The Following Report expresses the personal views of Harsh Thakor
See also : http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/demonstration-in-hyde-park-london-8th.html
From June 3rd to June 8th we dip our blood to the victims who perished during Operation Bluestar ,in Amritsar in Punjab, 30 years ago.
Few events have ever had such lasting impact on the psyche of the people of Punjab.
During Operation Bluestar the Indian army violated democratic principles in which it implemented it’s assault.
On One hand the Congress Government promoted the Sikh communal terrorists to combat their rivals, the Akali Dal party.
It fostered and nurtured sikh communal forces and even harboured terrorists.
On the other hand it claimed that when a gun was put on it’s head it was forced to attack the Golden temple to subvert communal terrorism, which it itself was responsible for sponsoring.
We pay homage to the 100 amrithdari Sikhs who were innocent but still shot by the army with their hands tied behind their backs.
It was one thing combating the communal Sikh fundamentalists and the other mowing down innocent sikh people.
In this context I will give a brief background of the origins of the Khalistani movement and the Punjab problem.
However they have not demarcated themselves totally from the communal trend of Akali politics by upholding the Anandpur Sahib resolution.
In fact the Association for Democratic Rights ,Punjab opposed the trend of the Peoples Human Rights Organization that condemned state terrorism but was silent on Khalistani terrorism.
Jagjit Singh Chauhan was the founder of this movement in the late 60´s abroad. Natively from Punjab he had settled abroad and in Britain formed Sikh religious groups advocating a new state for the Sikhs.
The Khalistani dictates included ban on cigarettes, ban on eating meat, ban on drinking liquor, ban on beauty parlours, prohibition of shaving and compulsion of women to wear Salwar Kameez.The people had to observe the Khalistani code in all ways of life.
In Punjab the Akali Dal represented the religious Sikh politics through the Akali movement which had its origin in the Singh Sabha movement of the late 20´s which tried to communalise a secular anti-imperialist movement
To divert it with the blessings of the British the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak committee was formed.
The Akali movement professed the Anandpur Sahib resolution that converted several democratic issues into Sikh demands. Democratic demands of the people like the arrest of the Jodhpur detainee's,the sharing of river waters with Haryana,the transfer of the capital from Chandigarh to Amritsar, the punishing of criminals during Delhi riots were taken up as religious issues.
However the fundamental difference of the Akali Dal with the Khalistanis was that they wanted to gain power within the Indian State through electoral means, while the Khalistanis advocated total religious liberation struggle to de-throne the Indian State.
There were forces within the Akali Dal which openly supported the Khalistani armed actions and election boycott. Like the Lakhowal faction of the Akali Dal.
In the mid 80´ Sant Longowal, the Akali Dal president was assassinated by the Khalistanis for was collaborating a settlement with the ruling Congress.
From the early 80´to the early part of the 90`s the state of Punjab was ravaged by Khalistani terrorism.
Communal fascists were a great threat to the people´s democratic movement.
The Akali Dal represented the Sikh communalists while the Congress represented the Hindu communalism.
Both parties used the communal terrorists against each other.
Indira Gandhi created Bhindranwale a Sikh communal fanatic to electorally defeat the Akali Dal.
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale belonged to a Sikh fundamentalist sect which opposed the electoral Akali Dal politics.
In the earlier phases the Akali Dal patronized the Sikh fundamentalist forces, harbouring several terrorists in religious temples.
However when the contradiction between the Khalistani liberation and Akali Dal ideology became acute the Congress won Bhindranwale to their side to de-stabilise the Akali Dal,the ruling party.
Both the Congress and the Akali Dal were equally regressive.
When the Akalis were in power Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale with the support of Congress-
I began a campaign against the Sikhs of the Nirankari sect.
Bhindranwale’s followers murdered Nirankaris which included Baba Gurcharan Singh in 1980.
It was only after Bhindranwale had killed the Hindu Arya Samajist leader Lala Jagat Narian that he was disowned by the Congress.
Lala Jagat Narian owned several papers and was a staunch Hindu communalist.
Lala Jagat Narian owned several papers and was a staunch Hindu communalist.
In fact he was only arrested when besieged by a large mob when travelling in a police van.
The Congress played a protracted game to thwart the base of the Akali Dal party.
The Congress played a protracted game to thwart the base of the Akali Dal party.
In July 1983 Bhindranwale took refuge in the Golden Temple.
They synchronized their demands with those of Bhindrawale’s. And went to Prime Minster Indira Gandhi with a set of political demands.The prime minister rekjectyed the political demands,but accepted the religious demands.
