 |
Navigation
|
Sant
Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwale
 
INTRODUCTION:
In June 1984, the Indian Government sent nearly a half million troops to
Punjab, sealed the state from the rest of the world, and launched an attack,
code-named 'Operation Bluestar', on the Darbar Sahib complex in Amritsar and
over forty other Gurdwaras in Punjab. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, head of
the Damdami Taksaal, and many students and teachers belonging to the Taksaal,
perished in the conflict. Several thousand men, women and children, mostly
innocent pilgrims, also lost their lives in that attack. In this essay, we
describe Sant Bhindranwale's life, mission and the growth of opposition to him.
We also look at specific allegations leveled by the Indian Government against
the Sant in the light of his public pronouncements and of contemporary reports.
We specially note the campaign of misrepresentation and vilification carried on
by the Government as well as the role played by the news media in propagating
certain myths. SANT BHINDRANWALE - LIFE AND MISSION 1. Early Life and Success as
a Sikh Preacher Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was born in village rode located
in Faridkot District of Punjab, in 1947. From his childhood, he had a religious
bent of mind. Sant Gurbachan Singh Khalsa, head of the Damdami Taksaal, the
premier Sikh religious school, visited the child's village and suggested to
Joginder Singh, Jarnail Singh's father, that his son join the Taksaal as a
student. Coming to the Taksaal in 1965, Jarnail Singh received instruction in
Sikh theology and history under Sant Gurbachan Singh's tutelage and later Sant
Kartar Singh Bhindranwale's. He grew up to be an effective preacher of the
faith. On August 25, 1977, upon the death of Sant Kartar Singh, he became head
of the Taksaal. From July 1977 to July 1982, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
extensively toured cities and villages of Punjab to preach the Sikh faith. He
also visited other states and cities in India. Wherever he went, he carried Siri
Guru Gobind Singh Sahib's message to every home exhorting Sikhs to take Amrit,
observe the Sikh appearance, and live according to the teachings of Siri Guru
Granth Sahib. As Tavleen Singh tells us : 'His philosophy in six words was
Nashey chaddo, Amrit chhako, Gursikh bano (Give up addictions, Take Amrit,
Become good Sikhs)'. Explaining his mission, he said : 'My mission is to
administer Amrit, to explain the meanings of Gurbani and to teach Gurbani to
those around me; ... and (to tell people) that a Hindu should be a firm Hindu, a
Muslim should be a firm Muslim, and a Sikh should be a firm Sikh'. His preaching
was based on love. He said : 'If we speak to someone with hatred and try to
assert our superiority, it will create hatred in the minds of everyone. So long
as we have the spirit of love, so long as we have the support of Satguru
Hargobind Sahib, the Master of Miri and Piri, is there any power on earth that
can subdue us?' He wanted the Sikhs to 'come back to Anandpur, their home' by
taking Amrit, and become his brothers and sons of Siri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib.
Sant Bhindranwale had a charismatic personality and spoke in simple village
idiom. Those who listened to him, were impressed by his simple living, personal
charm, and clear thinking. Joyce Pettigrew, who met him in 1980, writes : 'There
was a very close association between the Sant and the people, as I myself
witnessed on a visit to meet Sant Bhindranwale in Guru Nanak Niwas.' According
to Shiva, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale 'gained his popularity with the Punjab
peasantry by launching an ideological crusade against the cultural corruption of
Punjab. The most ardent followers of Bhindranwale in his first phase of rising
popularity were children and women, both because they were relatively free of
the new culture of degenerative consumption, and they were worst hit by the
violence it generated. In the second phase of Bhindranwale's popularity, men
also joined his following, replacing vulgar movies with visits to gurdwaras, and
reading the 'gurbani' in place of pornographic literature. The Sant's following
grew as he successfully regenerated the 'good' life of purity, dedication and
hard work by reviving these fundamental values of the Sikh religion's way of
life. The popularity of Bhindranwale in the countryside was based on this
positive sense of fundamentalism as revitalizing the basic moral values of life
that had been the first casualty of commercial capitalism. During the entire
early phase of Bhindranwale's preaching, he made no anti-government or
anti-Hindu statement, but focused on the positive values of the Sikh religion.
His role was largely that of a social and religious reformer.' According to
Khushwant Singh : 'Within a short period of becoming head of the Taksaal,
Jarnail Singh came to be recognized as the most effective instrument of
renaissance of Sikh fundamentalism. He toured villages exhorting Sikh youth to
return to the spartan ways of the Khalsa started by Guru Gobind Singh: not to
clip their beards, to abstain from smoking, drinking and taking drugs. Wherever
he went, he baptized young men and women by the hundreds. An integral part of
his preaching was that all Sikhs should, as had been required by their warrior
Guru Gobind Singh, be shastradharis - weapon-bearers.' Tully and Jacob state
that: 'In spite of the Government's propaganda, to many people Bhindranwale
remained a sant, or holy man, not a terrorist.' The religious revival lead by
Sant Bhindranwale resulted in a large number of Sikhs, especially the youth,
receiving initiation into the Sikh faith. According to Khushwant Singh :
'Bhindranwale's amrit prachar was a resounding success. Adults in their
thousands took oaths in public to abjure liquor, tobacco and drugs and were
baptized. Video cassettes showing blue films and cinema houses lost out to the
village gurdwara. Men not only saved money they had earlier squandered in
self-indulgence, but now worked longer hours on their lands and raised better
crops. They had much to be grateful for to Jarnail Singh who came to be revered
by them as Baba Sant Jarnail Singhji Khalsa Bhindranwale.' When Sant
Bhindranwale was staying in the Darbar Sahib complex during 1982 and 1983, four
to five hundred persons were administered Amrit each Wednesday and Sunday. On
April 13, 1983 over ten thousand were initiated and during the month ending on
April 13, 1984, forty-five thousand Sikhs received Amrit . This revival was
extremely significant and Sant Bhindranwale was emerging as the leading figure
in the Sikh faith and a role-model for the youth. I was once told by a relative
that his two sons had stopped taking tea. I asked him why, and if they had been
to see Sant Bhindranwale. The reply was: 'No, it is just the way things are in
Punjab. The young people love and admire him so much that if they come to know
what the Sant does or doesn't do, they like to follow his example.' People
sought his advice and intercession for personal problems and conflict
resolution. Khushwant Singh reports : 'On a later visit to Amritsar I got an
inkling into the reasons of Bhindranwale's popularity. I will narrate two
incidents to illustrate this. One day a young girl came to see Bhindranwale.
..... She clutched his feet and sobbed out her story of how she was maltreated
by her husband's family for failing to extract more money from her parents and
of her husband's unwillingness to take her side. Bhindranwale asked her name and
where she lived. "So you are a daughter of the Hindus," he said.
"Are you willing to become the daughter of a Sikh?" She nodded.
Bhindranwale sent a couple of his armed guards to fetch the girl's family. An
hour later a very frightened trio consisting of the girl's husband and his
parents were brought to his presence. "Is this girl a daughter of your
household?", he demanded. They admitted she was. "She tells me that
you want money from her father. I am her father." He placed a tray full of
currency notes before them and told them: "take whatever you want".
The three fell at his feet and craved forgiveness.' Khushwant Singh tells us
that he was so respected that, after his election to be head of the Damdami
Taksaal in preference to Amrik Singh, son of Sant Kartar Singh, 'instead of
resenting the choice, Amrik Singh became a confidante and collaborator of
Jarnail Singh.' 2. Conflict with Sant Nirankaris Sant Bhindranwale first gained
prominence in public life when he organized a protest to stop the Sant Nirankari
assembly in Amritsar on April 13, 1978 after he was unsuccessful in persuading
the administration to stop it. A group of one hundred persons, including 25 from
Sant Bhindranwale's group and 75 from the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, participated in
this peaceful protest. These unarmed people were fired upon by Nirankari gunmen
leaving 13 dead and 78 wounded. The police, instead of stopping the massacre,
hurled tear-gas at the protestors converting them into sitting ducks. A police
officer who was present at the scene told this writer that the Sikh protestors
had agreed to stop some distance away from the Nirankari assembly and to wait
for the police to negotiate with the Nirankaris to end their public meeting. However, while they were waiting, Nirankari gunmen moved behind a row of busses,
parked on one side of the road, to come to the rear of the protestors and opened
fire. The leader of the protestors was shot dead by one of the police officials
as he tried to persuade the police to intervene and stop the killing. Every
attempt was made to avoid punishing the guilty. Instead of apprehending those
who had committed the heinous crime, the local authorities escorted them safely
out of the state. Sant Bhindranwale felt specially let down by Parkash Singh
Badal, then Chief Minister of Punjab, and by Jiwan Singh Umranangal, a cabinet
minister, who was present in Amritsar at the time of the April 1978 massacre.
Badal felt constrained by the desires of the Hindu members of his coalition
government and Jiwan Singh Umranangal never saw any merit in the protest
organized by the Sikhs. These events caused extreme bitterness in the minds of
the Sikhs. They felt that the Government was deliberately siding with the
murderers and treating Sikhs as second-class citizens whose life had no value.
An order was issued from Siri Akal Takhat Sahib calling upon all Sikhs to
boycott the Nirankaris. Immediately after the massacre, Sant Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale personally cared for the dead and the wounded . This endeared him
even more to the Sikh masses. After prolonged agitation by the Sikhs, a case was
registered against the perpetrators. However, the judge, reportedly upon
receiving a bribe , acquitted all of them stating that they had acted in
self-defense . The state government, controlled by Indira Gandhi's party,
elected not to appeal this judgment. As Sikhs in various places in India
continued to protest the Nirankari practice of openly denigrating their faith,
each protest was met by firing by the police and the Nirankaris with the death
toll of Sikhs gradually mounting to 28. In April 1980, the Nirankari leader,
Baba Gurbachan Singh, was assassinated. His followers named Sant Bhindranwale as
a suspect even though he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Several of his
associates and relatives were arrested. For his part, the Sant continued to
openly oppose the Nirankaris and expressed satisfaction that such a wicked
person had been eliminated. He declared that if he met Ranjit Singh, the
suspected killer, he would weigh him in gold. However, it is said that when Bhai
Ranjit Singh did show up clandestinely at Darbar Sahib in 1983, he was not
honored by Sant Bhindranwale. Also, when Singh Sahib Gurdial Singh Ajnoha,
Jathedar, Siri Akal Takhat Sahib, was considering a rapprochement with the Sant
Nirankaris, Sant Bhindranwale declared that he would abide by the decision taken
by the Akal Takhat . 3. Growth of opposition to Sant Bhindranwale Sant
Bhindranwale's phenomenal success in reviving the Sikh faith among rural masses
of Punjab was viewed with concern by the established leadership of the country.
