ABSTRACT

Shiromani Akali Dal, the oldest state party in India, emanated from an ethnic movement launched by the Sikh community in Punjab to take control of their gurdwaras. As an ‘ethnic’ party, it has claimed to be the sole political custodian of the minority Sikh community in India since colonial times. The party has often found itself trapped at the crossroads of region and religion. This explains why it transitioned from pursuing the politics of ‘representation’ in colonial Punjab to the pursuit of ‘a territorial homeland’ for the Sikhs after partition. The Congress’ attempt to deny the reorganisation of the state and subsequently its efforts to weaken the faction ridden Akali Dal, and also the party’s own inability to draw the bulk Sikh votes, compelled the party to pursue cultural and the region-specific autonomist politics which led to the rise of militancy. In the post-militancy era, the party made a comeback as an ‘electoral’ populist party in alliance with the BJP by undergoing a paradigmatic shift from contentious ethnic and anti-centre agenda to peace and development in the state politics based on the concept of Punjabiat. The same period, however, has also witnessed the rise of previously unseen dynastic party leadership .

摘要

Shiromani Akali Dal 是印度最古老的政党，起源于旁遮普邦锡克教社区发起的民族运动，旨在控制他们的古德瓦拉。作为一个“民族”政党，它自殖民时代以来一直声称是印度少数锡克教社区的唯一政治监护人。该党经常发现自己被困在地区和宗教的十字路口。这就解释了为什么它从在殖民地旁遮普邦追求“代表”政治转变为在分割后为锡克教徒追求“领土家园”。国会试图否认国家重组以及随后削弱派系缠身的阿卡利达尔的努力，以及该党自身无法获得大量锡克教选票，迫使该党追求文化和特定地区的自治政治，这导致了好战的兴起。在后好战时代，该党通过与 BJP 结盟的“选举”民粹主义政党卷土重来。旁遮普语。然而，同一时期也见证了前所未见的王朝政党领导层的崛起。