Punjab's darkest years
R. K. RAGHAVAN
|
A first-hand account of the factors that bedevilled Punjab for close to two decades
|
IDENTITY AND SURVIVAL — Sikh Militancy in India 1978-93: Kirpal Dhillon; Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delh-110017. Rs. 395.
Punjab was a devastated State for nearly two decades beginning with the early 1980s. The separatist movement led by some badly misguided but extremely motivated groups, aided by some Sikh elements living abroad, was so strong and violent that few gave a chance for an early return to normalcy. But the State bounced back in the late 1990s, thanks to some decisive police action earlier under the legendary K.P.S. Gill, and the credibility of the simultaneous appeal for sanity by a few opinion leaders. The rest is history.
Hindsight
Thanks to the luxury of hindsight available to Kirpal Dhillon, a former DGP of Punjab and a distinguished writer, we have an interesting account of important events of the time. Dhillon was certainly not happy with the way militants were tackled before the Bluestar operation (June 1984) and in its immediate aftermath, and does not hesitate to berate personalities at the helm of affairs then, for their follies.
The operation caused disenchantment even among the enlightened elements who were behind the government in trying to neutralise Sant Bhindranwale. It also achieved little by way of bringing down violence, except that it liquidated Bhindranwale and his cohorts. The latter had arrogated to themselves the leadership of a community that was no doubt alienated from government but hardly supportive of the kind of vivisection that these outlaws visualised. Actually, one direct, unfortunate offshoot of Bluestar was the assassination, within months, of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv-Longowal accord
Dhillon took over leadership of the Punjab Police within weeks of Bluestar. He was appalled by the politicisation of the force, a phenomenon that was not peculiar to this State. He devotes a whole chapter, "A Phony Accord" to the Rajiv-Longowal agreement of July 24, 1985. It was a patch-up truce that reeked of superficiality and appeasement. Such quick-fixes in an emotionally surcharged ambience hardly work, however well-intentioned they might be. Leaders who mattered, such as Badal and Tohra, did not support Longowal agreeing to talk to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Naturally, Longowal became a suspect, and was soon to pay dearly with his life.
The agreement itself was reduced to an empty document. Dhillon also became a scapegoat for the alleged security lapse that led to Longowal's murder and was repatriated to his parent cadre of Madhya Pradesh, after a tenure of less than 13 months. It is this type of victimisation that the National Police Commission (1977) and the recent Supreme Court directive (October 2006) have sought to address by recommending a mandatory tenure for the DGPs. Not surprisingly, states are dithering to respond.
Both Ribeiro and Gill, who came after Dhillon, are accused by the latter of pursuing "strategies that tended to promote a culture of illegitimate, brutal and possibly venal policing among their subordinates." In Dhillon's estimate, needless violence was unleashed on suspects, unmindful of the traditionally accepted view that terrorism cannot be quelled through sheer force. Invariably, there are substantial grievances — in the case of Punjab it was a perceived discrimination vis-à-vis the majority Hindu community — behind a terrorist movement which needed redress before lasting peace can be established.
Human rights violations
It is easy to be critical of the human rights violations committed by the Punjab Police, particularly under Gill's leadership. No one including Gill himself would ever say these were fanciful charges. The Police used unbelievable violence to bring back normalcy. And they did succeed. I do not know how history would treat Gill. One thing is sure. He undoubtedly played a principal role in breaking the back of the terrorists, albeit at the cost of many who could have been innocent victims of police excesses. Dhillon's assessment is that Hindu-Sikh distrust is still very much a reality in the State. The Akali's recent return to power along with the BJP could ensure that there will be no verbal pyrotechnics at least for a little while. This optimism is of course on the assumption that the Congress will not muddy the water of communal harmony to serve its own narrow political ends.
Dhillon has rendered valuable service to the cause of history by writing a piece that is reasonably clinical. He has a facile pen and writes a good prose that leaves no one in doubt. It should be eminently comprehensible even to those who are strangers to the complexities of the ethos of the State and its population.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
