Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | SAD(A) |
President | Simranjit Singh Mann |
Lok Sabha Leader | Simranjit Singh Mann |
Founded | 1 May 1994 |
Split from | Shiromani Akali Dal |
Headquarters | Quilla S. Harnam Singh, Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India |
Student wing | Sikh Students Federation |
Youth wing | Youth Akali Dal Amritsar |
Ideology | Sikh nationalism [1] [2] Sikh minority rights [3] Sikhism [4] |
Political position | Centre-right |
ECI Status | Registered |
Seats in Lok Sabha | 1 / 543 |
Seats in Rajya Sabha | 0 / 245 |
Election symbol | |
Website | |
akalidalamritsar | |
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) is a Sikh Nationalist political party led by Simranjit Singh Mann, [5] [6] it is a splinter group of the Shiromani Akali Dal. They use 'Balti', the Punjabi term for bucket as their official election symbol. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) was formed on 1 May 1994. The party has seen a resurgence in support after the deaths of Deep Sidhu and Sidhu Moose Wala who were supporters and seen as sympathetic to the cause of Simranjit Singh Mann. [7] [8] Their 2022 Lok Sabha victory after more than two decades has been viewed as a resurgence in Sikhism, [9] and a political vacuum due to collapse of other traditional political parties in Punjab. [10] [11] The last major victory for Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) was in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, where the party and their allies won 10 out of 13 seats from Punjab. [12]
The party's most significant success was in the 1989 Indian general elections when they won six out of the 13 seats in Punjab. [13] The party espouses the ideology of Punjabiyat and Sikh nationalism. Moreover, the party won the parliamentary seat of Sangrur in 1999 and 2022 (by-elections). Also, Mann emphasized his priority will be to "work with the Punjab government" to "raise the poor economic condition of Sangrur including the condition of farmers under debt". [14] The party contested the SGPC elections on the same plank and won three seats. [15]
The only time an MLA belonging to SAD (A) was ever elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly was in the election of 1997 when Sardar Ajit Inder Singh won from the constituency of Sardulgarh by defeating the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate by 3,117 votes.
Akali politics in post-colonial India have organized around advancing and protecting Sikh political and cultural interests and Punjabi language. [16] By 1973, the Akali's adopted the Anandpur Sahib Resolution a document which advanced a desire for increasing regional autonomy within India's centralized structure of governance, as well as various socio political conerens. [16]
From 1975 to 1977, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi would institute a state of emergency suspending elections and civil liberties. During the early phases of the emergency, Akali and Sikh parties would meet in Amritsar to resist the "fascist tendency of the Congress". [17] The Akali Dal would launch the "Campaign to Save Democracy". [17] However, the period would see widespread human rights abuses including the mass detention of dissidents and opposition; forced sterilizations; constitutional modifications; demolition of homes and displacement of people and suspension of the press.
Following the end of the emergency from 1977 to 1984, the Akali Dal would be re-elected in Punjab and constitute the main opposition to the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government. The period would see an increase in Punjabi nationalism. [16] The party would continue to organize around the adoption of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. [16] The central government would treat the Anandpur Sahib Resolution as a secessionist document, eventually culminating in Operation Blue Star, an invasion of Harmindar Sahib on 1 June 1984. The operation would result in mass civilian casualties and precipitate an insurgency in Punjab for the formation of Khalistan. The Khalistan movement would be brutally suppressed by the central Indian state leading to mass human rights violations including extrajudicial executions, torture, and mass detention. [16]
On 1 May 1994, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) would split from the traditional Shiromani Akali Dal. [16] While there are overlaps in ideology between the two parties, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) remains more radical than its predecessor. The party continues to advocate for increasing the autonomy of the state of Punjab. [18] Moreover, the party continues to advocate for the Anandpur Sahib Resolution which proposed several religious, economic and political aims for the state of Punjab. [19] The party opposes the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal noting the canal violates the state's riparian water rights and will accelerate ongoing desertification. [20] The party has also been critical of extrajudicial killings, torture and genocide of Sikhs by governmental authorities in the 1980-90s. Upon winning the seat in 2022, Simranjit Singh Mann gave credit to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. [21]
In short, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution aimed to: reiterate the separateness of the Sikh tradition from Hinduism; increase the devolution of power from the central government to the states, to provide states with more autonomy; eradicate poverty and starvation through increased production and a more equitable distribution of wealth and also the establishment of a just social order sans exploitation of any kind; remove discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or any other ground; and combat disease and ill health by reducing the use of intoxicants and provision of full facilities for the growth of physical well-being. [19]
Year | Legislature | Seats won | Change in seats | Percentage of votes | Vote | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | 1 / 117 | 3.10% | 319,111 | |||
2017 | 0 / 117 | 0.3% | 49,260 | |||
2022 | 0 / 117 | 2.48% | 386,176 |
Year | Legislature | Seats won | Change in seats | Percentage of votes | Vote | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | 6 / 543 | New | 0.77% | 2,318,872 | ||
1991 | Boycott in Punjab | 0 / 543 | 0.03% | 88,084 | ||
1996 | 0 / 543 | 0.10% | 339,520 | |||
1998 | 0 / 543 | 0.07% | 248,529 | |||
1999 | 1 / 543 | 0.08% | 298,846 | |||
2004 | 0 / 543 | 0.10% | 387,682 | |||
2009 | 0 / 543 | 0.01% | 43,137 | |||
2014 | 0 / 543 | 0.01% | 35,516 | |||
2019 | 0 / 543 | 0.01% | 52,185 | |||
2024 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different groups; some suggest the entirety of the Sikh-majority Indian state of Punjab, while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Shimla and Lahore have been proposed as the capital of Khalistan.
