My first encounter with the topic
Every year Sikhs remember those who fought for the Panth when the Indian Army attacked Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, in June 1984. I have a small memory of my elementary school days in Punjab, a very vague one, that there’re ‘terrorists’ in Darbar Sahib in 1984. Probably the only young memory of 1984. It wasn’t that my family members didn’t consider Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale a martyr, but, somehow, this thought was there. I don’t remember where this came from. My school wasn’t a ‘religious school’, nor the teachers would be telling the young school goers about the Operation Bluestar.
How did that become part of my memory? I do not know.
In my high school, I got the first set of books on Bhindranwale Sant and Operation Bluestar from my grandfather. I used to read books in my high schools. I still remember very thin, small-sized, books on the lives of the Sikh Gurus. I think I read all of them. I don’t remember how I got to Operation Bluestar books, searching through my grandfather’s cupboard? Or probably a sudden discussion started, and my grandfather gave me those books? Maybe.
So, I read those two books written in Punjabi – Sant Bhindranwale kaun han, and Operation Bluestar – by Surjeet Jalandhari. Both seemed to the first edition. I was too young to comprehend all the details, but a bird-view was formed that Bhindranwale Sant wasn’t a terrorist, he was speaking against the injustice and wasn’t a moderate Sikh who would be silent if the injustice continued. He would invoke the arms, if needed, as done by the Khalsa in the 18th and the 19th centuries.
During my college days, I listened to his speeches. They were so straight to the point, no beating around the bush. Any person who’s listened to his speeches would agree that he wasn’t against Hindus, wasn’t in favour or against Khalistan, didn’t believe in killing innocents, had arguments in his favour for everything he said.
Authors and their arguments
Many books have been written about the Punjab period from 1980s to 1990s, by both Sikhs and non-Sikhs, those in favour of the Sant or against him. There aren’t any similarities between these two sides though. One will try to start from the beginning, the other would just outline the details of the killings. One would justify the arms of the Sikhs, other would reprimand it.
Over the years I read several books on this topic. The authors against him had two major points, 1) Sant Bhindranwale shouldn’t have picked the weapons, 2) he shouldn’t have asked to kill innocents. I think the first point is not valid in totality. It’s half of a question, second half hasn’t been asked my majority of the authors, or should I say all of them, i.e., he shouldn’t have picked the weapons against the Indian State.
The sixth Sikh Guru had armed the Sikhs, and since that period Sikhs have been fighting the battles and wars against injustice. It’s not a new phenomenon that Sikhs picked the weapons to fight. It wasn’t even about turning Darbar Sahib into a fort. Those who had issues with Sant Bhindranwale arming the Sikhs or fortifying the Darbar Sahib wouldn’t raise a finger if it’d been done in the Mughal Period by the same person, or in the British Rule. I am sure that they would consider him a martyr if he’d died in a battle against the Mughals or Britishers, keep the same set as is, just change the Indian Army into Mughal or British officers. Like I said, it isn’t about the arms, it’s about against whom he picked the weapons.
Don’t get me wrong, but no timid journalist or historian wants to write against the State, irrespective of who’s in control, because of its repercussions. How many people have written in favour of Sikhs in the battles with the Mughals? We know how the Sikhs were portrayed in the Mughal books. Similarly, once the Punjab was annexed by the British in 1849 AD, the same set of people who’re with the Sikhs for whatever the benefits, left them or joined the British. Everybody wants to be on the winning side.
Second point is highly inappropriate. People have called him a Hindu-hater. Or on his commands the Hindus were killed in Punjab. It’s highly unfortunate and vicious that the innocent Hindus were killed in Punjab because of their faith. But there is no link between their killings and Sant Bhindranwale. He’d helped the Hindus, two prime examples were when a person kidnapped a Hindu girl, and he ordered his men to retrieve her and sent it to her family; second, he compensated the Hindus when their religious book was burned[1]. If he’s striking terrors in the hearts of the Hindus, then why were Hindus coming to him for talks and debates? Subramanyam Swami, Jethmalani, Sadhus, etc., had held discussions with him!
