SAD Revives Protest Legacy to Fight Punjab Land Policy

Shiromani Akali Dal launches fresh agitation echoing its historic 1983 Morcha

- TARUNI GANDHI

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.

ECHOES OF AUGUST 4, 1983

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.

PROTEST PLAN UNFOLDS