The secularists viewed the revival of the faith as a reversal of the process of
weakening of religious bonds. They were afraid that under Sant Bhindranwale's
leadership, the Sikh religion might strengthen, spread and eventually result in
the emergence of a cohesive Sikh nation which might possibly demand separation
of Punjab from the Indian state. Even though many Hindus join Sikhs prayers,
attend gurdwaras, and regularly participate in Sikh religious ceremonies, the
extremists among them misrepresented the daily Sikh prayer as a call for Sikh
domination. Whether by design to undermine the Sikh religion or due to paranoia
against possible balkanization of India they confused Sant Bhindranwale's
emphasis upon the distinct identity of the Sikh religion with political
separatism. Akalis were worried that even though Sant Bhindranwale insisted that
he had no personal political ambitions , he could emerge as a king-maker and
jeopardize their hegemony over the Sikh community. The Indian news media, by and
large, joined in the witchhunt along with several well known 'intellectuals'.
Even Khushwant Singh, who had earlier discussed the survival of the Sikhs as a
separate community in a rational manner, described this revival as 'Sikh
fundamentalism raising its ugly head'. Each of these groups, anxious about
defending its territory, policies, and/or beliefs, had a role in promoting
misrepresentations and misunderstandings about Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
and/or the Sikh religion. All of them, with different perspectives and
interests, focused on a common target; Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who
spearheaded the Sikh revival.
MISREPRESENTATION AND VILIFICATION OF SANT
BHINDRANWALE 1. Exaggeration and False Apportionment of Blame In order to
mislead the Indian public and to facilitate the passage of draconian laws
restricting Sikh right to life and liberty, the Indian Government blamed Sant
Bhindranwale for every crime that was committed in Punjab. At the same time, the
level of crime in the state was grossly exaggerated to justify government
oppression as necessary for control of separatism and the preservation of
national unity and integrity. Punjab was a state with a crime rate significantly
below the Indian national figures. According to government reports , 172 persons
were killed in the period from August 5, 1982, to December 31, 1983, and 453
(including 118 killed by the police and paramilitary organizations and some
killed in the neighboring state of Haryana), over the period August 5, 1981, to
June 2, 1984. Sinha et al. tell us : 'In Delhi alone in the year 1983, 244
persons were murdered (Statesman, July 1, 1984). .... Clubbing together every
kind of crime under the heading and blaming the Akali agitation for all of them
is but an attempt to mislead the people.' Nayar confirms that 'Punjab Government
circulated a secret document. This document said that there were 5,422 murders
in 1980 and 5,068 in 1981 in U.P. while in Punjab there were 620 murders in 1980
and 544 in 1981.' It is noteworthy that of all the cases listed in the White
Paper it was only in eleven cases that the attackers are even alleged to be
Sikh. In all other cases the assailants were unknown. Responding to this
propaganda, Sant Bhindranwale said : 'If someone's dog or cat dies, they say
Bhindranwala gets it done.' Also : 'At whatever place, whatever untoward
incident occurs, whether any other place is named in that connection or not, the
names of Harmandar Sahib and Nanak Niwas are always included. This is for
anything happening anywhere, not only in a couple of cases. Madhya Pradesh is
thousands of kilometers from here. Something happened at Bhilai a long time
back. Even that case has been linked to this place. After that, at various other
places, many incidents occurred. The Government and the Mahashas, communal
newspapers, have not hesitated in linking Harmandar Sahib to these. These
conspiracies are being hatched and stories concocted with the sole purpose of
vilifying the Akali Dal and to make this struggle unsuccessful.' Extremist
Hindus described Sikh religious practices as commitment to violence and
initiation of people into Sikh religion as provocative action. They described
the Sant's trips to Punjab villages as : 'Sant Bhindranwale himself used to go
about with about 50 of his armed men in a bus and a lot of tension was generated
in the State as a result.' Noting this, Sant Bhindranwale said : 'One who takes
Amrit and helps others take it; who reads the Gurbani and teaches others to do
the same; who gives up intoxicants and helps others to do likewise; who urges
all to get together and work in cooperation; who preaches Hindu-Sikh unity and
asks for peaceful coexistence; who says: "If you are a Muslim be a devout
Muslim, if you are a Sikh be a devout Sikh, respect your Isht, unite under the
saffron Nishaan Sahib stoutly support the Panth, and be attached to Satguru's
Throne and Guru's Darbar"; persons who preach like this are now all being
called extremists by this Government and by the Mahasha press. In particular, I
have been given a big title. They call me the "leader of the
extremists". I am a firm extremist, but of the type which has the
characteristics I have described to you.' He also said : 'Who is an extremist in
this Government's eyes? It is one who has a turban on his head; wears the
kachhera; supports unity and follows the Guru; is desirous of progress of the
country; is desirous of justice for the blood of the martyrs, for the insult of
Satguru Granth Sahib; and promotes good of all mankind. In Punjab today, anyone
who believes in and follows the path of "Nanak says: God's Name is
glorious; there is good for all in accepting Your (God's) will", is an
extremist.' 2. Staged Crimes To brand devout Sikhs as criminals, the Government
stage-managed numerous crimes. The modus operandi was that the police would
orchestrate a crime, the Government would ascribe the crime to Sant
Bhindranwale. Following this, the law-enforcement agencies would round up a few
devout Sikhs and harass, torture, rape, and even 'eliminate' them through
torture. a. Cows' heads thrown in a Hindu temple According to a report :
'Surinder Kapoor M.L.A. created sensation, when in a meeting of the Congress
(Indira) Legislative Party, Punjab, held on March 6, 1983, he accused the then
Punjab Government of hatching a conspiracy at Mohali of cutting a few heads of
dead cows and of actually conveying them to Amritsar for being stealthily thrown
in some Hindu temple there and thus lit the first communal fire in the state'.
Sant Bhindranwale and the AISSF had nothing to do with this, were ignorant about
the conspiracy, but were blamed by the Government whereas it showed no interest
in prosecuting a person caught red-handed throwing tobacco in the Darbar Sahib
premises. Sant Bhindranwale said : 'A person associated with a Hindu Vairagi
brought and dropped some tobacco in the Parkarma. Sikhs caught him right there
and handed him over to the police. He admitted that he been sent by Romesh and
that they were four men who had come. For throwing tobacco at a religious place
of the Sikhs, for the desecration, the police would not even take him to the
Police Station. He was released on the road outside the Station. On the other
hand, someone brought a head of a dead cow from the slaughterhouse and dropped
it in a Hindu religious place. Neither any Hindu nor any Sikh witnessed any Sikh
boy doing it. Simply based on suspicion, a price of fifty thousand rupees has
been placed on the head of Jaswant Singh Thekedar of Gurdaspur and of
twenty-five thousand on the head of Rajinder Singh of Mehta .... A price was
placed on his head because he grew up in the village where Bhindranwala lives,
because he is a student in the Federation, because he is an employee of the
Shromani Parbandhak Committee, and he has the complete appearance (of a Sikh).'
He further explained : 'No Sikh is in favor of placing cows' heads in temples.
We are also not in favor of killing the cow. We do not consider the cow a guru,
it is a good animal.' b. Bombs Thrown at the Chief Minister of Punjab According
to Sinha et al. : 'Dubious attacks on Chief Minister Darbara Singh and such
other activists were stage-managed in order to malign the Akali movement and to
find a pretext to unleash repression..... On August 20, 1982, two hand-grenades
were thrown at him at Rahon. A few policemen and onlookers were injured but the
grenade thrown at Darbara Singh did not blast instead it was securely tied in a
handkerchief. One man was claimed to have been arrested at the place of the
incident. The following night one man in custody was later set free. It was
proved that he was a police person who managed the show, and hence had to be set
free.' Using this stage-managed crime as a pretext, an innocent Amritdhari Sikh
was arrested and tortured to death. Sant Bhindranwale told his listeners : 'Bhai
Gurmeet Singh of Dhulkot, the only son of his parents ... was caught. His nails
were pulled out and salt was poured (over the wounds); his hands were burnt by
placing candles under the palms of his hands. Then Bhullar sent a wireless
message to the Chief Minister of Punjab, stating that his hands had been burnt,
his nails pulled out and salt poured over them but he would not say anything
except Sat Siri Akal and Vaheguru. Then, the words came out of this proud man's
mouth that this man should be shot to death. That is how he was martyred.' c.
Extortion Some persons received letters demanding money. These letters were
purportedly written on behalf of Sant Bhindranwale. Upon this being brought to
his attention, he said : 'I like to make an appeal to the congregation and I
like to inform the newspapermen too so that they can definitely publish it. I
have this letter in my hand. Seven such letters have been received in the Qadian
area. One has reached Pritam Singh Bhatia. In that letter too it is written
about a Hindu that he should reach such and such place near the railway tracks,
where Bhatia Sahib's sheller is located, on August 12, 1983 with 50,000 rupees.
The person to whom that letter is addressed has been asked to reach there at
such and such time with 50,000 rupees and if he does not reach there, he should
make preparations because he would be finished off in a few days. On the top is
written: "There is one God, Eternal: Long live Khalistan." At the end,
at the bottom, is written: "Long live Bhindranwala." So, I appeal to
the congregation that this is the product of the Government's black deeds. This
is because in the cases that they had registered against Singhs ... the Singhs
are being acquitted and released. To hide this, to hide their own black deeds,
and to tarnish the brightening image of the Jatha, to malign it, the Government
has started these activities. .... There are some names mentioned in this
letter. There is one Jag Mohan Lal, another is Tilak Raj, there are Om Parkash,
Subhash Chander, Mohinder Lal, and Brij Mohan. ... So, Khalsa Ji, letters have
been sent addressed to these names. ... There is one for a person with
"Singh" in his name too. This has been done because if all the letters
were addressed to Hindus, it might have aroused suspicion. The manager of the
Punjab & Sind Bank in Qadian is, I learn, a Sikh. In the letter to him is
written: "You should come to such and such place on August 11, 1983 with
300,000 rupees and you will be safe. Otherwise, I have Bhindranwala's permission
to put you on the train (of death) on such and such date. You have the Sikh
appearance; you should stoutly support us; bring a liberal amount." This is
what is written in this letter. We have to guard ourselves against such people.
To give a bad name, to place obstructions in the conduct of this ongoing
agitation, the Government is going to use every possible trick. We ought to be
fully alert to these. This Taksaal has never believed in robberies, thefts,
using intoxicants, nor does it believe now nor it ever will.' Speaking about the
police and their 'dirty tricks', the Sant said : 'Police is set up for
protection of the public. But today's police have taken on the form of robbers
to loot the public. There are innumerable examples of this, not one, two or
four. When there was an investigation into a bank (robbery) case, during
investigation of police officials, their names came up; if the culprits were
caught red-handed placing bombs in a city, they proved that they were employees
of the police. When dogs were used (to track criminals), they got into the car
of the S.D.M., they went into the home of a Narkdhari (Nirankari) and they
entered a police station.' 3. Oppression Directed against Devout Sikhs a. Murder
of Devout Sikhs in 'Faked Encounters' For officially orchestrated as well as
fictitious crimes, devout Sikhs were rounded up, labelled as terrorists,
tortured and often killed. Tully and Jacob report a conversation with Darbara
Singh, the Chief Minister of Punjab : 'He did order the police to take action
against those terrorists they could not get hold of and there was a series of
what the Indian police call 'encounters' - a euphemism for cold-blooded murder
by the police. Darbara Singh admitted as much to me. On another occasion, when
Satish Jacob and I both met him, the former Chief Minister said, 'Encounters did
take place, and they were killed. I told my senior police officers, "You
kill the killers and I will take the responsibility." ' And again :
'Bhinder told me that ten people he described as 'Bhindranwale's do or die men'
had been shot by the police and that more than 1600 people had been arrested.'