And those who blamed him for anti-Hindu stances and arming the Sikhs, they all were present during that decade, from the likes of Khushwant Singh, Tavleen Singh, Arun Shourie, Kuldeep Nayar, Shekhar Gupta, J. S. Arora, etc., then why didn’t they ask these questions to him? If they did and they weren’t satisfied, they should have argued, but that wasn’t the case. Tavleen Singh is a prime example. When Bhindranwale Sant gave her a vivid view of the injustice inflicted on the Sikhs by the government[2], she didn’t argue, probably didn’t even check if it’s true or not, or raise questions to the government. They became mute spectators just to quote him later for vilification, and many of them believed what they read in the newspapers, rather than doing their journalistic investigation.
It's easy to raise questions when the person isn’t present, because dead do not speak.
Lies to cover the truth
There’re two assassinations which aren’t thoroughly discussed by some authors, but just a small summary was given to hide the truth. First, Lala Jagat Narayan was killed because he’s against the idea of Khalistan and Sant Bhindranwale. I believe there’re many people who, before the Operation Bluestar, were against Khalistan. Killing someone just because he’s against the idea of Khalistan doesn’t make sense. If it were true, why was only he killed? To instil fear? The common argument. No. That argument has been used so many times that it’s become unbelievable.
Almost every outside authors – those who’re living outside Punjab but wrote about the Punjab Crisis – mentioned Lala’s assassination, but they didn’t objectively give a proper irrefutable argument for that. Although, in his speeches, Bhindranwale Sant did mention Lala’s activities, still none of these authors dared to write about Bhindranwale Sant’s words. I believe majority of the early writers who wrote on Operation Bluestar, their purpose was to justify Operation Bluestar, so they missed many details on purpose.
A. R. Darshi, a PCS officer, writes[3]:
Besides the Nirankaris Lala Jagat Narain, a staunch Arya Samaji and the chief Editor of the Hind Samachar Newspapers Group based at Jalandhar was spitting fire through his newspapers by making derogatory speeches against Sant Bhindranwale as well as against the Sikh Gurus. He vehemently supported the vicious Nirankari movement launched against the Sikhs and went to the extent of writing editorials defending the outrageous acts of the Nirankari Chief. Not only that, he appeared as a star defence witness and gave a false statement in favour of Gurbachan Singh in the murder case. His preposterous propaganda and outrageous actions against Sikhism provoked and angered the Sikh youth to such an extent that two of them gunned him down in broad day light, on 9th September 1981 while he was travelling in his car from Ludhiana to Jalandhar.
Surjit Jalandhari in his 1983 book[i] gave the similar reasons of Lala’s assassination[4]:
By calling Lala ji as ‘Amar Shaheed’, that he’s martyred because of his free thoughts, that he’s gunned down due to his brave editorials, that he’s killed because he told the truth … these are plain lies. Who reads Lala ji’s editorials except his followers? If one reads, who believes in them? The reason of him being killed due to his writing/editorial is promulgated to make ‘late Lala ji’ into ‘Amar Shaheed Lala Jagat Narayan ji’. And if the Sikh writers or pseudo journalists consider his writing as the reason of his death, they’re playing in the hands of the Lala’s family[ii]. And for their family’s benefits they agree on these thoughts/opinions.
The real answer to the second question is that he’s assassinated because of his acts of saving the Nirankari Chief Baba Gurbachan Singh and his followers, and his testimony in Karnal session court in their favour, who were the killers of the Sikhs and defamer of Sikhi, and his testimony acquitted the Nirankari Baba and 64 other convicts, that’s why the warriors from the Dharam Yudh, which’s started against the Nirankaris, shot him dead.
Gobind Thukral quoted Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in 1982:
We are no extremists or communalists. Give us one instance when we insulted or hit anyone. But the Government terms us extremists. We are extremists if we protest when our Gurus are painted as lovers of wine and women by the Lala's newspapers.
