Chapter 4 - SANT BHINDRANWALE AND DHARM YUDH MORCHA

The Akali Dal under the feeble leadership of Harch-and Singh Longowal half heartedly launched agitation in January and February 1981 simply demanding remu­nerative prices for food grains and withdrawal of hike in bus fares enhanced by Barbara Singh government which had come to power in June 1980 after defeating the Aka-lis in mid term poll. Both Communist Parties, CP1 and CPI (M). also joined the agitation. This agitation created little impact on the masses, hence it withered away. See­ing the miserable plight of the Akalis both Communist Parties withdrew themselves from the Akali partnership. Now the Akalis were in search of a new issue which could attract the masses to join hands with them They tried their luck in launching agitation against digging of Sut-lej -Vamuna Link (SVL) canal which was supposed to carry waters of river Sutlej to Haryana at the cost of Punjab farmers. They vowed to stop digging of canal near village Kapuri in Patiala district on 24th April, 1982. This agitation also failed to rally the farmers around the Akali leaders and hence it flopped. Repeated failures of the Aka­lis demoralised them and Longowal felf frustrated.

Longowal failed to rouse the feelings of Sikh masses because he lacked alt the prerequisite qualities of leader­ship. He failed to give meaningful direction to the Sikh Panth because he lacked vision. He failed to set out spe­cific demands which could appeal to the psyche of the Khalsa because he himself was a spiritless and uninspir­ing leader. Therefore his feeble leadership ihrpw the Akalis in wilderness.

While Longowal was indulging in cock fighling in Punjab. Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi was fighting for Anandpur Sahib Resolution in Delhi, Ho shifted his head­quarters !o Delhi on 13th April 1981, the Baisakhi Day. and launched one-man Morcha for one demand, realisa­tion of Anandpur Sahib Resolution. He commenced his fight at Delhi and went to jail several times by repeat­edly breaking prohibitory orders. He remained lodged in Tihar Jail till Sant Bhindranwale persuaded him in Au­gust 1982 to return to Punjab to join Dharm Yudh Morcha jointly launched by him and the Akali Dal at Amritsar. Talwandi agreed to join Dharm Yudh Morcha on the con­dition that his demand of Anandpur Sahib Resolution must find top place in the proposed list of demands set out by the Longowal Akali Dal as well as the demands of Sant Bhindranwale. The Sant not only accepted this con­dition but he also assured Talwandi that he will adopt Anandpur Sahib Resolution as his own mission. Upon this Talwandi returned to Punjab and joined Dharm Vudh Morcha in September 1982,

Why Talwandi was so much attached to the Anandpur Sahib Resolution? When Akali government under the Chief M in istery hip of Park ash Singh Badal was formed in 1977 Talwandi was the President of the Akali Dal. Annual general conference of Akali Dal was held at Ludhiana on 27th and 28th October 1978. While other so called moderate Akali leaders were hesitating to touch the Anandpur Sahib Resolution Talwandi- considered as a hard-liner, pushed through it and got it adopted in the open session on 28th October. The Akali High Command was virtually forced by him lo adopt the Resolution. Thus, in a way. Talwandi was the second founder of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution though the original Resolu­tion drafted in October 1973 at Anandpur Sahib was some what modified in 1978, FA'^n the modified Resolution sought enough powers for Punjab so as to make it an au­tonomous stale, This Resolution envisaged that only four portfolios namol\. Det'oncp. External affairs Currency and Communications should be retained by the Union government and the rest of the powers should vest in the states. This system of distribution of powers was quite sufficient to satisfy the aspirations of the Sikh Panth. This was the reason that later on Sant Bhindranwale made it his cherished mission of life and vowed to achieve Anandpur Sahib Resolution that had been adopted in 1973. Akati Dal led by Longowal ultimately threw this Resolution to the wind and set out to accept political power. It was only Sant Bhindranwale and Talwandi who stuck to their guns. In mid July 1982 Sant Bhindranwale fell ill and doctor attending on him advised a week's rest. In the meanwhile Bhai Amrik Singh. President of A1SSF and Bhai Thara Singh. Manager of Gurdwara Gurdarshan Parkash. both close associates of Sant Bhindranwale. were arrested by the police at Amritsar on l9Eh July 1982. They were booked in a false criminal case and taken into police custody. This wanton act of the government com­pelled Sant Bhindranwale to fight for justice Inspite of his illness he shifted his headquarters to Amntsar the same day and lodged himself in room number 47 of Guru Nanak Niwas. He performed Ardas at Akal Takht for the success of his fight for justice and despatched a Jatha of 51 Singhs to the residence of Deputy Commissioner to court arrest. The Jatha when not arrested squatted in the middle of the road in front of D.C.'s official residence till it was arrested late night on 19th July This was the start of Dharm Vudh Morcha. The immediate demands set out by the Sant were unconditional release of Bhai Amrik Singh and Thara Singh and withdrawal of false cases registered against them. As these simple, demands were not mel 'Jail Bharo movement was launched. The Jathas were daily sent oul from Manji Sahib lo court ar­rest. Seeing the success ihe Morcha was achieving Longowal and his supporters found an opportunity to re- trieve their impaired position. Longowal called an emer­gent meeting of his Akali Dal at Amrir.sar on 25th July 1982 and in consultation with Sant Bhindranwale decided to join the Morcha formally on 4th August 1982. The Sant being a selfless religious leader concurred to make Longowal as Dictator of the Morcha. This was merely a face saving device created for Longowal so as to fulfil his ego. As a matter of fact de facto Dictator of the Morcha was Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

