Controversial views in discovery of roots of Punjab terrorism

New Delhi, May 6: Demolishing the widely held belief that late Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale was working for the creation of a separate Sikh state of Khalistan, a new book seeks to establish that economic deprivation drove the youth in Punjab to take to arms.

It also books the Akali leadership at that time for not giving a positive lead to the Sikh community and says that Khalistan never became a popular demand among the Sikh community, but remained on the fringe.

Ms Harminder Kaur, a journalist and film maker, who has authored the book:'Blue Star over Amritsar', highlights that the demand for 'Khalistan was an expression of deep anguish over certain actions of the government, historical economic injustices and circumstantial facts. These include the Armed forces attack on the Golden Temple, the Mecca of the Sikhs, and total alienation following the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other parts of the country in 1984.

The Punjab imbroglio took a militant shape with the entry of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale on the Punjab scene towards the end of 1970s. Surprisingly, the author finds that few of the armed militants were fighting for any ideology.

The book says a majority of recruits in the Punjab militant movement were in their teens and mid-twenties, who belonged to poorer families with a smaller farm size and lower land productivity. The average farm size in July 1988 in Amritsar and Gurdaspur, which remained the hot bed of militancy accounting for nearly 75 per cent of such activities, was around 2 hectares (5-6 acres). As compared to this, the average land holdings in Patiala and Bathinda are double this size.

The survey by the study shows that nearly 40 per cent of the militants were driven into violent activities because of sheer poverty, 50 per cent took to it for the sake of adventure and only 10 per cent could be characterised as motivated or imbued with the spirit of a separate homeland for the Sikhs. Even the committed lot were not clear about the geo-political feasibility of the demand for Khalistan.

Ms Kaur had extensively reported on the Punjab problem, but has lately taken to film making too.

The author says the demand for Khalistan did not get favour from Sikh intellectuals who understood the implications of a separate Sikh state in the international arena. Some even argue that the Sikh faith and the religious ethos leaves no ground for a separate theological state, given the fact that it draws its inspirations from the Sufi traditions. The 'Guru Granth Sahib,' the holy book of the Sikhs, is in fact a confluence of great ideas from other religions and spiritual leaders.

Most people, especially those residing outside Punjab, believe that the demand for Khalistan problem began with the emergence of Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale as an important figure to reckon with as he felt that the creation of a seperte Sikh state was the only way to bring an end to 'discrimination' against the Sikh community.

"Nothing could be far removed from the reality than this...even Bhinderanwale remained vague. Whenever asked about Khalistan he would say: 'I do not ask for Khalistan, but if the government decides to give this time we will not say no,'' Ms Kaur says.

The book is a revised version, now in a paperback, of the author's earlier publication in the 1990s, with substantial new details.

The author says 'Khalistan' was the brainchild of politicians and figures like Jagjit Singh Chauhan, whose frustration emanated from the fact that they had failed to establish themselves politically in Punjab.

The book says such disgruntled politicians became a handy tool in the armoury of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who became a mute spectator, if not a willing partner, to the unleashing of a well-orchestrated propaganda for the demand for Khalistan. The political base of the Congress party was shrinking, threatening the hegemony of the party in future Parliamentary elections. These events took place in early 1980s.

Ms Gandhi found the "intransigent" Akalis the proverbial whipping boys and exploited these events to generate a "Hindu backlash," the author says.

To substantiate her contention, the author says, Ms Gandhi backed out at the last moment on three different occasions at least from a duly negotiated settlement with the agitating Akalis.

Instead, she ordered the Indian Army to storm the holiest of holy Sikh shrines-- the Golden Temple-- to flush out Bhinderanwale and his 200-odd gun-toting followers from its precincts, unmindful that she was lacerating the souls of 15 million Sikhs in India and abroad.

The author, however, says Akali leaders like Prakash Singh Badal, G S Tohra, Balwant Singh and Surjit Singh Barnala did their bit to contribute to the Punjab problem. Right from launching of the 'Dharamyudh' (religious war) under the leadership of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, who was later assassinated, in August, 1985, they gave ''no positive lead" to the Sikhs to expose the "machination" of Ms Gandhi. They did little to help Indians to see through the game of the strong women or muster enough courage to stand up against the doings of Bhinderanwale. Their prime sin was that being leaders the general populace was looking upon them to show the way. They failed to rise to the occassion.

Had they done so the history of the country, not to speak of Punjab, would perhaps have been different, steering the land of five rivers and the Sikh community from a bloody confrontation.

In the new edition of the book the author in a chapter titled 'The story of June 1984,' analyses the Punjab problem in the wider geo-political framework. The scene was the take-over of Afghanistan by the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1979 and its aftermath.

The weapons, the book says, supplied by US Intelligence Agency-- CIA-- in its proxy war against the Soviet Union were intended for distribution to the Mujahideen. These, however, invariably slipped into the hands of ISI, Pakistan's lethal intelligence outfit. At the end of the proxy war, ISI had "access to three million Kalashnikovs, fully greased and packed." But ISI mounted its covert operations meant to bleed India and used the turmoil in Punjab to further Pakistan's devious and sinister plan in Kashmir.

Using this background, the book says. in the post-Operation Blue Star era, Pakistan emerged as a key player, completely hijacking Punjab's political movement and transforming it into organised terrorism.

The book underlines the fact that in 1984 more than 700 Sikh youth had crossed over to Pakistan after Operation 'Wood Rose.' Training camps for these youth surfaced in the cities of Pakistan like Lyallpur, Multan, Kasur, Lahore and Sialkot.

Akin to the details shelled out by Indian intelligence agencies, the author says in the 1993 phase, the ISI had sought to use the smuggler-criminal network to revive terrorism in Punjab and activated the left-out militants for peddling drugs, explosives, weapons and fake currency. The intention was to destablise the Indian state through narco-terrorism.

The author argues that had the separatist movement been wide-spread and had a popular base, as is made out to be, it would not have been possible for the Armed Forces to destroy it with the support of the people. This is not a generally accepted view.

The book has an elaborate chapter sketching the entry of Armed forces into the Golden Temple on June 3, 1984--an event whose 23rd anniversary is not too far away. The book provides gory details of events which left 783 Sikhs, most of then pilgrims, dead with their bodies being carried from the holy precints of the 'Harmandir Sahib'(the temple of God) in garbage trucks.

The author provides detailed narration of militant groupings and the declarations of 'Khalistan' from the Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs, and the subsequent role of super cop K P S Gill in obliterating terrorism from Punjab.

The book, however, records in a conservative and cautious manner the violations of human rights and the high handness of the Punjab Police in the process.

The introduction to the book is by eminent writer Khushwant Singh, known for his erudition and one who made his mark with the publication of his popular book 'A train to Pakistan'. Khushwant Singh, who is going strong at 93, has never ceased to write on Sikh traditions, culture, religion and the happenings in Punjab.

The author also provides details about the November 1984 anti-Sikh carnage. She is unequivocal that the bloodiest- ever riots in the history of the Indian nation were orchestrated by the then Congress Party, which was in power at the Centre and many states.

The author bemoans that justice has been denied to its victims, despite the setting up of 11 Commissions and Committees. Why this is so is any one's guess, if not self-explanatory.

UNI