It is noteworthy that the appellations 'terrorist', 'suspected terrorist', 'do
or die men' were being used, by Tully and Jacob, synonymously with Amritdhari, a
formally initiated Sikh. Nayar reports : 'The police retaliated by raiding the
houses of suspects, beating up the inmates and even killing a few of them in
faked 'encounters'. Twenty four 'wanted' people were killed thus. This
infuriated Bhindranwale the most; he would say that the Hindu police were
killing 'innocent Sikhs'.' Also that : 'Since the police had no way to
distinguish between a Sikh who is a terrorist and one who is not, every Sikh
travelling to Delhi was searched. Trains were stopped at wayside stations at
midnight in cold December and the Sikh passengers, travelling even in first
class AC coaches, were made to get down to appear before a police official on
the platform. Buses were detained to get Sikh passengers down and at some places
the rustic policemen said: "All Sikhs should come down." Khushwant
Singh tells us : 'The police were rarely able to identify or arrest the
culprits. Its only method of dealing with the menace was to organize fake
encounters and kill anyone they supported.' Often, young Sikhs, fearing torture
by the police, would run away from their homes. In such cases their families
were victimized by the police. Nayar confirms that: 'Relatives of the absconders
were harassed and even detained. Even many days after the excesses committed by
the police, we could see how fear-stricken the people were. Villagers gave us
the names of some of the police sub-inspectors and deputy superintendents
involved; some of them, they said, had a reputation of taking the law into their
hands.' Zail Singh, who was President of India at the time, himself confirmed
cases of police shooting dead 23 Sikhs in 1982 for the simple reason that, as
part of a statewide protest, they tried to peacefully stop traffic on a road,
and of killing another six for shouting slogans. b. The Chando-Kalan Looting by
the Police and the Chowk-Mehta Massacre On 9th September 1981, Lala Jagat Narain
was assassinated and, immediately, without any supporting evidence, Sant
Bhindranwale was presumed to be associated with the crime. Warrants for the
Sant's arrest were issued on 11th September. The Police tried to arrest him in
village Chando-Kalan in Haryana on the 13th but by the time they reached there,
the Sant had left the place. The Police ransacked the village, killed 20 persons
in indiscriminate firing , and set fire to two busses belonging to the Taksaal.
The busses contained religious texts. The Sant frequently referred to this
wanton act of arson by the police as sacrilege committed by Darbara Singh, Chief
Minister of Punjab at that time. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale announced that
he would surrender to the police in Chowk-Mehta, his headquarters, on 20th
September. The mayhem following his arrest, resulting in death of 18 innocent
Sikhs in police firing, is said to have been stage-managed by the government
intelligence agencies. When Sant Bhindranwale was being taken away, in spite of
his personal advice and entreaties by his staff for everybody to stay calm and
peaceful, some people became emotional. According to one account , someone tried
to grapple with the Senior Superintendent of Police on duty. There are reports
that this too was orchestrated to give the police an excuse to open fire. Birbal
Nath, the then Director General of Police, is said to have regarded Lala Jagat
Narain's murder as his personal loss and along with the other members of the
Punjab bureaucracy, wanted a 'good slaughter' of Sikhs at Chowk Mehta. He made
plans to storm Chowk Mehta and had a commando unit trained for the purpose of
capturing Sant Bhindranwale. Joginder Singh Anand, Deputy Inspector General,
later committed suicide presumably because of his remorse at having been
associated with this massacre. The Sant's arrest and the massacre of Sikhs that
accompanied it led to violent reaction in several places in Punjab followed by
still more government oppression. It was much later, after continued demands by
the Sikh leadership, that an inquiry into the incident was instituted. According
to Sant Bhindranwale : 'There was an inquiry into the Mehta affair. Amrik Singh
and others were working in connection with that. They were arrested and put in
jail. The inquiry was completed but now they are not making it public. This is
because according to its findings many big leaders will have to be punished.
They are sitting on it.' c. Murder of Hardev Singh and his associates On 16th
March 1983, the police reported an 'encounter' in which 19-year old Hardev
Singh, from Sant Bhindranwale's organization, was killed along with some of his
associates. Mr. Pandey, Superintendent of Police, claimed that when the jeep was
signaled to stop, the miscreants opened fire and managed to escape towards the
Beas river. He said that he presumed some persons in the jeep were killed in the
police firing. The Tribune reported its sources as saying that the jeep had been
'earlier followed by police vehicles on its emerging from a religious place in
the city.' The next day, The Tribune reported that police sources did not rule
out the possibility of the police having lobbed more than one grenade. It was
surmised that Mr. Pandey received pellet wounds in one of these grenade
explosions. According to The Tribune , the Central Bureau of Investigation did
not agree with the Punjab Government's version of the encounter and decided to
shift Mr. Pandey to Delhi to facilitate an independent inquiry. According to
Sikh leaders, it was a clear case of murder of innocent unsuspecting Sikhs
travelling in the jeep. Tavleen Singh reported : 'All the factions that
inhabited the Gurdwara at that point were ... convinced that the murder was a
government plot devised to find an excuse to enter the Temple complex.'
Paradoxically, instead of inquiring into the affair and punishing the guilty
officials, the Indian Government used this murder by ambush as the basis for
canceling the arms licenses of the victims and their associates. The Union Home
Ministry 'directed the State Government to deal firmly with the extremists and
ensure that its orders canceling the arms licenses of Sant Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale's followers are faithfully and expeditiously carried out.' While
Sikh leaders were crying 'murder' and praying for the departed souls, extremist
Hindu groups were quick to blame the victims and to protest the prayer meetings.
Innocent persons had been killed but instead of seeking justice and noting the
absence of due process, leaders of he Bhartiya Janata Party charged the Center
and the State Government with 'failure' to deal with 'terrorists' and called for
punishment to the mourners. d. Charges against Amrik Singh Amrik Singh and Thara
Singh had been detained since July 19, 1982. They were acquitted by a court on
July 21, 1983 but were kept in judicial custody for another two weeks or so
while the police tried to cook up some other charges against them. Referring to
this, Sant Bhindranwale said : 'Today they have initiated a new case against
him. They had arrested Amrik Singh. They could not find any proof for the
accusation they levelled against him. It was apparent that he would be
acquitted. Now they have written up charges against him under the date 16th. I
have got a copy of the F.I.R. on this case. In it, it is said that Amrik Singh
shouted Khalistan slogans. The case has been registered but the arrest under
this case is not being made. They say that they will arrest him when he is
released.' Amrik Singh was released and these charges were never pursued.
However, this false report, drafted before the victims could have had any
opportunity to commit the crime listed, was later presented as evidence before a
judge of the High Court and accepted by him as fact. In violation of the court's
decision, the police planned to rearrest him as he came out of the gate of the
jail. The news media, instead of protesting government high-handedness, issued a
de facto endorsement of the government policy of arbitrary arrest and detention,
by calling the release a lapse on the part of the police. The police official
concerned was placed under suspension and relieved of his duties even though he
had a history of faithfully torturing and killing Sikh youth and having his own
son join the All India Sikh Students Federation in order to collect information
for the Government . e. Cremation of Sikhs murdered by Police The Police
routinely refused to hand over the bodies of Sikhs killed in police firings and
faked encounters to the families of the victims. Sant Bhindranwale repeatedly
mentioned in his speeches that the bodies of the victims of the 20 September
1981 police firing at Chowk- Mehta were not returned to the families nor were
there any post-mortem examination reports made public. Even after his death, the
Police continued this policy of disposing off the bodies as unclaimed . This was
presumably done to prevent the families from conducting funeral ceremonies which
could serve as gathering points for Sikhs to pay homage to the departed souls.
This practice later on took the form of Sikh young men being simply kidnapped
and 'disappeared'. f. Encouragement to Hindu Mobs, led by extremist Hindu
organizations, repeatedly set upon and massacred innocent Sikhs in various
cities in Punjab and neighboring states. No protection or support was given by
the law-enforcement agencies to the victims of this violence. Often, it was the
victims of violence who were arrested . The attackers' actions were justified as
'understandable' reaction to Sant Bhindranwale's 'inflammatory' speeches. Any
demonstration or other protest organized by the Sikhs against these atrocities
was met with extreme violence. Sant Bhindranwale emphasized that at no time
inhistory had any Sikh set fire to Hindu scriptures or a Sikh mob set upon any
Hindus. 4. Role of the News media and 'Intellectuals' In a democratic and free
society, one would expect the press and the intelligentsia to be watchful of
activities of the administration, to expose excesses against the innocent, and
to be on the side of life and liberty. However, in the case of Sikhs, the Indian
news media failed to look for facts and enthusiastically participated with the
Government in its deliberate campaign of vilification of a dearly loved and
deeply respected religious leader, criminalization of an entire faith through
stage-managed criminal acts, and oppression of a religious community based on
false accusations of illegal activities. Well-known writers, on the one hand,
noted that Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was an honest religious man without
political ambition against whom no criminal charges could be substantiated and,
on the other, went on to blame him for everything echoing government propaganda.
As typical of this attitude, we quote Sanghvi : 'The rise and death of Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwale must be one of the most amazing sagas in the history of
Indian politics. In 1978, he was an obscure 31-year-old village preacher who
toured the Punjab warning youths against shaving their beards or cutting their
hair. By 1984, when he was only 37, he had come to represent the single greatest
threat to the unity and stability of India since Independence. And nearly two
years after the battle in which he lost his life, taking the Akal Takht with
him, he remains a martyr in the eyes of many Sikhs. Even today, rare is the Sikh
politician who will dare to call him what he was: a fanatic and a murderer.' It
is amazing that Sanghvi should paint the Sant as a fanatic and a murderer
without any supporting data. He is surprised at Sikhs, directly affected by
government oppression and knowing Sant Bhindranwale more closely, honoring their
extremely popular leader. Most journalists concede that the Sant was easily
accessible and that whenever they met him he would describe details of police
brutalities against Sikhs. Instead of following up on these complaints and
looking for facts, the news-media ignored them as wild accusations. Nayar
reports : 'Bhindranwale's speech would contain venom; he would pick up some
instance of police excess or of 'discrimination' against the Sikhs and say that
the Sikhs were not getting their due in India and that they must unite to fight
for justice.' One wonders how a call for unity against discrimination could be
construed as 'venom'? Sant Bhindranwale noted the hostility of the news media in
his speeches. For example : 'The newspapers do not publish or rarely publish the
information I provide. I do not know what pressure is there. But I shall humbly
request you, who are assembled here in large numbers, go to your villages and
convey the message'. Also: 'The newspapers do what they will. May Satguru have
mercy and give them wisdom. I should not say much about anybody in anger.