To mark formal launching of Dharm Vudh Morcha on 4th August some Sikh youths led by Gajinder Singh hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Lahore. Another plane was hijacked by Musibat Singh (real name Manjit Singh) on 20th August 1982 to Pakistan but it was not permit­ted to land at Lahore because Indian Government had already lodged protest with Pakisfan. The plane landed back at Raja Sanai Airport near Amritsar and the hijacker was persuaded to surrender but was shot dead treacher­ously by the police without trial by a court of law. This brutal act of the government angered Sant Bhindranwale who declared that it was a grave injustice against the Sikhs. He retorted that two Pandey brothers had hijacked Indian Airlines plane in protest against arrest of Indira Gandhi when the Janata Party was in power at the cen­tre. When Indira Gandhi came back to power in 1980 she rewarded both the Pandey brothers by giving them berths in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. This was a clear contrast of the case of Manjit Singh who had been gunned down in a similar act that was committed by Pandey brothers. None the less this tragic incident gave fillip to the Morcha which was further intensified. In a short pe­riod of twit months all jails in Punjab were jam packed with Akali workers, Even temporary jails set up in the governmeni buildings were over parked. There was vir­tually left no room anywhere where the arrested Akali volunteers could be detained. The busses fully loaded with volunteers remained parked outside the jails waiting for accommodation for days and sometimes for weeks to­gether. But the flow ofAkali workers continued unabated. There was an unusual euphoria and sparkling enthusi­asm among the volunteers young and old alike. The vol- . unteers wearing saffron bands around blue turbans, women supporting saffron Dupattas, having daggers (Gatras) slung across their shoulders rent the Punjab state with traditional slogans "Raj Karega Khalsa" and "Degh Tegh Fateh."

It appeared that the whole Sikh Panth was on the move. The Morcha was a splendid success in the history ofAkali movements.

When the Morcha was running in full swing a tragic incident took place on llth September 1982. A bus fully loaded with Akali volunteers dashed into a speeding train at an un-manned railway crossing near Taran Taran which left 34 Sikhs killed and a large number injured seriously. This incident was not a simple accident. It ap­peared to have been a deliberate act committed by the authorities at the behest of Darbara Singh. a cruel and cunning Chief Minister of Punjab. He perhaps wanted to blunt the rising spirit and enthusiasm of the Akalis but he failed in his sinister design. His mean act proved as a counter productive. Sant Bhindranwale accused Darbara Singh publicly for his diabolic act and declared all the killed volunteers as martyrs.