In his speech, Bhindranwale Sant said[5]:
Sikhs are being called communal, extremists, separatists, and militants. But my turbaned brothers, our existence is accursed; our life as humans is futile. The worthless Lala, Lala Jagat Narain, died. His body was given to his son Romesh. Why did he die? The case is still going on. Some say [my speaking] will affect the proceedings. Be it so, it does not matter. Both [the accused] will be hanged. Let that be. Why did Lala Jagat Narain die? He published in the newspapers that Guru Gobind Singh Ji lived his life as a prince, that he was very fun-loving; even worse language was used. Jathedar Gurdial Singh Ajnoha, now in heavenly abode, went abroad. Lala Jagat Narain said: “The passport issued to the Jathedar should be withdrawn; it should be cancelled because Jathedar Ji is a traitor to the country. Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandbak Committee is a traitor.” No Sikh took notice. No government noticed this. No Hindu brother noticed this. Students belonging to the Federation set fire to some sheets from newspapers. M.I.S.A. was invoked against them. They suffered beatings. Some Guru's beloved could not take it any more. Seeing his Father being insulted, someone with a sense of honor, taking support from the Guru, put him on the train [of death]. They have said: “Bhindranwale had him eliminated, had him killed.” They kept me too for twenty-five days and then, taking note of the large congregations that assembled, begged forgiveness and released me. …
How far are we going to hold on to this peacefulness? Here is a picture of Lala Jagat Narain with Guru Gobind Singh Sahib. On the right is Lala Jagat Narain and this is the photo of the Tenth King, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib. A worthless person, without mother and father, without any background nor anything else, and his son Romesh should print his picture alongside that of our Father, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib! How many Sikhs are sitting here? Has any Sikh ever had the audacity to print a picture alongside Bhagwan Krishan or Ramchandra Ji? I like to say this to Romesh and to the Government as well; it will be good if, within the next three or four days, he asks the Sikh Nation for forgiveness in writing. If Romesh, the son of the Lala, does not realize his error and does not ask the Sikh Nation for forgiveness, then if someone puts him on the train [of death], it will be the responsibility of Romesh and the Government, it won't be mine or the Sikh Nation's.
People can differ as much as they can on if these reasons were enough to kill a person. Didn’t Surjit Jalandhari write on the reasoning of the Sikhs and pseudo journalists? That he’s a free thinker so was killed? Anyways, why the prominent writers and journalists didn’t talk about this angle? Weren’t they spreading rumours and fear with these claims of him being a critic of Sant Bhindranwale and Khalistan which got him killed?
Second assassination was of Gurbachan Singh, Chief of Nirankaris. This assassination isn’t discussed like Lala Jagat Narayan because, 1) both are linked, if they talked about Nirankari Chief, they had to write about its links to Lala’s murder, which, I think they even knew, they didn’t mention, 2) if they gave so much space to Gurbachan Singh, their narrative of Sikhs killing the free thinkers or opposition wouldn’t stand a chance.
I have believed over the years that the clash between the Sikhs and Nirankaris on 13th April 1978 was the beginning of the conflict. I was wrong; it was the ending chapters of the conflict. The Nirankaris have been doing the anti-Sikh propaganda for long. Like the journalists and authors didn’t talk about the Lala’s acts before his murder, they didn’t write on the Nirankaris’ actions too. They did mention the brutal clash between Sikhs and Nirankaris in 1978, not the prior statements and processions of the Nirankaris.
A. R. Darshi writes[6]:
To achieve their objective the Nirankaris led by Gurbachan Singh, a prophet of sensual pleasures, launched a tirade against the Sikh Gurus and Sikh religion. He criticised Guru Nanak Dev and equated him with a beggar, he denounced Guru Gobind Singh calling him simply a hunter and wanderer. Thus he ridiculed the Sikh Gurus and openly challenged their noble teachings and their faith. Besides this, the Nirankaris published books titled “Avtar Bani” and “Yug Pursh” eulogising Avtar Singh, predecessor of Gurbachan Singh, as the real and greatest Avtar (incarnation of God) ever born on the earth. These rubbish books slighted all the Sikh Gurus, the prophets and the great seers of all religions and advocated that Avtar Singh was the true Guru who is unparalleled in the history of mankind. This was a big challenge to Sikhism as its very foundation was being shaken.
Gurbachan Singh actively aided by the government, launched his Anti-Sikh movement with a main thrust in Punjab. Giani Zail Singh who too, was a man of questionable morality, covertly supported the Nirankari Chief. The Giani, then Chief Minister of Punjab, appointed Hardev Singh Chhina an I.A.S. officer as the Chief Secretary of Punjab[iii]. Chhina was a staunch supporter of Gurbachan Singh Nirankari and he converted many high and low ranked officers into Nirankaris by showering undue favours on them. All such government employees of shady character and reputation were elevated and given important assignments in the state administration.