Sitting there, in order to run their newspaper, they delete any news that is in
the interests of the Panth. Whatever is in the interest of making money, in the
interest of the press or the Government, is published.' During the agitation
that started on August 4, 1982, thousands of Sikhs peacefully courted arrest.
The Government's consistent response was continued beatings and torture of Sikh
youth. Instead of raising their voice against such oppression, most
intellectuals justified government brutality against innocent people and accused
Sant Bhindranwale of encouraging violence when he spoke out against state
terrorism. Nayar, typical of the news media, while conceding that the police
killed Sikh youth in faked 'encounters', noted : '...we could not but condemn
the extremist elements who were out to defy law and glorify violence. Those who
were accused of heinous crimes were honored in their absence in the villages of
their birth and in recognition of their 'heroism' their kin were given saropas.
We were shown in Jalandhar, where we ended our trip, photographs of people who
had been charged with murder, rioting and the like being 'honored'. And we were
pained to note that even the leaders among the moderate Sikhs were reluctant or
afraid to condemn what the extremists had done.' This renowned columnist
apparently equated false accusations by an oppressive government with the actual
commitment of a crime. Here was a journalist willing to condone widespread
inhuman torture and condemning the relatives of innocent victims for 'honoring'
their dead'. Khushwant Singh, trying to ridicule Sant Bhindranwale, states :
'There was very little learning or piety to this man. Also : 'To Bhindranwale
modernity was evil: the Sikhs must return to the simple ways of their warrior
forefathers. They must look like them: wear their beards lose and not rolled up
and tied under their chins; they must wear long shirts, below knee-length
breeches (kuchhas) covering their shins. Likewise, Sikh women should not drape
themselves in sarees which were Hindu, but in salwar-kameez (baggy trousers and
long shirts) which are Punjabi, nor wear bindis (dots) on their foreheads. His
newborn Khalsa were to be god-like (saabat soorat gur Sikh), while the rest of
the world was ungodly-and woe to the ungodly. The newborn Khalsa were the Gurus'
storm troopers who would trample their foes under their bare feet like so much
vermin. It was a heady brew that Bhindranwale served to simple-minded Sikh
peasants.' The fact is that Sant Bhindranwale actually employed the tools of
modern science in his missionary work. Khushwant Singh concedes that Sant
Bhindranwale wanted Sikhs to carry modern firearms in addition to the
traditional kirpaan; and, instead of the traditional horses, ride motorcycles.
Sant Bhindranwale did advise people to return to simple ways, shun intoxicants,
remember God, follow the Gurus' teachings, and reminded Sikhs of their role as
saint-soldiers. However, contrary to Khushwant Singh's conjectures, he never
implied that people of other faiths were ungodly and 'woe to them'. There was no
question of 'reborn Khalsa'. The Khalsa, created by Siri Guru Gobind Singh
Sahib, have always been Gurus' storm troopers in defense of the helpless and in
fighting oppression. Sant Bhindranwale did not initiate this concept. Like many
other journalists, following the government line in blaming Sant Bhindranwale
for all the violence, Khushwant Singh states , without any supporting evidence,
that Sant Bhindranwale's 'services could be bought by the highest bidder; the
Sant became a big time brigand'. He also reviles the Sant as 'the Hindu-baiter',
'a martyred hero of lumpen sections of Sikh society' and blithely refers to
'lads of the A.I.S.S.F. and nominees of the Damdami Taksal reared in the
Bhindranwale school of terrorism'. He chastises 'gangsters who haul innocent,
unarmed people from busses and kill them, lob grenades in crowded market places
and cinemas', presuming that these gangsters were acting in Sant Bhindranwale's
behalf or upon his instructions, ignoring the fact that Sant Bhindranwale
consistently condemned such senseless acts, and clear evidence that the
Government stage-managed several of these to promote hatred against devout
Sikhs. Khushwant Singh further alleges that Sant Bhindranwale 'well understood
that hate was a stronger passion than love: his list of hates was even more
clearly and boldly spelt out. On top of the hate-list were apostates (patits)
who dishonored emblems of the Khalsa by cutting their long hair and beards,
smoked, drank liquor or took drugs. However, these patits could be redeemed if
they agreed to mend their ways and accept baptism. Next on the list were Sant
Nirankaris who had gained a sizable following among the Sikhs. They had
committed the cardinal sin of recognizing a living human being as their guru
when it was an article of Sikh faith that only the holy book, the Granth Sahib,
was the 'living' embodiment of the ten gurus. The Sant Nirankaris had also
fabricated their own sacred texts, Yug Purush and Avtar Bani. They were
therefore beyond redemption and had to be liquidated. Finally, there were the
Hindus-uncomfortably close to the Sikhs, and far too many to be liquidated. The
only way of dealing with them was to treat them with contempt as an effeminate,
non-martial race and a lesser breed without the law. Had not the tenth Guru,
Gobind Singh, proclaimed that one Sikh was equal to a sava lakh (one and a
quarter million) and a fauj-a one man army? So spoke Bhindranwale: one Sikh
could easily reckon with thirty-five Hindus.' About one occasion when he met
Sant Bhindranwale, Khushwant Singh reports : 'Bhindranwale's short speech was
largely addressed to me as I had been hauled out of the congregation to sit on
the dais. He towered above me; a steel arrow in one hand, the microphone in the
other. Pointing to me he said: "This Sardar Sahib here writes that I spread
hatred between Hindus and Sikhs. This is wrong. What I do is to preach the
gospel of the Gurus; I do amrit parchar and persuade young Sikhs to stop
clipping their beards, stop smoking and drinking. If I had my way, I would get
hold of all these Sardars who drink bhisky-shisky in the evening, pour kerosene
oil on them, and set the bloody lot ablaze." This statement was greeted
with loud acclamations of boley so nihal! Sat Sri Akal. It was ironic that more
than half the Sardars sitting on the dais with me, and a sizable proportion of
the peasant audience, were hard-drinking men.' We have not been able to locate
these comments in any of Sant Bhindranwale's speeches available to us. Sant
Bhindranwale's speeches indicate that he hardly knew Khushwant Singh. In any
case, the following statements by Sant Bhindranwale regarding consumption of
alcohol appear to completely contradict Khushwant Singh's report: 'I have
declared that if there is someone who drinks while wearing a kirpaan, and you
catch him drunk, the punishment I have announced is that you should get him
examined by a doctor (to make sure he has been drinking) and then pour kerosene
over him and burn him alive. I shall fight your court case. This is regardless
of the party affiliation of the person in such a garb doing such a thing. My
appeal to all is that no one should drink but this does not apply to the others,
it is only for those with the kirpaan. ... If any raagi, sant, mahatma, granthi
even if he is from Bhindranwale (group), who wears a kirpaan and drinks,
wherever you find him, blacken his face, put a garland of old shoes around his
neck, put him on a donkey and parade him throughout the village or the
district.' Contrary to Khushwant Singh's diatribe, Sant Bhindranwale never held
out any punishment for persons like him. His appeal was only for those with the
kirpaan. It did not apply to the others. His disapproval was limited to
hypocritical Sikh preachers who themselves violated the Sikh Rehit Maryada.
Quoting the following line from Siri Guru Granth Sahib, "First the noose
was placed around the teacher's (neck) and later around the (necks) of the
disciples", he explained: 'The noose will be put around the necks of the
jathedars, the sants, the leaders, and people in responsible positions; around
the necks of such of them as use intoxicants.' Sant Bhindranwale's use of the
words 'pouring kerosene and setting the on fire' is merely a common Punjabi
idiom equivalent to 'chewing somebody up' in colloquial English. In Punjab
villages, mothers would often use this phrase while scolding their children.
Khushwant Singh's reference to Bhindranwale's discovering 'that fomenting hatred
between the two communities was the easier method of preserving the Sikhs'
separate identity from the Hindus than amrit prachar' and Sant Bhindranwale's
'adding Hindu-baiting to his other activities' is contrary to his own
observations regarding Bhindranwale's success with amrit prachar. The Sant was a
Sikh preacher and, of course, he appealed to those born in Sikh families to
respect their faith and live by it. His appeal was based on love, not hatred,
and was indeed very successful. He did not advocate hatred, punishment, or any
form of violence against the so-called patits and others. Sant Bhindranwale's
opposition of the Sant Nirankaris was limited to their public show of disrespect
towards Siri Guru Granth Sahib; their making parodies on the Sikh scriptures;
the Nirankari Guru styling himself as Bajaanwala in imitation of Siri Guru
Gobind Singh Sahib; and their use of the names of the Gurus for their servants
merely to insult and provoke the Sikhs. Neither prior to April 13, 1978 nor
after that did Sant Bhindranwale 'pronounce damnation' on them. As Khushwant
Singh, the Government , and other journalists (e.g. Tavleen Singh ), have noted,
the Babbar Khalsa, always opposed to Sant Bhindranwale, claimed responsibility
for the killing of Nirankaris. Certainly, Sant Bhindranwale deplored the fact
that the Government was not interested in prosecuting the Nirankaris who had
murdered 13 Sikhs in cold blood on April 13, 1978 in Amritsar, and at other
places later on, and urged upon the Sikhs to unite in resisting such attacks
upon their faith and their persons. Khushwant Singh's reference to thirty-five
Hindus to each Sikh is picked out of context and distorts its implication. It
was not at all an exhortation for every Sikh to tackle thirty-five Hindus. Sant
Bhidranwale consistently maintained that Hindu-Sikh unity was an article of
faith with him . In the quote mentioned by Khushwant Singh, he was simply
telling the Sikhs not to be afraid merely because they were only two percent of
the population and that there were thirty-five Hindus to every Sikh. He reminded
them that at the Tenth Guru's time each Sikh had been asked to be ready to fight
sava lakh. A similar expression was used on another occasion in response to a
threat by the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, that the Sikhs of Punjab should
think about what might happen to Sikhs living in other states. Sant Bhindranwale
responded : 'Bibi, if this is what you think and this is your attitude towards
the turban and the beard, we also have counted that they are only twenty to each
one of us.' He emphasized that this exchange between him and Mrs. Gandhi was
entirely rhetorical by adding: 'She did not send someone out with a sword, nor
did Jarnail Singh send anybody out with a sword.' Nayar writes : 'The state grew
tense; 115 major cases of violence had taken place in two areas since Jagat
Narain's murder in September 1981 and 24 innocent people had been killed by the
extremists, who came to be known as Bhindranwale's men.' Also : 'There were
regular reports of someone being killed here and another there and often
Bhindranwale's men claimed responsibility for the killings.' This is incorrect.