In order to register their protest against this wan­ton act the Akali leaders led the volunteers to Delh'i in order to take out a massive procession in Delhi on 10th and llth October. When Akali workers passed through. Haryana they were harassed, obstructed, beaten and even fired upon by the police at the instance of Bhajan Lal a notorious Chief Minister of Haryana. In spite of all such hurdles the Akalis did reach Delhi and took out a mas­sive procession. The police opened fire on the peaceful demonstration on llth October when they were proceed­ing towards the Parliament House to present a memo­randum of their demands. Haifa dozen Akalis were killed and more than a dozen were injured by police firing. As the Parliament was in session Indira Gandhi was shaken. Under panic she ordered the release of all Akali volun­teers lodged in the jails. In fact all the jails over flooded with the Akali volunteers and there was absolutely no room left anywhere in Punjab to accommodate their un­ending stream. Indira Gandhi. a crook and cunning Prime Minister, found an opportunity to ease the tension. There­fore under the pretext of assuaging the injured feelings of the Akalis she ordered (he release of all detained vol­unteers but they refused to leave (he jails. The Darbara Singh government disconnected electric connections and stopped supply of water to the detainees. It was a trick played to force them to vacate the jails but the detainees did not relent. Sant Bhindranwale wanted them to stick to the jails but Longowal opposed his stand. In the ca­pacity of a Dictator of the Morcha he directed the volun­teers to leave the jails and they came out triumphantly Evidently it was a total defeat of the state and the In­dian governments. This was the first round of battle won by the Akalis ostensibly under the leadership of Longowal but actually under the guidance and inspiration of Sant Bhindranwale. With this the first phase ofDharrn Vudh Morcha was over.

II

The first phase, jail bharo, of Dharm Yudh Morcha ended with unprecedented success. The second phase com­menced with the Akali workers marching on Delhi again Asiad games were held by the Congress (1) government in Delhi in November December 19S2. Many Afro-Asian and Arabian countries participated in the games. Promi­nent forpign countries who took part in the games were Russia. China and Japan. The Akali Dal decided to send some of their workers to Delhi for distributing their char­ter of demands to the delegates of foreign countries. Their aim was simply to draw attention of other countries to the oppressive and repressive measures adoplcd by the Central government to subdue the Sikhs as well as to ap­prise them of their just demands. Rajiv Gandhi. who was then the General Secretary of the Congress (I), was made by Indira Gandhi in-charge of the games. He felt alarmed and became panicky when he learnt that the Akalis were bent upon to carry forward their demands to the interna­tional forum. Indira Gandhi PM also shared her son's fears. The Indian government, therefore, decided to pre­vent the entry of all Sikhs to Delhi during proceedings of the games. All Sikhs bound for Delhi even on their per­sonal missions were debarred from entering the bounda­ries of Delhi. All routes leading from Punjab to Delhi w ere completely sealed and the city metropolis was declared out of bounds for the Sikhs of all shades and belonging to all political parties. Whatever their status was they were dragged out of all modes of transportation, harassed and humiliated. They were even arrested and detained by Haryana para military forces Prominent personalities such as former Chief Air Marshal Arjan Singh Arora were subjected to humiliation by the fanatic Hindu paramili­tary forces and police. Other dignitaries like judges of High Court. Brigadiers and all and sundry had to face indignity. So much so Congress (I) member of Parliament, Amarjit Kaur. was not spared by the Haryana Police: This high-handedness and vandalism against the Sikhs fur­ther injured their psyche and they were forced to believe that they were being treated by the Indian Government as the second class citizens.

Inspite of all this barricading arrangements en­forced by the Indian Government some Sikh youths man­aged to enter the stadium and distributed pamphlets to 67 the foreign delegations. The foreign delegates thus came to learn of the discriminatory behaviour being meted out to the Sikhs by the Indian Government. Thus this naive move of the Indian government to black out the publicity with regard to the Punjab problem proved a failure. It was unwittingly given wider publicity than was being planned by the Akali Dal.

The Sikhs of all shades by and large reacted sharply to the humiliation they or their brothers had suffered during the Asiad Games. Taking full advantage of this opportunity the Akali Dal gave a call to block road traffic on 4th April 1983. The response to their call was remark­able. All the roads, national and state highways, passing through Punjab were jam packed by the volunteers. Lakhs of people converged and squatted in the middle of the roads. As a result not a single bus or other modes of trans­portation was allowed to ply anywhere in Punjab. The call proved a complete success though at the cost of lives of about a dozen volunteers who were killed by the police firing. Many were injured and maimed.

After this splendid success the Akali Dal gave an­other call for Rail Roko (block the railway traffic) on 7th June 1983. The Indian Government got panicky as it had already teF;ted the strength of the Akalis when they had completely immobilised the road traffic on 4th April. The government therefore voluntarily stopped operation of trains in Punjab in a vain attempt to deprive the Akalis of taking credit for blocking the rail traffic but, at any rate, credit did go to them as no train moved in the state.