The sinister Nirankari movement actively aided by the government was scuttling the faith of Nanak and Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh. It is surprising that neither the Akali Dal nor the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee bothered to counter this nefarious anti-Sikh onslaught. It was only Dam Dami Taksal, founded by Guru Gobind Singh and then headed by Baba Deep Singh Shaheed, which decided to blot out the anti Sikh campaign. The Taksal under the youthful leadership of Sant Kartar Singh challenged and countered the anti Sikh activities of Nirankari Chief. When battle lines between the Nirankaris and the Taksal were drawn, Sant Kartar Singh, unfortunately met with an accident in the prime of his life and passed away on 16th August, 1977. It was now left to Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who succeeded Sant Kartar Singh, to continue the fight against the Nirankaris who were indulging in blasphemous activities. His struggle was also targeted at the Indian Government which had been discriminating against the Sikhs and treating them as second rate citizens.
Below are some of the statements and actions of the Chief of the Nirankaris:
1. As reported in the April 1966 issue of the Sant Nirankari (p. 7), Avtar Singh, in a public gathering at Delhi on the 27 February, 1966, proclaimed that, “while Guru Gobind Singh had ordained only Five" Beloved Ones as the founding members of the Khalsa, the apotheosis of Sikhism, I, Avtar Singh, have now ordained Seven Beloved Ones”.
Gurbachan Singh, the son and successor of Avtar Singh, has now re-named these seven Beloved Ones, panj pyaras, as Seven Stars, satt sitaras, betraying his deep attachment to the movie-cult and intimate interest in cine-literature[7].
2. “Gurbachan Singh is the Descent of Divinity on Earth, He is the Sustainer of the entire Universe. (O, Gurbachan) your Will is the sole measure of Goodness. For, you are the enternal living God[iv].”
The last couplet of this litany is from the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which enunciates that, God’s Will the Matrix and final Test of human ethical judgement and He is the eternal Living God. The first two lines are a piece of crude versification in the Avtarbani of these pseudo-nirankaris and by joining these two couplets the Sikh sacred text has been grossly profaned and put into service of deification of Gurbachan Singh[8].
3. When the Fifth Nanak, Guru Arjun (1563-1606), established Amritsar as the centre of Sikh religion, the first sacred tank he got dug-up, was Santokhsar. Avtar Singh has recently dug up a ditch at his headquarters at Delhi and has named it Santokhsar, with the deliberate and malicious intention of insulting the Sikh religion.[9]
4. The follower of Baba Gurbachan Singh, Harcharan Singh Chandigarh, gave the Chief a postcard where he called the Chief as the heir of Guru Nanak Dev ji and Guru Gobind Singh ji. How can Sikhs tolerate this that soil can be compared with the Divine[10].
5. ਸੇਵਾ ਤੇ ਅਰਦਾਸੇ ਕਰ ਕਰ ਮਨ ਨਾ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਹੋ ਸਕਿਆ ।
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ ਜਹੇ ਸਰ ਦਾ ਪਾਣੀ, ਮੈਲ ਨਾ ਦਿਲ ਦੀ ਧੋ ਸਕਿਆ ।
ਤਰਨਤਾਰਨ ਵਿਚ ਲਾ ਲਾ ਤਾਰੀ, ਭਵ ਸਾਗਰ ਨਾ ਤਰ ਸਕਿਆ ।
ਪੜ੍ਹ ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਸੁਖ ਨਾ ਲੱਭਾ, ਜੀਅ ਨਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਠਰ ਸਕਿਆ[11] ।
There are many examples given in ਭਿੰਡਰਾਂਵਾਲੇ ਸੰਤ where the author quoted from Nirankaris’ religious text.
Everybody is on the same page irrespective of their opinion about Sant Bhindranwale that the clashes were between the Sikhs and the Nirankaris, not Hindus and Sikhs, or Sikhs and the police. But over a period of time, some zealot Hindu groups turned it into Hindu-Sikh; when the Sikhs were protesting against the Nirankaris, the Hindus like Harbans Lal Khana opposed it and started tarnishing the Sikhs and their beliefs[12]. Nirankari Chief, Lala Jagat Narain, and Harbans Lal Khana, they all were either part of the political parties or associated with them, and neither the political parties nor the police acted against them.
Aftermath of Operation Bluestar
Government assumption was to resolve the conflict in Punjab, they had to send the army in. They were warned of the consequences, but they paid no heed to it[13]. The commandos were trained under RAW long before Operation Bluestar[14]. So the sudden movement of the army in Darbar Sahib is said to be due to the morcha announced by Longowal to prevent the movement of grain in the state[15] stands incorrect. It doesn’t even make sense. Longowal was a pacifist person … why the government thought they would need army with huge ammunition and tanks and commandoes to capture that person, or to stop the morcha of the Akali Dal? It never was about that. Foolish are those who think of this reason for Operation Bluestar.
