(This is just my opinion)

In the fashion of speaking frankly, he didn't come into my mind out of nowhere. Been reading a lot of things today that have made me scratch my head and think deeply about what should be done in the issue of Punjab. The first is my just reading a comment that said, "Unfortunately, Punjabis have high regard for reckless leaders who indulge in false bravado. Cautious and patient guys always termed traitors". Another thing was reading the Twitter account of a Hindutva nationalist from Punjab who mocked Guru Gobind Singh as a Mughal soldier for helping Bahadur Shah get into power (the purpose of which was to dispose Wazir Khan from Sirhind--only when that didn't work was when Banda Singh Bahadur was baptized and given the directive of the Khalsa army). The last thing was listening to a Nihang justify the kar sewa of restoring the AKal takht after 1984 by Akali-Nihang Santa Singh under the center government, under the pretense that the destruction of the building by the panth was under "religious fanaticism" and "destroyed the historic building."

Through all this, I think we again have an interesting clash of Sikh ideals that we so often see. We are supposed to balance the saint with the soldier, the humility of being a chela with the pride of being a Sardar. Similarly, we must balance the patience and decision-making in interest of looking at what's best in the longterm, with the moral conscience to practice "anakh" (defiance) when we just know something is wrong. I still do agree with the Sangat's decision to tear down the Akal Takht, even though the historical loss is sad--the loss of economic and historical capital was worth not having an Akal Takht directly bankrolled and overlooked by the Indian government. But I do think what happened to Longowal was a big, big, mistake. Back then, we listened to Badal, who told us he was a traitor to the panth--yet now, look at all the things Badal's Akali Dal is doing in Punjab! I am not advocating any specific course of action for the situation in Punjab, because honestly so many of the details are still unknown as is my expertise on the situation. But again, let's remember that the patient path is not always the cowardly one, and the bold and brave one may be charismatic but not always the best path.