was formed on 14 December 1920 as a task force of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Sikh religious body. The Akali Dal considers itself the principal representative of Sikhs. Sardar Sarmukh Singh Chubbal was the first president of a unified proper Akali Dal, but it became popular under Master Tara Singh.[25]Akali movement influenced 30 new Punjabi newspapers launched between 1920 and 1925.[26]
In the provincial election of 1937, the Akali Dal won 10 seats. The Khalsa Nationalists won 11 seats and joined the coalition government headed by the Unionist leader Sikander Hyat Khan. The Akalis sat in opposition and made occasional forays into reaching an understanding with the Muslim League, which never reached fruition.[27]
In the provincial election of 1946, the Akali Dal won 22 seats and joined the coalition government headed by the Unionist Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana, along with the Indian National Congress. The Muslim League was unable to capture power, despite having won the largest number of seats, which perhaps suited it fine as it strengthened its Pakistan demand. The Muslim League launched a civil disobedience campaign, bringing down the Tiwana government by March 1947. The rest of the period till Indian independence was filled by Governor's Rule.[28]
In the 1950s, the party launched the Punjabi Suba movement, demanding a state with majority of Punjabi speaking people, out of undivided East Punjab under the leadership of Sant Fateh Singh.[30] In 1966, the present Punjab was formed. Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab in March 1967,[31] but early governments didn't live long due to internal conflicts and power struggles within the party. Later, party strengthened and party governments completed full term.
Modern Factions
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa along with other Akali leaders came together at a Gurdwara in Ludhiana on 7 July 2020 to re-establish SAD (D). Dhindsa was chosen as president of the revived political party. He claimed SAD (D) as the true Shiromani Akali Dal and that the one so called was taken over by the Badal family.[32]
Prior to this in late 2018, expelled senior members of Shiromani Akali Dal Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Rattan Singh Ajnala, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, their relatives and others had formed SAD (T).[33] The reasoning of the expelling was due to their accusations of the Badal family steering Shiromani Akali Dal in the wrong path.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in the 1930s–40s, became increasingly convinced that Hinduism could not offer dignity or equality to Dalits. He began to explore conversion, and at one point he considered embracing Sikhism, but the Akali leaders played a vital role in sending Ambedkar far from Sikhism. The Akalis were not ready to accept millions of Dalits in the Sikh fold, fearing that they would lose control of Sikh institutions with the entry of Ambedkar into Sikhism. So to stop his entry, they intentionally humiliated Dr. Ambedkar.[34][35][36]
Casteist slurs by leaders
Akali minister Valtoha has been accused of insulting dalits (a historically discriminated community of lower caste people placed at the end of the caste pyramid, who constitute 36% of the states population in India), by a member of an opposition party in the legislature.[37] Due to a casteist slur by Virsa Singh Valtoha, former Ravidassia M.L.A. Tarlochan Singh Soondh hurled a shoe towards Valtoha in the Punjab State Legislative Assembly[38]
Giani Harpreet Singh also accused Virsa Singh Valtoha of issuing threats to his family, abducting his daughter,[39] and raising caste remarks against him for being a Dalit Sikh.[40]
During a TV discussion in 2016, Valtoha accused Dr. B. R. Ambedkar of promoting casteism by advocating reservations. This remark drew sharp backlash from the AAP, which demanded legal action and later saw public protests in Tarn Taran, including effigy burning.[41][42]
Opposing Dalit representation in Talhan Gurdwara
Talhan village (near Jalandhar) has a famous gurdwara of Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh, where an annual fair attracts huge crowds. Ravidassia Sikhs form the majority in Talhan’s population and contributed heavily in funds and seva for the gurdwara. In June 2003, when Dalits demanded representation in the gurdwara committee, tensions exploded as Sikhs opposed Dalit entry into management. After this, a violent clash broke out, as the Ravidassia Sikh community saw it as a fight for dignity and a share in religious institutions. During this, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and SGPC leadership openly sided with the Jat Sikhs. Akalis framed the issue as an attack on Panthic unity rather than a genuine Dalit demand. SGPC officials sent teams that justified Jat control, refusing to restructure the committee.[43]
Non nomination of Dalits or OBCs to Rajya Sabha
Akali Dal never sent Dalit/OBCs to Rajya Sabha because it wanted to preserve the Jat Sikh monopoly over prestige, visibility, and national voice, while keeping Dalits as a silent electoral base through tokenism and religious appeals. In the state assembly, Dalits and OBC leaders were often nominated for symbolic positions like junior ministers and never got any position in a good portfolio.[44]
Ideology
Shiromani Akali Dal's main goals are the protection of Sikh rights, Punjab's waters, and opposition to the Sutlej Yamuna link canal.[45]
1996 Moga Conference
In 1996, at a historic conference in Moga, Shiromani Akali Dal adopted a moderate Punjabi agenda and shifted party headquarters from Amritsar to Chandigarh.[46]
Party Presidents
Following is the list of presidents of the party as given on the party website.
↑ Kumar, Ashutosh (2004). "Electoral Politics in Punjab: Study of Akali Dal". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (14/15): 1515–1520. ISSN0012-9976. JSTOR4414869.
↑ D'Souza, Shanthie Mariet (9 April 2014). "Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)". Britannica. Retrieved 14 July 2023. The precursor to the present-day SAD was an organization established in December 1920 to help guide the quasi-militant Akali movement of the early 1920s, in which Sikhs demanded and (through the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925) won from the ruling British authorities in India control over the gurdwaras (Sikh houses of worship). The present-day SAD, which has claimed to be the oldest regional political party in India, has also controlled Sikh religious institutions such as the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and, more recently, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
↑ Kudaisya, Gyanesh; Yong, Tan Tai (2004). The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia. Routledge. p.100. ISBN978-1-134-44048-1. No sooner was it made public than the Sikhs launched a virulent campaign against the Lahore Resolution. Pakistan was portrayed as a possible return to an unhappy past when Sikhs were persecuted and Muslims the persecutor. Public speeches by various Sikh political leaders on the subject of Pakistan invariably raised images of atrocities committed by Muslims on Sikhs and of the martyrdom of their gurus and heroes. Reactions to the Lahore Resolution were uniformly negative and Sikh leaders of all political persuasions made it clear that Pakistan would be 'wholeheartedly resisted'. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the party with a substantial following amongst the rural Sikhs, organized several well-attended conferences in Lahore to condemn the Muslim League. Master Tara Singh, leader of the Akali Dal, declared that his party would fight Pakistan 'tooth and nail'. Not be outdone, other Sikh political organizations, rival to the Akali Dal, namely the Central Khalsa Young Men Union and the moderate and loyalist Chief Khalsa Dewan, declared in equally strong language their unequivocal opposition to the Pakistan scheme.
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