Punjab Governor B. D. Pande had warned RAW and others[16]:
Attacking the Golden Temple will mean a point of no return and the Sikh community will be totally alienated for generations to come.
The outcome of attack on Darbar Sahib was predictable, I believe. They, I think, knew the consequences – both about the assassinations and the armed revolt by Sikhs.
I am really amazed that the insurgency after the Operation Bluestar continued for a decade in Punjab. It wasn’t an easy thing for majority of the people who had no background of military but their own history. The armed Sikhs continued the struggle during the high and low of the Movement. They weren’t only fighting against the oppressors but also those who’d picked the weapons in their name for looting and killing people. Baba Manochal did mention about this two-front battle they were fighting, and Bhai Daljit Singh Bittu gave the similar story[17].
There’re those Sikhs too who didn’t like the idea of Khalistan, but the attack on Darbar Sahib changed everything. And then there’re those who weren’t actively involved in the armed struggle, but might have sympathy with the kharkus; and when they were tortured by the police, they raised the arms against the State[18]. It’s the grievances that led to the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982 and the militancy in Punjab after Operation Bluestar. If the Indira Gandhi government in 1980s had not exploited the grievances, found a sound solution, the situation would have been better. But both the mother-son duo used the situations for their political benefits: Indira Gandhi, Operation Bluestar; and Rajiv Gandhi, Sikh pogrom after Indian Gandhi’s assassination. And its outcome was the 1984 elections when the Indian National Congress won more than 400 seats, the first time in the history of India, with the highest percentage in the Lok Sabha.
I don’t think any Sikh has any issues with the kharkus dying while fighting. To some extent it’s understandable that the police officers were following the orders to kill those who picked the arms against the State. The kharkus knew when they raised the arms that it’s either the Kingdom or the Martyrdom, nothing in between, no compromise. What’s beyond reprehensible and repulsive was the excessive forced used by the State machinery against the non-kharkus or the family members of the kharkus for promotions and prize money. And no politician or Punjabi Hindu wants to talk about it.
The police brutality is well recorded by the contemporary journalists in 1990s. When the State wants to convey their own narrative, they can go to any means to protect its officers. How is it possible that a lower-level person would go on a killing spree without caring about the repercussions? Because they had the people in high positions to save them. But when the ‘trouble’ is over, these lower-level officers became expendable. You will see many convictions of the police officers after the 1990s but won’t find a top-level officer in the list. K. S. Dhillon, former Punjab DGP, admitted that the Centre condoned extra judicial killings[19]. It should also be noted that an anthropologist from the US was raped by the rogue police in India to make her run away from Punjab, so that she wouldn’t write the story of militants, which was against their own narrative.
It would be incomplete if I miss to write that the Hindus were targeted by some groups. I think majority of the authors have written the Hindu killings in Punjab. It is also true that some of them left Punjab due to fear. When I visited Dalhousie a couple of years back in India, I met two or three families who left Punjab during those times. They had small shops in Dalhousie to make their living.
Majority of the kharkus were against the killing of the Hindus in frustration. Baba Manochal in his interview with Kanwar Sandhu had mentioned that it’s impossible to keep tab on everyone when they were underground, and the kharkus had to kill many of these people who’re on a spree of killing Hindus.
There are many aspects of this. Since we are underground, it is not possible to keep tabs on everyone. Frankly, if a government with such vast resources at its command can't prevent Pilibhit-type massacres, it is unfair to expect underground groups to enforce fairplay.
We, in fact, don't want so many youth to take to militancy. Some are in it now for the heck of it. These elements are a headache for us too and we have had to kill a number of them.
Unfortunately, we have to fight on two fronts – against the Government and against some militant groups. I concede there've been massacres of innocents. But these've been retaliations against the Government's lawlessness.
Many authors who supported the militancy in Punjab have written about the killings of the Hindus. They never shied away from this truth. It’s unfortunate. And despicable. But what did the police do to give justice to these people? You would find news articles that so and so person was killed who massacred the Hindus. But none of them were tried in a court of law. No way of knowing if they actually did it. Sometimes the police would kill an innocent and call the militant has been killed, which later would be found to be alive in a jail. A. R. Darshi has written that RAW was involved in killing the Hindus in Punjab before the Operation Bluestar[20]. It’s more complex than writing the mainstream militancy in Punjab was killing the Hindus to instil fear in them to make them run away from Punjab to settle in some other states.