It was men of Dal Khalsa and Babbar Khalsa, groups openly opposing Sant
Bhindranwale, who took responsibility most of the time. Again : 'Until 6
October, the target of Bhindranwale's men were Hindus who were known to be
hostile, Nirankaris, police officials or Sikhs who had been 'informers', or who
had sided with the Government. But from then on the killings became
indiscriminate; six Hindus passengers in a bus were killed near Dhilwan,
Ludhiana. They were innocent people who had nothing to do with politics, and
this marked a watershed in relations between the Hindus and the Sikhs.' Even
Tavleen Singh who filed some objective reports, joined in the general chorus of
condemnation. She wrote : 'Slowly the venom that was being spewed out every day
from the Golden Temple started to get into the very blood of the Punjab and this
culminated inevitably and horribly in the killing of six Hindu bus passengers in
Dhilwan village, near Jullundur on 5 October 1983. The men were singled out by
Sikh terrorists and shot dead for the simple reason that they were Hindu.' It is
important to note Sant Bhindranwale's reaction to this killing of bus
passengers. He condemned the senseless act and noted that Prime Minister, Indira
Gandhi, had lost no time in dismissing the inept and repressive State Government
upon seven Hindus having been killed whereas she had held out for sixteen months
against demands by various organizations and opposition parties. Ten days after
the killings which were immediately followed by the dismissal of the State
Government, Sant Bhindranwale explained : 'By installing a proud man with a
turban as the leader, she was desirous of having the turbans of all the other
Sikhs taken off. So long as he kept taking them off, so long as the Sikh turbans
were coming off, the daughters and sisters of the Sikhs continued to be
dishonored in the streets and villages; sometimes on pretext of foreign visits,
at other times giving various other types of ultimatums; she kept on making all
sorts of excuses. However, it so happened that someone killed six or seven
persons belonging to the Hindu Brotherhood. All Sikh leaders condemned this. In
spite of this condemnation, she was deeply hurt by the death of these seven
while she was not impressed by the blood of one hundred and fifty persons with
turbans having been spilt. This agitation has gone on for sixteen months. She
did not feel the need to move one person but when the blood of those seven was
spilt, then, Khalsa Ji, she could not wait even 24 hours.' Again, a few days
later, he said : 'Someone killed seven Hindus in a bus. No Sikh has said this
was good, everyone deplored it. But because seven Hindus had died, even
twenty-four hours didn't pass. The Ministry was dissolved. President's rule was
imposed. The region has been declared as disturbed. However, one hundred and
fifty Sikhs died and one man was not changed. Now all of you Sikhs should sit
down and figure out as to what the thoughts of this Government of the Hindus are
about the turban and the beard.' Sant Bhindranwale's call to Sikhs to keep
weapons as required by their faith was also misrepresented by the press as
preparations for killing Hindus. Sant Bhindranwale, commenting on this, said:
'For a Sikh, his conduct has to be: "He (God's devotee) does not frighten
anyone nor does he have any fear." ... I had given a statement that in
every village there should be a motorcycle and three young men with three
revolvers of high quality. Opposition newspapers, the Mahasha (Arya Samajist
Hindu) Press, have published this news: "Bhindranwala says, get these and
kill Hindus." Have you ever heard me say that?' Referring to incidents of
hijacking of airplanes, attacks on the Chief Minister, bank robberies, and
murders, Khushwant Singh implicitly and incorrectly assumes that Sant
Bhindranwale was responsible for them. The Sant's connection with any of them
has never been established. For instance, the hijackers of the Indian Airlines
plane on August 4, 1982, belonged to Dal Khalsa which, according to Khushwant
Singh himself, was a creation of Zail Singh. It has been reported that Talwinder
Singh Parmar, a leader of the Babbar Khalsa, paid for five of the tickets
purchased by the hijackers. It has been reported that when the hijacker of
August 20, 1982 landed in Amritsar, he demanded to see Sant Longowal and Sant
Bhindranwale. Sant Longowal sent his representative but Sant Bhindranwale, upon
being assured that the man did not belong to his organization, refused to
oblige. Sant Bhindranwale protested the Government's barbaric treatment of the
hijackers because they happened to be Sikh but himself had nothing to do with
the crimes. Even instances of oppression against Sant Bhindranwale's men have
been described by some reputed columnists as wily schemes by the Sant to get his
own men killed and tortured in order to assist the Government against the Akali
leadership! Nayar regarded Bhai Amrik Singh and Baba Thara Singh's arrest in
1982 to be a cunning device concocted between the Government and Sant
Bhindranwale. According to him: 'Darbara Singh...sent a message to Bhindranwale
to start a morcha earlier so as to take the wind out of their sails... To give
him reason enough, the Punjab Government arrested two of Bhindranwale's workers
on 17th July 1982. And two days later, Amrik Singh, the AISSF President whose
father had made Bhindranwale his successor, was taken into custody on the charge
of murdering a Nirankari. Yet another close associate of Bhindranwale, Thara
Singh, was arrested on July 20. All this provoked Bhindranwale who went from
Chowk-Mehta to Guru Nanak Niwas and launched a morcha from the Golden Temple,
pre-empting the Akalis.' Apparently, in suggesting that the arrests were merely
an agreed upon device, Nayar accepts that Amrik Singh was innocent of the crimes
attributed to him. Tully and Jacob, without citing any evidence, write about
Amrik Singh that: 'As President of the All-India Sikh Students Federation he was
responsible for organizing many of the murders, robberies and attacks on
government property.' The assumption is that the Federation was a group of
criminals. The fact is that the Government arrested Amrik Singh and kept him in
detention for a year despite massive Sikh protest; and his release was protested
by the Arya-Samajist press simply because the Federation he led was engaged in a
program for revival of faith among the Sikh youth. The news media propagated the
myth that Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was associated with or in a position
to direct and control the activities of groups which claimed credit for violent
acts. Tully and Jacob concede : 'Bhindranwale never openly associated with the
Dal Khalsa. Until his death he maintained that he was a man of religion, not a
politician.' However, they make a quick turnaround and, following the Indian
Government's White Paper, say that 'Bhindranwale used to preach hatred against
India and against Hindus.' They also state that 'the Dal Khalsa was always known
as 'Bhindranwale's party'. Contrary to this, Jeffrey , among others, tells us
that the founding of the Dal Khalsa in 1978 was 'with the alleged backing of
Zail Singh' of Indira Gandhi's Congress Party. Again, they refer to 'the Sikh
fundamentalist Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who had been spreading violence,
hatred and communal poison in Punjab'; that 'Bhindranwale went on to appeal to
Sikh villagers to organize and support terrorism'. Tully and Jacob state: 'Badal
and Longowal lacked the courage to stand out against a force they knew was evil.
Tohra tried to use it for his own ends.' The 'evil' force was, presumably, Sant
Bhindranwale. The fact is that in one of his speeches , Sant Bhindranwale
complains that Longowal had terminated his speaking to the public at the Manji
Sahib Diwan Hall and that Tohra did not have the courage to correct Longowal
when he denounced and misrepresented Sant Bhindranwale. Again, after Sodhi's
murder in April 1984, Sant Bhindranwale asserted that this was done with the
connivance of some Akali leaders and wanted Gurcharan Singh, Secretary, Shromani
Akali Dal removed from his office. He did not succeed in getting Longowal and
others to comply. The 'evil' force depicted as so dominant in Punjab could not
or would not enforce its will even within the confines of Darbar Sahib complex.
Nayar states that 'the reign of terror that began with the Jagat Narain murder
did not stop. Innocent people were killed. The targets were mostly Hindus and
Nirankaris but many Sikhs who had the courage to speak out against the
extremists were also killed.' In fact most of those killed were Sikhs and the
killers were the police. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had nothing to do with
these murders. The news media was eager to blame the Sant but not the persons
who claimed responsibility for the crimes. According to India Today : 'Whereas
Bhindranwale has publicly disowned each act of the extremists, the Babbar Khalsa
openly claim credit for most of these, barring the killing of Hindu bus
passengers and that of Atwal.' Regarding the Babbar Khalsa, we have Tavleen
Singh's report: 'Jathedar Sukhdev Singh, a youth of about 28, who dressed like a
Nihang, started requesting journalists to come up and meet him in a small,
sunless room in the Akal Rest House. He would talk about how it was really the
Babbars who had killed most of the Nirankaris so far and how they would continue
to kill them (the toll was already around 40) because they followed the dictate
of the Akal Takht and they were only abiding by an edict (hukumnama) issued by
them.' Babbars are known to have opposed Sant Bhindranwale throughout. According
to India Today , their leader, Sukhdev Singh said: 'We have nothing to do with
Bhindranwale who is basically a coward.' Sukhdev Singh was instrumental in
making false accusations against the Sant. In one of his speeches, Sant
Bhindranwale said : 'Day before yesterday, a farce was enacted here at Akal
Takhat. After getting some tape-recording done by someone, he was called to the
Akali stage and made to say that Bhindranwala was conspiring to get him killed.
His name is Sukhdev Singh; people often call him Sukha. They say that I have
hatched a conspiracy to kill him.' Even American correspondents, fed erroneous
information, went along. Reasoner , apparently following Khushwant Singh's
logic, said of Sant Bhindranwale: 'He hated the successful urban Sikhs who trim
their beards and wear two-piece suits. The poor and the illiterate loved him and
brought him what rupees they could spare. He spoke openly of the deaths and
violence his followers had caused. These were not murders, he said, but justice;
and, if necessary, the Sikhs would set up their own state and, the Government
feared, start the disintegration of India as a federal nation.' Sant
Bhindranwale's admirers included numerous Sikhs who wear 'two-piece suits' and
he did not advocate disintegration of India. It is extremely unfortunate that,
instead of investigating Sant Bhindranwale's complaints that innocent Sikhs were
being tortured and killed, newsmen regarded him and the victims he referred to
as convicted criminals. Overwhelmed by the propaganda carried on by extremist
Hindus and the Government, even well-meaning Indian leaders assumed that Sant
Bhindranwale indeed preached a cult of lawlessness and violence. They did not
take the Sant's complaints of violation of human rights in Punjab seriously.