The successive calls given by the Akali leadership and successfully carried out by the volunteers alarmed Indira Gandhi and shook the Indian Government. The unity brought about by Sant Bhindranwale in various Akali groups and other Sikh organisations was the main rpuson for these glorious successes. Seeing the tempo of Dharm Yudh Morcha and suecesses it had achieved in a period of one year Indira Gan-dhi and her government were pertured. All Hindu politi­cal parties and other organisations, including the com­munists of all shades, were pressing her to take stern action against the Akalis and especially Sant Bhindran­wale and his supporters who were playing a pivotal role in the agitation. She however perceived that so long as the Akalis were united it was difficult to take a drastic action against them. She therefore decided to follow "Kufil Nit-i" enunciated in the Arth Shashtra authored by a mastercraftsman Kautalya. Arih Shashtra is an un­ethical treatise on politics. "The Prince" authored by Machiavilli. known the world over. is not even a patch of the former. The basic features of Kautalya Shashtra are :

Sam, Dam, Bhed, Dairda, which respectively mean ap­peasement, bribery, dissension and use of force All the means could be employed severally or collectively as the situation warranted. Making full use of this immoral trea­tise on politics Indira Gandhi at first tried to woo Sant Bhindranwale who was the real force behind the Dharm Yudh Morcha. But he was a man of determination and an embodiment of the tenets of the Khalsa. He therefore spurned all the tricky moves made by Indira Gandhi. Failing to wean him away from his sacred mission she decided to isolate him. To achieve that end she turned her face to Longowal. a man of flickering mind. and his power hungry gang led by Surjit Singh Barnala and Balwant Singh. Ex Finance Minister and the like. Longowal and his notorious gang fell easy prey to her game as they were hankering only after political power and she was ready to throw them that bait. They were appeased and bribed by her by promising them to hand over political power. What they were required to do in return for that bribery was to divide the Akali Dal and iso­late Sant Bhindranwale. This secret bargain was stuck by Longowal and his clique at the hack of Sant Bhindranwale.

In order to camouflage their treacherous acts Longowal and his supporters launched a full scale offen­sive against Sant Bhindranwale and branded him as Agent of the Congress, abettor of terrorist acts. instiga­tor of violence so on and so forth. They went to the ex­tent of dubbing him as extremist, separatist and traitor to the Sikh Panth Longowal and his wicked gang in­dulged in all sort of sordid propaganda and w ent to the meanest extent of maligning him in the eyes of Sikhs and Hindus alike. This was what Indira Gandhi wanted and expected from Longowal and his courterie. And this was what she herself had branded Sant Bhindranwale with. Longowal announced that Bhindranwale would not be allowed to address the audience from Manji Sahib as he was a Congress Agent. Balwant Singh's utterance was more revulsive who had contemptuously equated Sant Bhindranwale with the dacoit of Chambal This canard was given wide publicity by government media. Hindu press surpassed even government media by disseminat­ing malicious propaganda against him. In spite of all this slanderous and provocative offensive Sant Bhindranwale maintained his cool. It was his greatness that he never passed any invectives against his maligners. the Akali leaders. He simply but firmly said (hat time will prove who were Congress Agents and traitors to the Panth. He remarked that the Akali leaders had attacked him nearly half a dozen times during one and a half year of Morcha but he never retaliated by attacking any one of them. He knew that the ugly faces of Akali leaders would be ex­posed in due course of time.

As planned the hideous moves of Longowal started unfolding in mid 1983. Longowal and his supporters were by now actively collaborating with the Indian government led by Indira Gandhi. It was not only betrayal of a fair minded teacher and preacher. Sant Bhindranwale, but more than that it was a great betrayal ofthp Sikh Panth.

However the ugly faces of the traitors were yet to be un­masked before the Panth.