This militancy had big names on its list, beginning with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, General Vaidya, many police officers … till the assassination of Punjab CM Beant Singh, who’s said to be the mastermind and gave free hand to the police force to kill the Sikhs. It is visible from the map of Ensaaf too that after Beant Singh became the CM, there’re many enforced disappearances in Punjab in the name of militancy. Jagtar Singh Tara, involved in Beant Singh’s assassination, said, ‘I have no regret killing Beant Singh. But the seventeen innocents who died along with him, I regret that. If killing a butcher can save thousands of innocents, nothing is wrong in that. We killed Beant Singh to end the law of terror.”
The police brutality didn’t even leave the Human Right Activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who uncovered the extrajudicial killings by the Punjab Police.
I think the worst part is the so-called Sikh political party – SAD – didn’t do anything for these excesses of the police power when they made their government in Punjab in 1997. That is the saddest part of the story. Every single person, be it politicians or police officers, used the militancy for their gains, both monetary rewards and power. None cared about the innocents dying. But then this’s part of the Indian subcontinent, where butchers come and go, and the political classes use them because they are expendable, and it’s been going on for thousands of years.
Self-lament of the Sikh youth
I think some of the Sikh youth has never been this confused as they’re now about the Sikh Philosophy and Sikh History. It isn’t about the right information not available for them. They’re in self-pity and self-lament mode. They do not want to call the atrocities committed by the armed forces during the Operation Bluestar and the Militant Movement in Punjab, especially when evidence is available at their disposal. They overlook and blame the Sikhs, their own, for everything that happened since 1978 clash.
It can’t just be the influence of the Rightwing and their propaganda. It’s more about living a fearful live, reminding if you demand something, even under the boundaries of the Indian constitution, you will be vilified, and, probably, end up in a ditch or jail. So, better keep silence, or pay a lip service to the State narrative. We’ve seen this during the Farmers Protest in 2020-2021 that how they’re vilified and called Khalistanis and terrorists. Although, those who participated in the protests have seen firsthand how the narrative and propaganda work at the national level, and it gave them some idea that at the time when there weren’t many ways of communication back in 1980s, how the narrative was set. They learned what the Rightwing can do now when there’re limitless ways of communication for propaganda.
It also has to do with a podcaster in New Zealand whose everyday topic is Militant Movement in Punjab and Bhindranwale Sant. Although, none of these people have sat for the debates, except calling them on their radio and cutting them off when they don’t have proper arguments in their favour, or name-calling, recent being the talk with Paramjit Singh Akali. Think, every day you’re listening to the same narrative and false propaganda, it will definitely influence your mindset. But the good thing about the anti-Sikh propaganda is, the historians and the students of history will go deeper in history, find new sources, with fresh zeal, to counter their claim. And it always is productive. During the 5Ks propaganda, someone commented on our video that he read more books on the topic.
These influenced Sikh youth have contradictory views because they aren’t self-read but gathered bits and pieces from here and there. They would start with the same argument that Bhindranwale Sant shouldn’t have been in Akaal Takhat, would give examples how the Guru left the Anandpur Sahib during the battle – the same set doesn’t believe in any historical granth but Gurbani; their stance changes whenever they want – and later would say if the Guru stayed for a battle, Sant Bhindranwale shouldn’t have as we can’t compare him with the Guru. They aren’t clear on their argument, but they want to go against whatever Sant Bhindranwale stood for.
One thing is a fact. Sant Bhindranwale and the Sikhs who’re martyred in Operation Bluestar, a memorial is built in their name in the precincts of Darbar Sahib. And those who attacked it, opposed Sant Bhindranwale, favoured Operation Bluestar, their names aren’t there and won’t be remembered kindly in the Sikh history.
Sometimes I think there will never be another decade in Punjab for the nonsensical killing spree by the State, when there’re so many electronic devices available, when the whole world is so much connected, nobody would dare to kill innocents in numbers. But when I think of Maoists and militancy in J&K, I believe it will never stop. Police brutalities will never stop, only the faces will change, not the methods. This is new India, where the Brown People rule.