Typical of this attitude was a statement by Gujral who said, in the course of an
eloquent speech, that the Sikh agitation had been peaceful but was taken over by
violent elements. This writer asked him if he was referring to Sant Bhindranwale
as the 'violent elements'. He agreed. Reminding him that Sant Bhindranwale, in
one of his speeches, had mentioned that over 140 persons had been killed and
another one thousand crippled in police torture up to that date; that the Sikhs
had tried persuasion with the police, legal action in courts and appeals to the
national leaders and the press but that nobody had made any effort to stop the
torture and the killings in custody; and then had gone on to ask the public as
to how long the Sikhs should continue to quietly suffer without hitting back,
this writer asked Gujral as to whether, in his opinion or according to his
information, Sant Bhindranwale was lying and if not, what did leaders like him
do about the killings and torture by the police and what should the Sant have
done in the face of this oppression? Gujral replied that he had never thought
about the problem from that point of view. In justifying its attack on Sikh
places of worship, the Indian Government declared : 'Bhindranwale and others
operating directly from the Golden Temple complex began to extol and instigate
violence'; that 'extremists were attacking conscientious police officers who
were doing their duty of enforcing the law'; and that 'Bhindranwale had
advocated the killing of Hindus in Punjab so as to set in motion a general
exodus'. The army action was described as 'operations taken to remove
terrorists, criminals and their weapons from sacred places of worship.' Indira
Gandhi, in her broadcast to the nation on June 2, 1984, described the leadership
of the Sikh agitation as 'a group of fanatics and terrorists whose instruments
for achieving whatsoever they may have in view are murder, arson and loot'. The
Indian Government's 'White Paper' charged that 'the tactics employed by the
secessionist and terrorist groups were: systematic campaign to create bitterness
and hatred between Sikhs and Hindus; indoctrination in the ideology of
separatism in militant terms behind the facade of gurmat camps; training in the
use of modern weaponry; use of terrorism against specific targets in the police
and the administration of Punjab; preparation of 'hit lists' of those who
disagreed and organizing their murder; random killing of persons of a particular
community aimed at creating terror and instigating communal violence;
stockpiling of arms and ammunition in places of worship; utilization of
smugglers and anti-social elements for procuring supplies of arms, ammunition
and for looting banks, jewelry shops and individual homes; and obtain covert and
overt support from external sources?' Was this indeed true. Let us examine the
various allegations. 1. Initiation of Violence Tavleen Singh reports: 'Contrary
to the popular belief that he took the offensive, senior police sources in the
Punjab admit that the provocation came in fact from a Nirankari official who
started harassing Bhindranwale and his men. There were two or three Nirankaris
in key positions in the Punjab in those days and they were powerful enough to be
able to create quite a lot of trouble. The Nirankaris also received patronage
from Delhi that made Sikh organizations like Bhindranwale's and the Akhand
Kirtani Jatha, headed then by Bibi Amarjit Kaur's husband, Fauja Singh, hate
them even more.' Khushwant Singh tells us: 'Terrorist activity preceded the
morcha by more than six months and was born out of encounters faked by the
Punjab police and the armed conflict between the Nirankaris and Sant
Bhindranwale beginning April 13, 1978.' Sant Jarnail Singh Bindranwale
repeatedly declared that he would never initiate a dispute or a confrontation.
However, he also asserted that if someone attacks a Sikh, he should get a proper
response. In his view : 'When is a Sikh wrong? It is when he poses a question.
When is a Sikh's sin washed away? It is when he responds. A Sikh will never be
the first to attack, to ask the question. Asking the question means being the
first to attack. That is what we call asking a question. Later, seeking justice
is called the answer. If we are sons of Sikhs, we shall never be the first to
attack in the form of a question. Also, if we are sons of Sikhs, we shall never
hesitate in responding. If we hesitate then we are artificial Sikhs, spoilt
Sikhs, not real Sikhs. If we attack first then too we are spoilt Sikhs.' b.
Attacks on 'Conscientious' Police Officials As oppression against devout Sikhs
escalated during 1982 and 1983, Sikhs from villages flocked to Sant Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwale seeking redress. At first he felt that there were some
unscrupulous police officials who were responsible for the spate of arbitrary
arrests followed generally by brutal torture and often resulting in death in
police custody. He sought redress from higher authorities in the administration
and from courts. Higher police officials listened to him, assured him of
fairness but took no action. For example, referring to the assurances given by
the Inspector General of Police in the case of Harbhajan Singh and Harpreet
Singh, Sant Bhindranwale commented: 'Deviously, they keep telling the President
(of the Shromani Akali Dal) on the phone that the boys have not committed any
offense. If they are innocent then why are they kept there, for fun? How long
are we going to suffer this oppression?' The news media and the political
leadership would not believe his charges of police brutality. The
administration, instead of punishing the guilty policemen, rewarded them with
promotions. He found that the courts were powerless in enforcing their
decisions. For example : 'At the time of Amrik Singh's arrest, Puran Singh
Hundal, his lawyer, went to the judge. He petitioned the judge and after
submitting the petition came and met the (police) officers. He said to the
officers: "Here is his (Amrik Singh's) petition to the judge and the
judge's signature. The lawyer can stay (with the accused)." The officers at
that place told him: "We do not know the judge. Here, we are the
judges." The lawyer went back to the judge and told him: "Sir, here is
your signature. These are your orders and the officers say they do not know the
judge and that they are the judges." The judge folded his hands and said
that this was not in his power. Where will you go? When there is no respect for
the judge and the (police) officer says he is everything, then there is the
instruction: "With your own hands, take care of your business".' He
publicly identified some of the most notorious culprits in the police force.
Some of these officials were eventually killed, possibly by surviving relatives
of their victims. The Government and the news media immediately held Sant
Bhindranwale responsible for 'death of conscientious police officers' without
any evidence that he was connected with these incidents in any direct manner.
For example, he protested that he had nothing to do with Atwal's murder in April
1983. However, most writers continue to blame him for it. There is a feeling
that the Government had got Atwal killed to silence him forever. He was a Sikh
police officer who knew too much about the murder of Sikhs in Chowk-Mehta in
1981 where he was on duty at the scene, and the murder of the 19-year old Hardev
Singh and his associates by the police in March 1983 for which he was
supervising the investigation. However, later on, faced with continuing torture
and brutality of his adherents, Sant Bhindranwale did declare that he would
provide shelter to any one who would punish the culprits. This was after the
Sikhs had been driven to the wall. Frustrated in his attempts to get the
Government to inquire into incidents of police excesses and to punish the guilty
officials, he told his audiences in March 1983: 'Khalsa Ji: one gets justice out
of inquiries when there is room for (vcIl, dlIl, apIl) legal representation,
argument, and appeal. Here (under Indian Government) it is outright injustice.
They have decided to annihilate the Sikhs, to insult their turban, to destroy
their Faith. Under this situation, why do you need to use a lawyer and appeal?'
Again, in July 1983, he said: 'Khalsa Ji: what assurance, what justice, what
fairness can you expect from a Government, from courts, which no longer trust
people, which have lost all faith in men and trust only dogs? How can you expect
justice from them? Those who have no faith in men, those who have no faith in
the legal process, in reasoning, and in appeal to conscience of the
perpetrators; those who only trust dogs, but if the dogs point to their own
house as the source of crime, they don't trust the dogs either.' 3. Keeping
'Hit-Lists' The Indian Government and its supporters have said that Sant
Bhindranwale kept 'hit lists of those who disagreed with him and organize their
murder'? Amarjit Kaur refers to 'the barbaric acts, duly sanctioned by the
author of the 'hit-lists' living in the safety of Akal Takht'. Noting this
propaganda, Sant Bhindranwale said : 'If, from this stage, I say something
naming someone they say: "Bhindranwala has given out the name of such
person, now this name has come on the list." This kind of gossip goes on.'
Also : 'It is said that I have already made a list. I haven't made any so far
but the way these people are forcing us, it is quite possible that the youth may
have to start such a list. I have not made any.' He got quite upset upon
learning that Indira Gandhi had accused him of keeping 'hit lists' and said :
'She has said that Bhindranwale has prepared a hit list. You might even have
read this in the newspapers today. I have challenged her and given a warning.
Upon my life and upon my breath, let her prove where did I get the paper for
that hit list, where did I get the pen, and the ink and the inkpot. She should
get the CBI to check this out. If she proves that I have signed any paper; that
I have signed for the purpose of any body's being killed; standing here in the
presence of Hazoor, I declare that I shall cut off my head and place it before
the Congregation. I shall leave Guru Nanak Niwas and go away. But she should
tell, she should provide proof. If she does not have any proof but has some
honor, dignity and some little decency, she should resign the office of Prime
Minister and come before the public in the streets. A person should be occupying
an office of such responsibility, be the Prime Minister; and listening to news
from favorites like Romesh, news from the likes of Virendra and Yash should
start saying "He is very dangerous. He has made up a hit list!" Where
is that list? It is only in the newspapers. If she has said that a list has been
made, who has told her about it? She should apprehend those people who have
found it. She should interrogate them the way others, Singhs, are treated. They
should tell her where that piece of paper is. She should get that paper and show
it to me.' There never was such a list though many journalists bought the
official line and kept harping on it. Khushwant Singh claims : 'I was on
Bhindranwale's hit list for the many unkind things I had written about him in my
columns and said over the BBC.' The fact is that Sant Bhindranwale hardly knew
him. Addressing a Sikh gathering, he said : 'There is one Khushwant Singh. I
have only seen him barely once. He is from Delhi and is close to Indira.'
Apparently, Khushwant Singh was claiming to be on a fictitious 'hit list' merely
as a quixotic target of a non-existent threat. 4. Hating and Killing Hindus and
Others The Government blamed Sant Bhindranwale for 'advocating the killing of
Hindus in Punjab so as to set in motion a general exodus', 'random killing of
persons belonging to a particular community aimed at creating terror' and for
'carrying on a systematic campaign to create bitterness and hatred between Sikhs
and Hindus'. As noted earlier, prominent intellectuals and the news media went
along with the official line of thinking. Sant Bhindranwale emphasized the
uniqueness of the Sikh faith being founded upon its set of beliefs and
practices, not upon hatred of any religion. He advised everyone to be true in
their own faith. The Sant did not consider Hindus to be 'close' to the Sikhs in
their beliefs and practices. However, emphasizing the catholicity of the Sikh
faith, he pointed out that Siri Guru Granth Sahib includes verses composed by
some Hindu saints. Addressing the Hindus, he said : 'Who was Jaidev? Wasn't he a
Hindu from amongst you? He was a Brahmin. Jaidev is sitting here in Guru Granth
Sahib. If a son of a Sikh has made obeisance here he has done so at the feet of
Jaidev, the Brahmin.' Sant Bhindranwale did note that even though Sikhs had
defended the Hindus' right to free worship, Hindus were ungrateful. He said :
'The one who got the Fifth King tortured on the hot plate was from among them;
the one who administered poison to the Sixth King was from among them; the one
responsible for the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas was from among them. For the
sake of all of them, for the sake of their janeoo and tilak the Ninth Kinggave
his head and now these people have had books published claiming that Guru Tegh
Bahaadar Sahib Ji gave his head for some personal feuds and he did no service to
the Hindus. What can we expect from the nation, the people, into whom such
ingratitude has crept in.' Nayar, informs us that : 'Bhindranwale asked Longowal
to give a call to the Sikh masses to purchase motorcycles and revolvers to kill
Hindus in Punjab.' This accusation was based upon a public statement by Sant
Harchand Singh Longowal, President of the Shromani Akali Dal. Sant Bhindranwale
took Longowal to task for attributing to him something that he could never even
dream of, namely, killing members of a certain community. During one of his
speeches attended by many Hindus, he said : 'You have learnt from the
newspapers, and from propaganda by ignorant people, that Bhindranwala is an
extremist; that he is a dangerous man, a communalist; that he kills Hindus.
There are many Hindus sitting here. You should carefully note how many I injure
and how many I kill before leaving. You will be with me. Keep listening
attentively. Having listened, do think over who are the communalists; whether
they are the turban-wearers or your newspaper owners, the Mahasha Press.'