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a Sikh militant. He was the leading figure of the Khalistan movement, although he did not personally advocate for a separate Sikh nation.
Panth Rattan Shiri Gurcharan Singh Tohra was a president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a Sikh body in charge of controlling Gurdwara. He died of a heart attack in New Delhi on 1 April 2004 at the age of 79. He remained the head of the SGPC for a record 27 years, and was one of the most influential and controversial Sikh leaders of the 20th century.
Dal Khalsa is a Sikh organisation, based in the city of Amritsar. The outfit was formed in 1978 by Gajinder Singh, the hijacker of Indian Airlines Flight 423. It came to prominence during Insurgency in Punjab, India along with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in 1981. Members of the Dal Khalsa have also been accused of the assassination of Lala Jagat Narain. The primary aim of Dal Khalsa is to form a religion-based Sikh nation called Khalistan.
Simranjit Singh Mann is a former Indian Police Service officer and a Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, representing the constituency of Sangrur since 2022. He is the president of the political party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mann has served three-times as an MP; once from Taran Tarn between 1989 and 1991, and twice from Sangrur between 1999-2004 and since 2022. He is known as a Khalistani supporter and his party is known for their pro-Khalistan stances.
The Anandpur Sahib Resolution was a statement with a list of demands made by a Punjabi Sikh political party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, in 1973.
Tara Singh was a Sikh political and religious figure in India in the first half of the 20th century. He was instrumental in organising the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee and guiding the Sikhs during the partition of India, which he strongly opposed.
Jagjit Singh Chohan was a major Sikh leader of the Khalistan movement that sought to create a sovereign Sikh state in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Chohan established the Council of Khalistan at Anandpur Sahib on 12 April 1980 and became its first self‐styled president.
Amrik Singh was the President of the All India Sikh Students Federation. He was killed in the Indian Army's operation on the Golden Temple on June 6, 1984.
This is a page that depicts Khalistani militants and paramilitary outfits.
The Dharam Yudh Morcha was a religious political movement in Punjab, India launched on 4 August 1982, by the Akali Dal in partnership with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, with its stated aim being the fulfillment of a set of devolutionary objectives based on the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.
The list of members of political families of Punjab, India. Punjab, since the Partition of India, has been held in the grip of 6 major political families, including the Majithias of Amritsar, Badals of Muktsar, Royal family of Patiala, Manns of Sheikhupura, Kairons of Tarn Taran and Royal family of Sarai Naga. There are few other dynastic families, and Punjab has the largest amount of dynastic politicians, a total of 76% of politicians being of political backgrounds. These families have their own political relations which have been changing multiple times over the years and have had various political marriages connecting each other.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is a centre-right Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are many parties with the description Akali Dal, the party that is recognized as "Shiromani Akali Dal" by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The party has a moderate Punjabi agenda. On 26 September 2020, they left the NDA over the farm bills.
Parkash Singh Badal was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longest serving Chief Minister of Punjab till date. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1977, 1980 to 1983 and from 2002 to 2007 and the 11th Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare in the Morarji Desai ministry from 1977 to 1977. He was the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a Sikh-centered regional political party, and the president of the party from 1995 to 2008, when he was replaced by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. As the patron of SAD he exercised a strong influence on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. The Janata Party was essentially his brainchild against the Indian National Congress.
Sukhbir Singh Badal is an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served thrice as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and is currently the president of Shiromani Akali Dal, along with being a member of Parliament from the Firozpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is the son of Parkash Singh Badal, who has served five times as the Chief Minister of Punjab. He holds lots of power over the Sikh organizations of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. A businessman at heart, Badal and his family have ownership stakes in an array of businesses- including real estate, transport and other activities to promote Punjab's economic condition on a national level.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) was an Indian political party which was formed by Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Rattan Singh Ajnala and Sewa Singh Sekhwan on 16 December 2018. On 4 November 2018, Shiromani Akali Dal expelled Sewa Singh Sekhwan the former Punjab Minister and then on 12 November 2018 expelled Ranjit Singh Brahmpura MP from Khadoor Sahib (Lok Sabha constituency), Rattan Singh Ajnala former MP, Ravinder Singh Brahmpura and Amarpal Singh Ajnala from the party.
Amritpal Singh Sandhu is a radical pro-Khalistan separatist, and a self-styled Sikh preacher. After living in Dubai for a decade, he returned to Punjab in September 2022, having been controversially appointed as the leader of Waris Punjab De, and started a campaign which encouraged youth to refrain from drugs, adopt a traditionalist form of Sikhism, and advocated a sovereign Punjabi Sikh nation state called Khalistan.
The Sarbat Khalsa of 1986 was one congregation of the Guru Khalsa Panth, including the Damdami Taksal, Akal Takht, Panthic Committee (Manochahal), Panthic Committee (Zaffarwal), Kharku Sikhs, Tarna Dal (Hariabelan), Tarna Dal, Bidhi Chand Dal and the Shiromani Budha Dal.
The Sarbat Khalsa of 2015 was held on November 10, 2015, in Chabba village on the outskirts of Amritsar, with the purpose to strengthen all Sikh institutions and traditions. As many as 550,000 to over 600,000 Sikhs from around the world attended the event. A few Sikh organizations in support of the Shiromani Akali Dal did not attend the event and refused to recognize the resolutions passed. The event was also opposed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Party Akali dal. But Few Sikh organizations supported to Sarbat Khalsa attended the event and recognized the resolutions passed. The event was called by Simranjit Singh Mann and Mohkam Singh, leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and United Akali Dal respectively. The Sikh congregation passed 13 resolutions to be implemented.
Emaan Singh Mann is a businessman and Indian politician that belongs to the Sikh-centric Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). He is a senior member of this party, being the biological son of 3 time Lok Sabha MP and Party president Simranjit Singh Mann.