These
were heady days of SYL row, and the Assembly session was on
when I dug out an article penned by Chief Minister Amarinder
Singh in a newspaper in 1987. Leader of the Opposition
Parkash Singh Badal found a lot in The Indian Express story
to slam the CM with, though Amarinder rushed to own up the
article, as he said, “120 per cent.”
Amarinder demanded in '87 what Akalis demand now:
Rejection of all past pacts
S P Singh
NOTWITHSTANDING the new-found reconciliation approach on the SYL issue, Akalis and Congress are poles apart on the strategy, and as Parkash Singh Badal leads the campaign for rejection of all earlier agreements on waters division, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is not picking up the bait, limiting himself to talk about a new Tribunal.
But this stance of Amarinder Singh is of veery recent vintage. Till a few years ago, Amarinder was convinced that all the agreements reached among the water-sharing states did not reflect the will of the people, and the one brokered by Indira Gandhi in end-1981 was “more of a political sop.”
In fact, he is on record demanding even an end to the flow of water to Rajasthan, a state to which he himself directed release of more water after noticing scarcity of water on one his recent visits there.
Virtually demanding in 1987 what Akalis are demanding now – rejection of all earlier agreements of 1955, 1976 and 1981 – Amarinder not only maintained but even wrote a long article titled Rivers issue: beyond Eradi report in an English daily, to conclude that “the option open today is really only one, and that is to allow Punjab the use of its own rivers, and to provide Haryana water from surplus water of Yamuna and Ganga, and Rajasthan the water from Narmada.”
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Chief Minister Amarinder's stance on Eradi Tribunal has also undergone a subtle but significant change. He earlier maintained that the Tribunal misinterpreted/exceeded its terms of reference, but now argues that the terms of reference were in themselves wrong. On Punjab Accord, however, Amarinder was at that very time clear that it was no longer relevant. He described it as a “well-intentioned document ... that is now only of historical interest to future students of these times.” |
In Amarinder's own words, penned in the summer of 1987, “(T)he much quoted figures of allocations of 1955, 1976 and 1981 are not inter-state agreements, made with the will of the people.”
He slams the 1955 allocations for resulting from a meeting “where no agreement was concluded, nor were the minutes of the meeting laid down on the table of Punjab Legislature.” The 1976 allocation also got the royal rap: “The Central Government order of 24.3,76 ... arbitrarily distributed the entire Ravi-Beas surplus water, based on the decision taken in 1955.”
Amarinder's rejection of 1981 award, known as Indira award, is much more strong: “The agreement between three Congress Chief Ministers on 31.12.81 was more a political sop, as the water purported to be distributed did not exist, a situation the then Chief Minister Darbara Singh was induced to accept.” Thus, Amarinder's stance was crystal clear, no ambiguities at all – rejection of earlier pacts and sole Punjab right over its rivers, something that Akalis demand now. But then Amarinder has changed parties since, and convictions too perhaps!
November 27, 2002