Addressing this issue in some detail, he said : 'I have no enmity with the
Hindus as such. If I were their enemy, why would I rescue the daughter of a
Hindu from Jalalabad. ... Kailash Chander owns a retail shop here. His shop was
burnt down. The Retail Merchants Union asked him: "Name Bhindranwale."
He did not do so. The Hindu along with two Sikhs, the three of them, came to see
me in my room. He came and started to cry. I asked him: "What is the
matter? Why are you crying?" He said: "My shop has been burnt
down." ... I gave him the five hundred rupees. In Kapurthala, a copy of the
Ramayana was burnt. The leaders of that place know about this. The Jatha spent
5,000 rupees in litigation over that. On the 4th (April 1983), two Hindus were
martyred in connection with the 'rasta roko' agitation. Shromani Akali Dal and
the Shromani Committee paid (their families) 10,000 rupees each and the Jatha
gave another 5,000 to each family. If I was an enemy of all the Hindus, where is
the need for me to pay all this money?' He did not at any time preach initiation
of conflict or confrontation although he did advise resistance to oppression and
to wanton killing of innocent people. In response to Indira Gandhi's accusation,
he declared : 'She says that Bhindranwala destroys temples, that he does not
like temples and wishes to destroy them, that he kills Hindus. Responsible
persons who are associated with the Jatha go there and build temples. You can
figure out yourselves whether I am in favor of destroying temples or of keeping
them. Our Father sacrificed his entire family for the sake of (Hindu) temples
and she gives help to people who destroy gurdwaras; to the followers of human
gurus and of hypocrites. On top of it she blames Sikhs that they make trouble.'
Emphasizing the need to stay peaceful and to avoid confrontation as far as
possible, Sant Bhindranwale said : 'The Government is trying very hard to start
Hindu-Sikh riots. Avoid this as along as you can. However, if the Hindus also
get into the Government's boat and start to dishonor the daughters and sisters
of the Sikhs and to take off the Sikhs' turbans, then, in order to save our
turban, we shall take what steps the Khalsa, following the path shown by Guru
Gobind Singh Ji, has always taken in the past. We might have to adopt those
methods but we shall do so only when we are forced to. We shall not resort to
those methods on our own. We have to be peaceful.' e. Hiding from the Law Was
Sant Bhindranwale a criminal wanted by the law? India Today reported in December
1983 that a senior officer in Chandigarh confessed: 'It's really shocking that
we have so little against him while we keep blaming him for all sorts of
things.' The fact is that when the Government was in the process of training
army units in the planned invasion of Darbar Sahib, the only charges against
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale were that his speeches were 'objectionable'.
Sanghvi reports : 'In April 1980, after the Congress had returned to power,
murderers believed to be linked to Bhindranwale, assassinated Baba Gurbachan
Singh, the leader of the Nirankari sect. At the time, there was an outcry and
demands were raised for the arrest of Bhindranwale. As Home Minister, Zail Singh
told Parliament that Bhindranwale had nothing to do with the murder: a statement
for which he has been criticized by every writer on the Punjab. His supporters
do not dispute that he made the statement (it is on record) but argue that it
was a reply to a Parliamentary question and had been written for him by his
civil servants. In fact, they say, whatever Bhindranwale's involvement, the
Government had no concrete evidence and the ministry thought it inadvisable to
arrest him on a flimsy case only to have him acquitted and transformed into a
hero.' Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had, apparently, not committed any
violation of the law and, accordingly, had no need to 'hide' anywhere. But,
speculates Khushwant Singh : 'When Bhindranwale sensed that the Government had
at long last decided to arrest him, he first took shelter in the Golden Temple,
then occupied and fortified portions of the Akal Takht.' Why, one might ask this
famous columnist, would Sant Bhindranwale present himself, along with over 50 of
his supporters, at the Deputy Commissioner's residence on the day he moved to
the Darbar Sahib complex, if his purpose in moving there was to hide from the
law? Gurdev Singh, District Magistrate at Amritsar till shortly before the
invasion is on record as having assured the Governor of the state that he could
arrest anyone in Darbar Sahib at any time. There were people who felt offended
by Sant Bhindranwale's views and wanted him silenced. They noted his innocence
but stubbornly refused to accept it. Commenting on Sant Bhindranwale, Shourie
conceded : 'For all I know, he is completely innocent and is genuinely and
exclusively dedicated to the teachings of the Gurus'. However, he went on to
state in the same paragraph: 'It is not Bhindranwale who triggers reflex actions
in the tension that precedes a riot, it is this apprehension and fear that he
has invoked.' Amarjit Kaur, while accepting that the Government had to release
Sant Bhindranwale after his arrest in 1981 'for the lack of any legal proof',
goes on to state : 'Everybody was frightened because they felt that if they did
give any evidence against Bhindranwale or against any of his men, they and their
entire families would be killed. Bhindranwale had put fear into the people
because innocent people were being killed and any officer who went against his
wishes was killed.' Why were these people frightened and so apprehensive if he
had committed no crime? It was a self-imposed dread of the revival of the Sikh
faith and the popularity of the Sant. Why would he hide from the law? No court
had asked for his personal appearance for any crime. Was he wanted by the
'lawless' police and an oppressive government so that he could be killed, as
many other Sikhs had been, in order to silence the voice of protest and to check
the revival of the Sikh faith which he led? 6. Advocating Political Separatism
The Government blamed Sant Bhindranwale for 'indoctrinating an ideology of
separatism in militant terms behind the facade of gurmat camps'? A government
note alleged : 'The obvious direction and thrust of the movement was towards an
independent Khalistan-fully supported by neighboring and foreign powers. The
terrorists led by Bhindranwale were perhaps only cogs in the wheel. If the army
action had not been resolute and determined, the movement would have moved
towards full scale insurgency which would have crippled the armed forces in any
future confrontation across the borders.' These were wild and baseless
accusations but many Hindu writers joined in this chorus. According to Surendra
Chopra : '..it is argued that all this would end when shackles of slavery are
broken. Bhindranwale never elaborated what he meant by this. An obvious
connotation is the achievement of sovereign state.' Nayar claims that Sant
Bhindranwale said 'the next stage was to have a separate homeland, and for that
the Sikhs must be ready to fight'. There is no corroboration available for this
view. In fact, the Sant repeatedly declared that he had no interest in political
matters and had not raised the slogan of Khalistan . Firstly, the gurmat camps
were not organized by Sant Bhindranwale and the only ones he spoke to were those
held within the Darbar Sahib complex. Secondly, claiming his assertion, that
Sikh religion had an identity of its own and was not a sect within Hinduism, to
imply political separatism and demand for an independent state is illogical and
perhaps mischievous propaganda by the Government and extremist Hindus. Sant
Bhindranwale was repeatedly questioned by reporters regarding the demand for an
independent state for Sikhs. He explained : 'I don't oppose it nor do I support
it. We are silent. However, one thing is definite that if this time the Queen of
India does give it to us, we shall certainly take it. We won't reject it. We
shall not repeat the mistake of 1947. As yet, we do not ask for it. It is Indira
Gandhi's business and not mine, nor Longowal's, nor of any other of our leaders.
It is Indira's business. Indira should tell us whether she wants to keep us in
Hindostan or not. We like to live together, we like to live in India.' Also :
'How can a nation which has sacri-ficed so much for the freedom of the country
want it fragmen-ted but I shall definitely say that we are not in favor of
Khalistan nor are we against it.' He declared : 'I have given my opinion that we
do not oppose Khalistan nor do we support it. We are quiet on the subject. This
is our decision. We wish to live in Hindostan but as equal citizens, not as
slaves. We are not going to live stuck under the chappals (Mrs. Gandhi's shoes).
We have to live in freedom and with the support of Kalghidhar. We wish to live
in Hindostan itself. It is the Central Government's business to decide whether
it wants to keep the turbaned people with it or not. We want to stay.' There
were persons, some of them even close to Sant Bhindranwale , who supported an
independent state but he himself was not one of them. Sant Longowal is said to
have confirmed that, as late as June 5, 1984, Sant Bhindranwale refused to
declare his support for an independent state. He did, however, declare that if
the Indian Government invaded the Darbar Sahib complex, foundation for an
independent Sikh state will have been laid. This was to emphasize that the
invasion would unalterably confirm the Government as an enemy of the Sikhs. The
Khalistan bogey was apparently a creation of the Indian Government responding to
the clamor of the extremist factions among the Punjabi Hindus. 7. Getting
Support from External Sources? Did Sant Bhindranwale 'receive covert support
from external sources'? Raising the specter of 'the foreign hand' was Indira
Gandhi's favorite ploy and it was eagerly accepted by the Indian public which is
always suspicious of 'colonial powers'. The accusation was obviously added to
other innuendoes against Sant Bhindranwale in order to mobilize public opinion.
Responding to an accusation by Indira Gandhi, Sant Bhindranwale challenged her
saying : 'If you know that persons from Pakistan come here to see me, you have
so large a C.I.D. why are those persons not arrested on their way? Then, they
return from here. Why are they not apprehended at that time? If you know that
they come to see me then you must be in league with them and they must be
coming, getting out and returning with your permission' He further said: 'It has
been said from this stage that Indira should resign her office but, perhaps, I
am right when I say that only such persons do this who have some sense of
dignity. What is the use of saying anything to those who have no sense of shame
at all? Occupying such high office, having become the Prime Minister of
Hindostan, without thinking, she has herself started to accuse leading
personalities. Which court will you turn to for justice?' Regarding receiving
funds from Sikhs living outside India, he told the prospective donors : 'The
foremost way of helping the martyrs is that if the congregations in foreign
countries collect some money, bring it yourselves. From here I shall give you a
car and my driver. He shall take you to the homes of the martyrs. You can give
them yourselves whatever you consider appropriate. The second alternative, if
you cannot adopt the first, is that I can give you the addresses of all the
martyrs. You can take these and directly send help to the martyrs, not through
intermediaries. The third alternative is that if you can trust the Jatha and you
voluntarily wish to send the moneys to the Jatha - I do not ask you for any
money - you may send it. I do not ask for it.' There was nothing underhanded or
secretive about this at all. Sant Bhindranwale was a preacher and there was no
support for this activity from any foreign government. To Sikhs settled abroad,
his advice was to help the families of victims of torture and extra-judicial
killings by the police. His enemies interpreted, and continue to do so, this
assistance to the victims of government brutality as support of terrorism. 8.
Procuring Weapons for Looting Banks, Jewelry Shops and Individual Homes? Keeping
weapons is part of the Sikh faith in which the ideal person is a
'saint-soldier'. Sant Bhindranwale often reminded the Sikhs that, in line with
the principles of their faith, they should possess and carry arms and quoted
Siri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib's instructions : 'Without weapons and hair a man is
but a sheep. Held by the ear, he can be taken anywhere. Listen, my beloved Sikh,
this is my command: Without weapons and hair, do not come to my presence.' Sant
Bhindranwale explained that a Sikh does not keep weapons for offense or for
hurting people: they are only for defense against oppression. He compared the
Sikh concept of keeping weapons with a nation's maintaining its defense forces
in a state of preparedness. He quoted from Siri Guru Granth Sahib: "When
the house is on fire, he (one who did not use his time to prepare for the
possibility) goes to dig a well to get water." Following Siri Guru Gobind
Singh Sahib's teachings, Sikhs were not to be looking for conflict. However,
Sant Bhindranwale reminded Sikhs of Guru Sahib's statement that when all other
means of redress fail, it is right to use weapons to fight oppression.