When Sant Bhindranwale was convinced that it was impossible to bring back Longowal from the path of be­trayal he chose to call a convention of true and devout Sikhs at Guru Nanak Niwas on 3rd and 4th September 1983 to apprise them of the actual situation as well as to deliberate on finding suitable ways and means to achieve the goal set out at the start ofDharm Yudh Morcha. The only goal was the achievement of Anandpur Sahib Reso­lution adopted by the Akali Dal in 1973. At this Longowal got panicky for he considered that calling of convention by Sant Bhindranwale was a challenge to his leadership. Out of frustration he declared that the proposed conven­tion was anti-Panthic and warned that those Akali lead­ers who participated.in it shall be expelled from the Panth. Despite his hollow warning nearly 300 delegates expressing unflinching faith in Sant Bhindranwale's line of action attended the convention. The most prominent among the participants was Jalhedar Jagdev Singh Tal-wandi who had faithfully adhered to the Anandpur Sa­hib Resolution. Other important personalities were the retired military generals and civilian officers Major Gen­eral Shahbeg Singh. Lt. General Narinder Singh Bhullar. Brigadier Mahinder Singh and Gurtej Singh. an ex-officer of Indian Administrative Service, were the other stalwarts who participated. Talwandi launched a scath­ing attack on Longowal whom he blamed for resiling from the demand of Anandpur Sahib Resolution. He also ac­cused other Akalis who were deviating from the set goal of the Dharm Yudh Morcha. Other participants also gave vent to their feelings and openely denounced Longowal's treacherous and diversionary tactics. On the concluding day the convention adopted several resolutions Most im­portant of them was that Dharm Yudh Morcha would con­tinue fill the Anandpur Sahib Resolution was accepted by the Indian Government in toto. Seeing the determines stand taken by Sant Bhindranwale as well as by a srai-wart like Talwandi and other prominent Sikh personali­ties. Longowal lay low. Apparently he was in wait for hatching another conspiracy against the rising star. the gallant Sant.

By this time Sant Bhindranwale had captured the hearts and the souls of the Sikhs, young and old alike. A matter of fact he had become a beacon light of the Kha-Isa Panth.

The All India Sikh Students Federation resurrected by Bhai Amrik Singh under the inspiration of the Sant had become a vanguard of Bhindranwale's movement. Therefore at this stage it was impossible for a spineless Longowal and his gang to dislodge the Sant from the hearts of the Sikh masses who were in state of resur­gence. Longowal fearing that his leadership was being eclipsed conspired with Indira Gandhi to physically elimi­nate Bhindranwale. As a part of this sinister scheme he announced that the Hostel Complex is not a part of the Golden Temple Complex, thereby giving a clear indica­tion that Indira Gandhi could send security forces to ar­rest Sant Bhindranwale from Guru Nanak Niwas. The secret plan worked out by Longowal and Indira Gandhi was that the commandos would conduct a surprise raid and capture Sant Bhindranwale on 16th December 1983. Getting inkling of this evil design of the enemies of the Panth Sant Bhindranwale. the beacon light of the Kha-Isa. shifted to his headquarters to Akal Takht before the stipulated date of his planned arrest from Guru Nanak Niwas. Thus he foiled the nefarious attempt of the trai­tors. He made the upper portion of Akal Takht as his tem­porary abode in order to carry on the fight for his cher­ished mission. Upon his failure to get thft Sant arrested Longowal became frustrated and desperate. He stooped so low that he had embark nd upon a more nefarious plans