I will end with A. R. Darshi’s comments, which I think are too daring, considering he’s part of the government[21]:
In this regard Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi also exhorted the Sikhs to take swords if their just demands were not conceded by the government. When Madhusudan Singh asked M.K. Gandhi what the Sikhs should do in the event of betrayal by the Congress, Gandhi firmly replied that in that case the brave Sikhs should take their swords in their hands with perfect justification and safeguard their rights by use of the arms. If Gandhi, a great leader of the Congress, justified armed struggle by the Sikhs to safeguard their interests, why Sant Bhindranwale was blamed for his militant struggle.
Aligning with Gur Sobha of 1711 AD[22]:
ਅਸੁਰ ਸਿੰਘਾਰਬੇ ਕੋ ਦੁਰਜਨ ਕੇ ਮਾਰਬੇ ਕੋ
ਸੰਕਟ ਨਿਵਾਰਬੇ ਕੋ ਖਾਲਸਾ ਬਨਾਯੋ ਹੈ ।
[1] Struggle for Justice, Speeches and conversations of Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale, Pages 279-280, 1999
[2] The Punjab Story, Pages 30-31, 1985
[3] The Gallant Defender, A. R. Darshi, Page 42, 1999
[4] ਭਿੰਡਰਾਂਨਵਾਲੇ ਸੰਤ, ਸੁਰਜੀਤ ਜਲੰਧਰੀ, ਪੰਨਾ 59-60, 1983
[5] Struggle for Justice, Speeches and conversations of Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale, Pages 153-154, 1999
[6] The Gallant Defender, A. R. Darshi,Pages 25-26, 1999
[7] They Massacre Sikhs, A white paper by Sikh Religious Parliament, SGPC, Page 22
[8] They Massacre Sikhs, A white paper by Sikh Religious Parliament, SGPC, Page 20-21
[9] They Massacre Sikhs, A white paper by Sikh Religious Parliament, SGPC, Page 23
[10] ਭਿੰਡਰਾਂਨਵਾਲੇ ਸੰਤ, ਸੁਰਜੀਤ ਜਲੰਧਰੀ, ਪੰਨਾ 93, 1983
[11] ਭਿੰਡਰਾਂਨਵਾਲੇ ਸੰਤ, ਸੁਰਜੀਤ ਜਲੰਧਰੀ, ਪੰਨਾ 94, 1983
[12] The Gallant Defender, A. R. Darshi, Pages 34 & 55, 1999
[13] In the Service of Free India, B. D. Pande, Page 271, 2021
[14] In the Service of Free India, B. D. Pande, Page 287, 2021
[15] Operation Blue Star, Lt. Gen. K. S. Brar, Page 31, 2018
[16] In the Service of Free India, B. D. Pande, Page 287, 2021
[17] ਖਾੜਕੂ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ ਦੀ ਸਾਖੀ 2, ਦਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ, ਪੰਨਾ 44-45, 2023
[18] Troubled Reflections: Reporting Violence, Gobind Thukral, Page 129, 2009
[19] Troubled Reflections: Reporting Violence, Gobind Thukral, Page 121, 2009
[20] The Gallant Defender, A. R. Darshi, Pages 98-99, 1999
[21] The Gallant Defender, A. R. Darshi, Page 67, 1999
[22] ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਸੋਭਾ, ਕਵਿ ਸੈਨਾਪਤਿ, ਸੰਪਾਦਕ ਡਾ ਗੰਡਾ ਸਿੰਘ, ਪੰਨਾ 79, 1988
[i] It might be the first book before Operation Bluestar which outlined the details of the incidents and life of Sant Bhindranwale. At the time when the people were just writing on the violence in Punjab, Surjit Jalandhari took the initiative to give a complete background of the things and gave a proper narrative, rejecting the popular beliefs of the writers/journalists, which in the later years, especially after the Operation Bluestar, turned into a propaganda against Sant Bhindranwale.
[ii] The exact words are ਲਾਲ ਪਰਵਾਰ. It seems to be a printing mistake, it should be ਲਾਲਾ ਪਰਿਵਾਰ. But if the original is considered, its meaning would be Red Family.
[iii] Read Sat Pal Baghi’s article in Indian Express of April 1978, quoted in They Massacre Sikhs, pages 26-27
[iv] The Punjabi verses are: ਆਇਆ ਬਚਨ ਗੁਰੂ ਅਵਤਾਰ, ਸਾਰੇ ਜਗ ਦਾ ਪਾਲਣਹਾਰ ।
ਜੋ ਤੁਧੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਸਾਈ ਭਲੀ ਕਾਰ, ਤੂੰ ਸਦਾ ਸਲਾਮਤ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ।।