Explaining the Sikh attitude towards possession of arms, Sant Bhindranwale
expressly reminded his listeners : 'I am strongly opposed to having weapons and
then engaging in looting shops, looting someone's home, dishonoring anyone's
sister or daughter. .... With reference to weapons I shall only say that you
should bear arms. Being armed, there is no greater sin for a Sikh than attacking
an unarmed person, killing an innocent person, looting a shop, harming the
innocent, or wishing to insult anyone's daughter or sister. Also, being armed,
there is no sin greater than not seeking justice.' This teaching, basic to the
Sikh faith, was described by many Hindus as 'cult of violence'. Sinha et al.
wrote : 'Bhindranwale wanted to revive an older tradition of armed fight which
went several centuries back, and originated in some of the Gurus themselves.
This went very well with the archaic outfit of the revivalist movement. It also
filled its adherents with the irrational zeal.' After the British occupied
Punjab, Sikhs were completely disarmed. In 1914, the Government agreed that any
Sikh could keep a kirpaan as part of his faith. However, for firearms, one had
to obtain a license from the local authorities. This practice has continued
after India's freedom from British rule. The Indian Government as well as the
press have harped on the circumstance that Sant Bhindranwale, on his travels in
the country, was often accompanied by an armed retinue. It is not at all
uncommon for important persons in India to have armed escorts. All the weapons
carried by Sant Bhindranwale and his men were, at one time, duly licensed and he
was not breaking any laws. There have been no reports of any of Sant
Bhindranwale's escort hurting anyone. On the other hand, the press never
protested the fact that the Nirankari Baba traveled with enough armed men with
him, that in Amritsar on April 13, 1978, they fired upon an unarmed group of
about 100 protesting Sikhs killing 13 and injuring another 78. The 'White Paper'
referred to the subsequent Sikh protest as 'dogmatism and extremism'. The Indian
Government's solution to the problem was to disarm the victims, instead of
protecting them. In 1981, responding to the clamor of the extremist Hindu Press
in Punjab, the licenses issued to Sant Bhindranwale and his men were ordered
canceled. In March 1983, after Hardev Singh's murder by the police, the Home
Ministry asked the State Government to seize all firearms in the possession of
the Sant and his men. When the Sikhs launched an agitation in August 1982,
government response to peaceful protest consisted of beatings, brutal torture,
and killing in fake encounters of Sikh youth, in particular of those belonging
to Sant Bhindranwale's group. Sant Bhindranwale placed the number of persons so
killed at 113 in February 1983, about 140 in July 1983 and about 200 later that
year. Over 2,000 are said to have returned from police stations as cripples. It
was under these circumstances that Sant Bhindranwale asked his men to defy the
order to deposit their weapons so that, if need arose, they could defend
themselves against the Nirankaris and others who might be bent upon mischief.
Much has been made of the Darbar Sahib complex having been turned into an
arsenal and a fort by Sant Bhindranwale. Since 1982, extremist Hindu factions
had demanded that the Government forces should enter the Darbar Sahib complex
and arrest Sant Bhindranwale. All the Sikh leaders, including Sant Bhindranwale,
had made it clear that if the Government invaded this center of the Sikh faith,
they would resist with whatever means they could muster. The Government is
alleged to have arranged for weapons being smuggled into Darbar Sahib. This
influx of weapons was apparently planned to heighten the scale of the conflict
in order to justify the killing of as large a number of Sikhs as possible
without arousing a national protest against the genocide and also to ensure that
after the invasion was complete, these could be shown as having been recovered
from the so-called 'rebels'. Noorani states : 'Prem Kumar reported in The
Statesman of July 4: "The arrival of light machine-guns and sophisticated
self-loading rifles had been taken notice of by various agencies. The
information received was so detailed that even the make and the country of
origin of the weapons was known...The authorities had some idea of the source of
these weapons, mainly smuggled from Pakistan and obtained through thefts and
robberies and leakage from Indian Ordnance units... Many may be surprised over
the fact that the Central and the State Governments used to receive almost
hourly reports of monthly meetings of Akali leaders even when only five or six
of the top leaders attended these meetings in the Temple complex. When Sant
Bhindranwale discussed his plans with only one or two close confidantes, the
information reached the authorities. It is understood that the Government got
information about Sant Bhindranwale even when he was confined to the Akal Takht
and till as late as June 6." As P.S. Bhinder, former IGP, told Neerja
Chowdhury and Shahnaz Anklesaria of that paper, shortly before he quit,
"Intelligence information reached the places it should have. It was a
political failure." A.S. Pooni, Home Secretary of Punjab, also confirmed
that "the Government had a fair idea of the kind of weapons inside the
Golden Temple".... How did they reach there? In Kar-seva (voluntary labor)
trucks carrying food and construction material. "They were not intercepted
because there were oral instructions "from the top" until two months
ago not to check any of the Kar-Seva trucks", Bhinder told the two
correspondents.' CLOSING REMARKS In the history of mankind, whenever a corrupt
and degenerate society has felt threatened by moral and social revival, the
powers of the day have branded the leaders of such revival as traitors and
criminals and so justified their elimination and brutal subjugation of their
associates and disciples. These messengers of peace and brotherhood were killed
not because they had committed any crime but because they did not toe the line
of the rulers of the time. These people were 'inconvenient' because of their
popularity and influence with the people. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's
martyrdom represents yet another addition to this illustrious list. Sant
Bhindranwale was a religious preacher without interest in politics. His mission
was to propagate the basic principles of Sikh religion. He emphasized a life of
prayer and saintliness and himself set an example for the other Sikhs. He
advised Sikhs to possess weapons and to be ready to lay down their lives, if
necessary, in the interest of ensuring justice and protection of the defenseless
and the weak, in line with the teachings of the Gurus. He insisted that a Sikh
should never initiate a confrontation. A Sikh's way is one of love and mercy and
not of violence. Sikh response to oppression and injustice had to consist of
persuasion, legal action, appeal to higher authorities in the Government, and
that a Sikh should follow the tradition of recourse to weapons only as the last
resort when all other means had been exhausted. This is the path he followed
when faced with escalating state oppression. After the confrontation with the
Sant Nirankaris on April 13, 1978, when 13 Sikhs lost their lives to firing by
gunmen in the Nirankari camp, all he wanted was that the Government arrest and
prosecute the murderers. After the incident at Chowk-Mehta, on September 20,
1981, in which the police fired upon Sikhs and killed 18 of them, all he asked
for was a judicial inquiry into the matter and for punishment of those who were
guilty. Upon Amrik Singh's arrest, convinced that this was arbitrary and that
Amrik Singh had committed no crime, he sought the intervention of the District
Magistrate, Amritsar, through peaceful demonstration. He sought legal redress
and found the courts to be powerless in enforcing their judgments; their orders
were not obeyed or the victims were re-arrested on trumped-up charges
immediately after being released. The news media and the national leadership,
instead of checking police brutality, lauded such arbitrary re-arrests and
indeed called for them in order to keep the 'terrorists' behind bars. The
Government canceled the arms licenses of the victims and not those of the
perpetrators. He would narrate stories of police brutality to news reporters but
they, instead of pursuing the matter to bring these to public attention,
dismissed them as his 'favorite yarn'. Till the very end of his life, the Sant
claimed that he had never used his weapons to hurt any one and complained about
police high-handedness. Arbitrary arrest, torture and elimination of young Sikhs
was carried on till the Sant felt pushed to the wall and, not getting redress
from the higher authorities, the courts, the news media, and the national
leadership, told his men to resist because arrest, in most cases, meant
elimination in police custody and a faked report of an 'encounter'. The revival
of the Sikh religion that Sant Bhindranwale led worried the extremists among the
Hindus because it stemmed the tide of apostasy among Sikh youth and reinforced
the Sikh sense of religious identity. The so-called 'moderates' among the Sikhs
at first wished to use this immensely popular religious leader to advance their
own purposes but later, as his popularity among the Punjab peasantry grew,
considered him to be a threat to their hegemony over Sikh affairs. He had to be
killed not because he had committed any crime but because too many people loved
him and looked up to him for guidance in their misery. Laura Lopez wrote in June
1984 : 'By early this year, it was apparent to her that Bhindranwale had become
so popular he had usurped the Akalis' authority, leaving the party impotent in
negotiations and fearful of his violent fanaticism. No matter how long she
talked to the Akalis, Mrs. Gandhi concluded, they could never deliver on an
agreement that would hold while Bhindranwale was alive.' In order to eliminate
him, he had to be depicted as a criminal, as the symbol of all that was evil and
dangerous for the country. Indira Gandhi's Government, influenced and assisted
by extremist Hindu politicians whose support she needed for the next elections,
and the polarized news media, carried on a continuous disinformation campaign to
vilify Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the institutions he represented and
symbolized. He was blamed for everything that went wrong and for every crime
that was committed in Punjab. Government agencies routinely fed the news-media
with such 'information'. The Hindu-dominated press and the Indian Government
found it convenient to interpret the centuries old Sikh prayer as a call for
Sikh supremacy and secession and, therefore, an act of sedition. Sikh possession
and carrying of weapons - the Indian Constitution accepts the possession and
carrying of a kirpaan by a Sikh as part of practice of his religion - was
described as creating tension and terror. Peaceful Sikh protest against public
ridicule of their religion was met with bullets. The tradition of peaceful civil
disobedience, successfully used against the British by M. K. Gandhi, was
regarded as treason when it was used by the Sikhs to press their economic and
religious grievances, and met with mass killings to 'teach them a lesson'. At
the same time, attacks on Sikhs and Sikh institutions were dismissed as 'natural
reaction.' The propaganda was eminently successful. Even though there was no
evidence of the Sant having committed any crime, many well-meaning people were
misled into believing that he was leading a revolt against the country, that he
was a secessionist, that he hated Hindus and encouraged their being massacred,
etc., and that Government action against him and other Sikhs was justified. The
sensitivities of the Indian people were dulled to the point that they accepted
without protest, and even endorsed, the gruesome torture and unlawful
elimination of tens of thousands of devout Sikh men, women, and children. Many
Hindus felt the Sikhs had brought upon themselves the misfortunes that visited
upon them. If Sant Bhindranwale was indeed the fountainhead of all trouble,
Indian Government's success in killing him should have marked the end of the
campaign. But it was not so. Sant Bhindranwale was merely a symbol. What needed
to be destroyed was the Sikh faith as taught by Siri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib
because it was viewed as a threat to the concept of Indian nationhood that had
to be fostered. According to Pettigrew
: ''The army went into Darbar Sahib not
to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to suppress the
culture of a people, to attack their heart, to strike a blow at their spirit and
self-confidence."
|
