Kairon

Kairon’s uncompromising attitude towards Sant Fateh Singh’s fast worried Akali leaders no end. It had been 18 days since the fast began and Kairon was still adamant that the Akalis first give an undertaking that they would not use the gurdwaras for political purposes. A week ago, Akali leaders had been claiming that the only way to save Sant Fateh Singh’s life was for Nehru to concede in principle the Punjabi suba. Nehru, however, seemed to be taking his cues from #Kairon and letting the Akali nose be rubbed to the ground. In the meanwhile, Fateh Singh’s weight had fallen from 263 lbs. at the beginning of the fast to 237 lbs. after 18 days of fasting. An extremely worried Akali leadership decided to approach Nehru directly. On January 4th two MLAs from #Punjab met Nehru at the AICC session at Sardarnagar with an urgent request from the side of a fasting Fateh Singh. Subsequently Nehru sent two telegrams. One to Sant Fateh Singh urging him to end his fast immediately and come to Delhi for talks but, Nehru made it clear that there was no offer of any sort to him.  The other telegram was sent to Kairon asking him to release Tara Singh. Kairon immediately complied. He issued a press note expressing hope that the Akali Dal would appreciate ‘the spirit of compassion and goodwill shown by the State Government in releasing Master Tara Singh’. At the same time, it was made clear that the release did not connote any change or shift in emphasis in the government’s policy concerning law and order and maintenance of communal harmony. Kairon specifically warned that ‘any challenge to the peace from any source would be met with determination’.

 

Tara Singh’s release from jail and his journey to Amritsar took the Akalis by surprise. When Tara Singh reached the Golden Temple, there was none to receive him. He entered Sant Fateh Singh’s temporary wooden abode near the Manji Sahib unnoticed and remained there till mid-night. 

 

Now Fateh Singh too could end his fast. From the point of view of Akali workers, Sant Fateh Singh, who had been living in the shadow of Master Tara Singh, now emerged as an important leader in his own rights. After all it was his fast that had forced Nehru to take cognizance of the obdurate position taken by Kairon in forcing the Akalis to continue with what by now had become the humiliating agitation for a Punjabi suba. 

By and large, the feeling was that Kairon had emerged the winner. Kairon had proven to all of India that there was no need for the government to bend before an unfair agitation simply because its leaders were willing to sit on a fast and take out morchas with a few thousand people. Kairon had demonstrated that within the limits of Indian democracy and the Constitution, it was possible to deal with serious situations of law and order. Kairon had demonstrated that communalism could be defeated by the state if it so desired. ‘India’s strongest Chief Minister’, Prem Bhatia would write about Kairon in the Times of India (01/10). 

The Akali version of communalism had been defeated. Master Tara Singh’s announcement that he would fight for the Punjabi suba through constitutional means was widely welcomed. Kairon thanked the Akali leaders for having ended their protest given its potential for generating communal stress in Punjab. It was decided to grant amnesty to the suba agitators, cases were withdrawn against proclaimed offenders who had taken shelter in the Golden Temple and other gurdwaras.  

Pic. Bishan Singh Samundari, Justice Gurnam Singh, Sant Fateh Singh, Dr V.V. Giri, who took part in the foundation stone laying ceremony of Guru Nanak Dev University in 1969