Pak supporting resurgence of Khalistani movement in Punjab: Lt Gen (retd) Brar, who led Operation Blue Star

New Delhi, Jan 30: Pakistan is supporting the resurgence of the Khalistani movement in Punjab, said Lt Gen (retd) Kuldeep Singh Brar, who played a key role in the Indian Army's Operation Blue Star.

A 1971 India-Pakistan war veteran and the Liberation of Bangladesh, Lt Gen Brar was the commanding officer of Operation Blue Star and remains on the hitlist of Khalistani terrorists. He survived an attempt on his life 10 years ago in London.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Kuldeep Singh Brar recalled the days when there was no law and order in 1980s and everyone had accepted Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale like 11th Guru. "He lived in a village called Rode but he went around giving his sermons. And at that stage slowly and steadily the state of Punjab started crumbling and Bhindranwale was an all powerful man. There were murders, smuggling, and banks being looted," Lt Gen Brar said.

"A DIG was killed and thrown out of Golden Temple. Police were even afraid to take any action against him. Because Bhindranwale had become like Frankenstein," Brar recalls. The feeling was so strong at that time that Khalistan was about to be declared a separate country. "Then the movement started building up about Khalistan. At that time unemployment was high in Punjab. The youth were without jobs. Youths used to roam around with pistols in their motorcycles. There were also mini gangsters. Bhindranwale had full control of the state," Lt Gen Brar said.

On asking about the revival of the Khalistani movement, he said, "It is horrible. I go to the UK, I go to Southall...I see Bhindranwale's picture everywhere. What happened to our diaspora who have gone abroad? Our Indian people have gone abroad. More pro-Khalistan and all."

He also claimed that there is a resurgence in Punjab of the movement. "Pakistan is also assisting them. In London, Canada, America, and Pakistan all together they want a resurgence here," he added.

Bhindranwale, who was the head of the Sikh religious sect Damdami Taksal, was killed along with his armed followers during Operation Blue Star launched by the Indian Army at the Golden Temple complex.

Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, had ordered the military operation to flush out Sikh terrorists including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who were accumulating weapons inside the premises of the Golden Temple.