to remove Sant Bhindranwale from his way He mounted a fresh malicious campaign against the Sant to maintain his waning leadership. lie raised hue and cry on Sant's stay in the Akal Takht and announced that it amounted to desecration of this holy seat of the Temporal Author­ity. Sant Bhindranwale countered this false and mislead­ing propaganda by giving specific instances of the Akali leaders who at one or the other stage had sought shelter in the Akal Takht. Those Akali leaders included Master Tara Singh. Sant Fateh Singh and the like. Thus ill-con­ceived motive of Longowal to haunt out the gallant Sant from Akal Takht was completely exposed. Then as a last resort Longowal tried to persuade Kirpal Singh. Jathedar of Akal Takht. to issue Hukamnama against Sant's stay at Akal Takht but the Jathedar resisted the pressure not because he was unwilling to seek ouster of the Sant from Akal Takht but he feared that the Sikh masses and the AISSF would resent this nefarious move and he himself would be dislodged from the Jathedarship of .Akal Takht. Failing in his every surreptitious move a wicked Longowal turned more revengeful. His malice and animus against Sant Bhindranwale increased day by day. He continued his vicious campaign against the gallant Sant overtly and covertly. When all his moves failed to see the end of the Sant he entered into a murderous conspiracy to physi­cally liquidate him. For this purpose he employed Gur-charan Singh. a notorious communist, as his office secre­tary. He entrusted the task of eliminating Bhindranwale to Gurcharan Singh who was as reckless as his mentor Longowal was. Gurcharan Singh hired the services of a professional murderer Surinder Singh Chhinda and his immoral young mistress Raljit Ivaur. He paid them a hefty amount and promised (o pay more if they succeeded to finish the Sant. Both these professional criminals secretly planned to gun down Sant Bhindranwale on l;-tth April 1984 in the Golden Temple Complex but neither of the two mustered courage to open fire on the Sant although they were sitting in front of him armed with revolvers. However, both these hired assassins did succeed in mur­dering Surinder Smgh Sodhi. a right hand man and faith­ful supporter of Sant Bhindranwale on 14th April 1984 in the Sindhi Hotel where he had been treacherously lured by them to go on the pretext of taking tea there. After this treacherous murder of a right hand man of the Sant Chhinda escaped with the active support ofMalak Singh Bhatia, a treacherous follower of treacherous leader. Longowal. Baljit Kaur was however taken into custody by Bhindranwale's followers. She was produced before the Sant where she disclosed the details of conspiracy hatched by Longowal to kill Bhindranwale and his right hand man Sodhi. She also confessed her active involvement in the ghastly murder of Sodhi, Within twenty four hours of killing of Sodhi the Sikh youths avenged his death by exterminating Chhinda, Bhatia and Baljit Kaur. This act of revenge alarmed Longowal and his henchman Gurcha-ran Singh. Now they too feared to meeting the same fate that was met by the assassins of Sodhi, a devout Sikh.

Sant Bhindranwale publicly accused Gurcharan Singh for this heinous crime and announced that now he would not sit as a silent spectator. He openly declared that conspiracy to kill him and Sodhi had been hatched by the Dictator of the Dharm Yudh Morcha. This open announcement further frightened the cowardly Longowal who accelerated his efforts to seek protection from Indira Gandhi lest he himself should meet his destined end be­cause of the dangerous conditions he had himself stupidly created.

Realising that differences between Sant Bhindranwale and Harchand Singh Longowal had as­sumed serious proportions and that the situation had become crmcal. some second rate Akali leaders tried to bring about reconciliation between Sant Bhindranwalp and Longowal. The Sant asked the mediators to first ask Longowal why his secretary Gurcharan Singh arranged assassination of Sodhi and at whose behest he had hatched the criminal conspiracy, why Longowal had not so far removed his criminal secretary from the office, and if he (Longowal) did not dismiss the culprit, how Longowal could absolve himself of the criminal conspiracy. Obvi­ously there were no answers given to these few questions. Inspite of all this Longowal retained Gurcharan Singh with him till the latter was killed during the military attack on the Golden Temple Complex on the night of 5th June 1984. Had Longowal removed Gurcharan Singh from the office of Akal Dal the latter must have divulged the name of the prime accused of the criminal conspiracy and the prime accused was not any one else than Longowal himself.

Evidently, therefore, efforts made by the mediators to bring about reconciliation between Sant Bhindranwale and Longowal failed. Therefore a final split between them was a certainly and the split between them did occur in April 1984.

Thereafter Longowal had called a joint meeting of the members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and other Akali leaders in Teja Singh Samundari Hall on 27th April 1984 to take stock of the prevailing situation and to discuss plans for future course of action. At the behest of Longowal. his stooges, like •Jasdev Singh Sandhu, attacked Sant Bhindranwale branding him as a Congress Agent and saboteur of the Morcha. Such remarks led to counter attacks by the fol­lowers of Sant Bhindranwale. Finding no solution to re­solve differences between the two sides as many as 42 members of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Commit­tee walked oul of the meeting in protest against Longow-al's wilful dithering and diversionary tactics. They raised slogans against Longowal and went to Akal Takht to seek blessings of Sant Bhindranwalc. This was a (load end reached by Longowal in a calculated move and prepare ground for the Indian government to launch military at­tack on the Golden Temple Complex although the die had already been cast by the government.

