Gandhi Concedes on Many Demands by Sikh Activists

An agreement granting many of the demands of Sikh activists in troubled Punjab state was reached Wednesday between the Indian government and the main Sikh political party, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi announced to a cheering Parliament.

Major concessions won by the Sikhs, an influential minority concentrated in prosperous Punjab state, included the transfer of the important northern city of Chandigarh into the jurisdiction of Punjab and the appointment of a special tribunal to rule on water disputes between Punjab and neighboring states.

The agreement, signed by Gandhi and Sikh political leader Harchand Singh Longowal, also dealt with other longstanding Sikh grievances, ranging from military recruiting practices to management of the country’s Sikh temples, called gurdwaras.

However, it fell far short of granting the type of autonomy sought by militant Sikh leaders, some of whom openly seek a separate Sikh state. And while the agreement was instantly welcomed by moderate Sikh leaders, members of Gandhi’s Congress-I Party and nearly all opposition party leaders in India, it may face criticism from militant Sikhs as well as officials in Haryana and Rajasthan states who have opposed concessions for the Sikhs.

There are only about 15 million Sikhs among India’s 740 million people.

“Harchand Singh Longowal and I have signed a memorandum of settlement,” Gandhi told the Lok Sabha (House of the People), the lower house of Parliament, whose members showed their appreciation by thumping their desk tops and cheering.

“This will bring to an end a very difficult period through which the country has passed,” he said. “It will be the beginning of a new phase of working together to build the country, to build unity and integrity.”

Since he became prime minister after the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi, last Oct. 31 by two Sikh bodyguards, Rajiv Gandhi has said the problem of the Sikh-dominated Punjab has been his greatest challenge.

“I am happy,” said Longowal, who was jailed by the government after the Indian army stormed the Sikhs’ Golden Temple in Amritsar in June, 1984. “The confrontation in Punjab has ended.”

After four years of nearly constant turmoil in the Punjab, India’s most important agricultural state, Wednesday marked the first time that government and Akali Dal leaders have been able to agree on a course of action. Longowal, a moderate, had to wage battle within his Akali Dal party even to open negotiations with the government.

The Punjab conflict has led to assassinations and terrorism by Sikh separatist groups, massive government crackdowns and military rule in the Punjab. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, at least 1,000 Sikhs were killed in India by Hindus bent on avenging her death.

Indian officials also blame Sikh terrorists for the crash of the Air-India passenger plane last month off the coast of Ireland and the deaths of the 329 passengers and crew members on board.

A Sweet Sign

After two days of talks between Gandhi and Longowal, the first sign of a breakthrough came Wednesday afternoon, when special milky Bengali sweets called rasgoulah were delivered to the parliamentary office of the prime minister. In India, celebrations are accompanied by the serving of sweets.

Then the Lok Sabha hall began to fill as news of the accord spread. At the time, the lawmaking body had been heatedly discussing paramilitary camps in the United States where several members claimed that Sikh terrorists had been trained.

Watching from the speakers’ gallery was Punjab’s governor, Arjun Singh, who sat with Gandhi during the negotiations.

“I hope the statesmanship and compassion shown by the prime minister and the courage exhibited by Sant Longowal will bring to an end the agony of Punjab and the anxiety of the country,” Singh said.

Longowal and his aides said they conferred with two other senior leaders of the Akali Dal party, Prakash Singh Badal and G.S. Tohra, before signing the agreement, but said they were concerned about the reaction of their own party members and more militant Sikhs.

Badal, former chief minister of Punjab, refused comment on the agreement “in the interests of the party,” the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Concern About Terrorists

Press Trust also reported, “Security arrangements throughout Punjab, Haryana and the union territory of Chandigarh and Delhi have been tightened as a precautionary measure to thwart any possible attempt by terrorists to vitiate the atmosphere of good will.”

The agreement outlined by the prime minister had 11 main points, the most dramatic being the transfer of the modern city of Chandigarh, with a population of 500,000, to Punjab state. Chandigarh is a product of a partition caused in 1947, when British-ruled Punjab was divided between the newly independent states of Pakistan and India.

Lahore, the former state capital, lay within Pakistan. Then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asked the French architect Le Corbusier to design Chandigarh as a new model capital for India’s Punjab. Under pressure from Hindi-speaking sections of the territory, however, Indian Punjab was divided, with Chandigarh becoming a federal territory which served as a combined capital of both Punjab and the new state of Haryana.

Restoration of Chandigarh--a modern, clean, wide-avenued city--to the Punjab has long been a goal of the Sikhs, who form a majority of the population in the city. To placate the 13 million residents of Haryana, Gandhi is likely to announce a new capital for that state.

Another key provision involves a longstanding dispute over water rights between Punjab and Haryana and Rajasthan states. On this point, the government acceded to Akali Dal demands and offered a tribunal under a Supreme Court justice to arbitrate the water issue and make a decision within six months.

Other components of the agreement included a government offer of compensation for property damage to all “innocent victims” of violence and an extension of a government investigation of such violence from New Delhi into two more cities, Bokaro and Kanpur, where many Sikh families suffered. The government also pledged to help find jobs for Sikh military men discharged after deserting their units following the announcement of the army raid on the Golden Temple and to repeal provisions of the Special Powers Act that suspended a wide range of civil liberties in Punjab.

There was no mention in the agreement about holding elections in Punjab. Because of continuing turmoil in the state, the government excluded Punjab from the parliamentary elections in December and from the state assembly elections in January.