Shiromani Akali Dal launches fresh agitation echoing its historic 1983 Morcha.
Chandigarh:
Forty-two years after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) launched one of its most defining Morchas on August 4, 1983, the party is preparing for another large-scale agitation, this time against the AAP-led Punjab government’s Land Pooling Policy 2025. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the start of the fresh protest from September 1, while drawing historical parallels to the 1983 movement that had reshaped Punjab’s political and agrarian landscape.
The announcement comes amid growing discontent among farmers and landowners and just days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the implementation of the land pooling policy for four weeks, marking a significant legal development that coincides with mounting political opposition.
Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Guardian, SAD Political Advisor Harcharan Bains, a seasoned journalist and strategist, underscored the symbolic significance of the timing. “It was on August 4, 1983, that the Shiromani Akali Dal launched one of its most significant Morchas from the footsteps of Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. That movement reshaped Punjab’s political discourse,” Bains recalled. “Forty-two years later, we are once again entering August with a renewed battle—not just for land, but for the very federal rights and dignity of Punjab. The symbolism is powerful. History seems to be circling back,” he added. This calculated invocation of the past is intended to reawaken memories of the Akali struggle for Punjab’s autonomy and farmers’ rights—positioning the current agitation not merely as a protest against a policy, but as part of a historical continuum.
On Friday, Sukhbir Badal declared that the party would begin an indefinite protest from September 1, terming the land pooling initiative a “coercive land grab” that would benefit Delhi-based builders at the cost of Punjab’s farmers. He alleged that the ₹30,000-crore policy is part of a larger conspiracy to fund Arvind Kejriwal’s political ambitions in other states through Punjab’s land and resources.
The protest will begin with a religious ardas (prayer) at the Akal Takht on August 31, reinforcing the movement’s moral and cultural moorings. On September 1, Sukhbir will lead the first jatha (group of 500 volunteers) from Gurdwara Amb Sahib to Panchayat Bhawan, which he described as the new “Sheesh Mahal”—a veiled reference to Kejriwal’s alleged control over the Punjab administration from Chandigarh.
In the days following, SAD leaders from each of Punjab’s 117 constituencies will dispatch their own jathas to join the protest in rotation. The demonstration will continue indefinitely until the policy is withdrawn.
A three-member coordination team—Daljit Singh Cheema, N.K. Sharma, and Parminder Singh Sohana—will manage the logistics and communication for the movement.
While the political campaign escalates, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has intervened by issuing a four-week stay on aspects of the policy. Though the full verdict is awaited, the court’s order temporarily restrains the state from advancing land acquisition or infrastructural developments tied to the policy.
This stay came after several farmer bodies and individuals approached the court, arguing that the pooling model undermines constitutional rights and distorts land ownership structures. The court’s response lends legal weight to SAD’s narrative and offers protesting farmers a momentary reprieve.
At the heart of SAD’s resistance lies the allegation that the Punjab government, through its bureaucracy and police machinery, is forcing landowners to submit consent forms or affidavits in support of the policy.
“I warn all such officers to desist,” said Badal. “The AAP government has only a year and a half left. No illegal act will be forgotten or forgiven.”
Sukhbir also invoked his party’s track record on defending farmers’ land rights, pointing to a key historical decision made by his father, former CM Parkash Singh Badal. “My father had returned the land acquired for the SYL canal back to the farmers,” he said. “Today, I give a solemn commitment: if the AAP government forcibly acquires land under this policy and the SAD comes to power, we will return every inch of that land to its rightful owners—just as we did in the case of SYL.”
The SAD chief claimed that the land pooling model threatens not only agricultural holdings but also the livelihoods of farm labourers, small traders, and rural artisans—sections that will be displaced or economically disempowered by large-scale infrastructure development.
In a dramatic appeal, Sukhbir extended an olive branch to SAD dissidents and breakaway leaders, urging them to “forgive and return to the mother party.”
Citing a resolution recently passed by the Akal Takht Sahib that called for Panthic unity, Badal emphasized the need to strengthen Sikh and Punjabi identity in the face of what he called a political and cultural onslaught by outsiders.
“The SAD is 105 years old. This is not the time to divide; it’s the time to unite,” he said.
Badal also raised the issue of fresh summons issued to senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia, calling it a political vendetta. “Multiple SITs have investigated him, and all have drawn a blank. Still, the AAP government continues this witch-hunt,” he said, adding that the party will meet the Governor of Punjab over this matter.
This Morcha marks an opportunity for the Shiromani Akali Dal to revive its identity as a grassroots party of farmers and federalists. By returning to the language and tactics of its 1980s mobilizations, the party is attempting to reassert its relevance in a state where AAP swept the last elections.