The Centre was still allowing the terrorists to operate freely,but suppressing the people.The Akali Dal had merged with Bhindranwale’s outfit and raised slogans against discrimination of Sikhs.
We must never forget that it was the Akali Dal government that got Punjab Students Union leader Prithipal Singh Randhawa murdered .
The Akali Dal was a Sikh Commmunal chauvinist party that voiced the demands of removing all un-sikh ways of living ,revoking atheism,and federalism.
After they grabbed power in 1978 it only voiced the demands of the landlord classes demanding exemption of wealth tax to the rich farmers.
It strengthened the state’s tentacles to suppress the organized movement led by the Communist revolutionaries.
Heavy state terrorism took place in Punjab against the common people in the name of combating the communal terrorists. Often a truckload of weaponry sent for arming the Khalistani terrorist forces were allowed by the Police.
I wish to narrate the experiences of a report by the All India federation of Organizations for Democratic Rights.in 1987 called ‘People Fight Back.’
Jagga Singh, a peasant of Sangrur village had visited the temple one day prior to Operation Bluestar.He and his family had gone to the Golden temple on June 3rd,one day prior to Operation Bluestar.
When the firing began on June 4th ,the family divided itself into 2 sections in the Guru Ramdas Serai.
One went in the room below, while one went in the room above.
The next day at 12 noon a hand grenade was flung into the upper room killing several people and Jagga Singh was killed. First he was attacked by a grenade splinter and then shot on the leg by the fire from a barrel of the gun.
One went in the room below, while one went in the room above.
The next day at 12 noon a hand grenade was flung into the upper room killing several people and Jagga Singh was killed. First he was attacked by a grenade splinter and then shot on the leg by the fire from a barrel of the gun.
Jagga Singh and his entire family were dragged into police custody. He was not released till 9 weeks ,returning to court 4 times.Jagga’s 1 and a half year old child and his 13 year old sister joined Jasbir Singh in jail. The mental balance of the younger sister was shaken.
Sardar Jang Singh an Akali Dal Longowal leader was leading a jatha (march) of 350 volunteers into he Golden temple on June 3rd.On 4th June,the army fired without a warning destroying a water tank in the Teja Singh Samundari hall.The pilgrims were taken into army custody killing 41 out of the 120 volunteers.
They were killed in army custody by a hand grenade. The survivors were treated deplorably being denied water and kept for long hours in a packed room.
They were killed in army custody by a hand grenade. The survivors were treated deplorably being denied water and kept for long hours in a packed room.
Ironically, the army had chosen the martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev and thus many Akali Dal volunteers came to the temple.The administration made no serious attempt to prevent the killing of innocent people or liking of unarmed people.
In manner similar to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour it awoke a sleeping giant.
In manner similar to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour it awoke a sleeping giant.
The assault created a deep wound in the hearts of the Sikh people like a burning flame burning within them. It extinguished the light from their lives and threw them into the dungels of darkness. Great Hindu Chauvinistic sentiment was expressed during the attack.
In the 1980’s sections of Communist revolutionaries backed the Akali Dal and were sympathetic to the Khalistani movement.This included the erstwhile C.P.I.(M.L.) Peoples War Group while the C.P.I.(M.L.) Party Unity group supported the Akali agitation.
Later on in 1998 they corrected this standpoint and accepted it as a communal –fascist movement.
Supporting the Anandpur Sahib resolution is totally capitulationist and has no class basis. We can never classify it with the struggle of the Kashmiri or Assamese people.
In the 1980’s certain revolutionaries and revolutionary student organizations tagged behind the Akali movement equating it with a nationality struggle.
In the 1980’s certain revolutionaries and revolutionary student organizations tagged behind the Akali movement equating it with a nationality struggle.
It failed to comprehend how the Akali movement was tied to the interests of the big landlords and big bougeoisie and had no democratic basis.
The Sikhs were not an oppressed minority like the Kashmiri or Assamese people.
The Sikhs were not an oppressed minority like the Kashmiri or Assamese people.
The Sikhs were never discriminated against in the Armed Forces. One major revolutionary group went to the extent of terming the Khalistani movements as a Peoples Liberation movement!
The author recommends readers to read the report of 1992 called ‘Bleeding Punjab’ published by ‘Surkh Rekha’ and’ Inquilabi Jantak Leh’,2 democratic Punjabi journals.
He also recommends the reading of the 1987 report termed ‘People Fight Back’ by the All India Federation of Organization s for Democratic Rights in 1987.
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