It was not for nothing that Sant Bhindranwale, while addressing the concluding session of the Gurmat Training Camp organised by the A1SSF at the Guru Ram Das Langar Building on 31st December 1983. had pre­dicted that a conspiracy had been hatched (by Longowal and his clique) to level malicious charges against him and then set a stage for the Indian government to send para military forces to enter the Golden Temple Complex. He therefore cautioned the AISSF and other Akali workers to beware of these enemies of the Khalsa Panth. Hinting at the power hungry Akali leaders led by Longowal the Sant declared in an unequivocal terms that they should remember that Dharm Yudh Morcha shall never be with­drawn however prolonged it might be. He emphatically announced that the Morcha would continue till Anandpur Sahib Resolution is accepted by the Indian government in letter and spirit. Dharm Yudh Morcha he added, was a final and decisive battle between the Hindu government and the Khalsa Panth. Earlier he used to say that he was neither in favour nor against the demand for Khalistan but on this occasion he spelt out (hat now it was up to the Indian government to decide whether they wanted to keep the Sikhs with them or out of them. If Khalistan was offered to them they will not refuse. It was a clear warning to the traitors headed by Longowal as well as the Indian government that the day Para Military F'orces were sent to Golden Temple Complex the foundation of Khalistan would be laid. It was also a warning to the Longowal Akali l)nl that. inspile of their bpl i:ayal Dharm Vudh Morcha would continue till the goal is achieved, ll was a grave mistake on the part of ihe Indian govorn- merit and the Longowal Akali Dal that they had brushed aside this warning as a braggart and they treaded on the path of already planned strategy of launching military attack on the Golden Temple Complex.

III

When. in collusion with the Indian government. Longowal accused Sant Bhindranwale as the Congress Agent in second half of 1983 and simultaneously made an announcement that the Sant would not be permitted to address the audience from Manji Sahib, the Sant shifted his stage to the roof of Guru Ram Dass Langar building not for fear of Longowal but in the interest of unity he had so fondly brought about in the Akali Dal. Ho therefore voluntarily refrained from going to (he Manji Sahib and instead started addressing his audience from the Guru Ram Das Langar building. As a result flow au­dience at Manji Sahib gradually withered away consider­ably whereas the Langar building thronged with the en­thusiastic Sikh volunteers especially the youths. Thus Longowal. who had made a futile attempt to isolate Sant Bhindranwale. stood himself isolated from the Sikh masses. This situation totally demoralised Longowal. None the less. bucked up by his stooges like Baranala. Balwant and others. Longowal. in order to test his popu­larity. gave a call for "Karn Roko" (to stop work in gov­ernment offices) on 29th August 1993 but this time the response from the Sikh masses was very poor. The old Akalis supporting grey beards casually went to the gov­ernment offices in consultation with the of officers and requested them to stop working. After having a round of the offices Akalis came out inflatedly claiming that they had closed the government offices. As a manor of tact this call given without the support of Saul Bhindranwalo turned out as a total failure However in a lust bid to regain his lost credibility Longowal supporedly adopted a bold posture and gave a call to his Akali Dal for burn­ing the Indian Constitution on 27th February 1984. This time too the response from the Sikh masses was nominal. Only the leaders such as Badal, Tohra and the like turned out and enacted a drama by burning not the Constitution but a typed copy of Article 25 (2) (b) of the Constitution. This clause of the Article 25 (2) (b) defines the Sikhs as Hindus. Badal was arrested in Delhi and Tohra and oth­ers in Chandigarh for their alleged offences of burning the Indian Constitution but in fact it was only a stunt. This drama was enacted to befool the Sikhs but actually it was done at the instance of the government so that the front rank leaders of Akali Dal were arrested and gath­ered together to hold negotiations with the government. Talwandi had already boon arrested and was detained under the provisions of the National Security Act for his fiery speech delivered on 20th September 1983 on the occasion of election ofBhai Amrik Singh as the President of A1SSF and had suggested to Longowal, who was sit­ting beside Sant Bhindranwale. to form a parallel gov­ernment at Amritsar as the Indian government was not paying any heed to their demands despite making un­precedented sacrifices.

While Longow at and his gang w as waiting for a mili­tary attack on Sant Bhindranwale the latter was seri­ously engaged in his efforts to defend the Golden Temple Complex in case it was attacked either by para military forces or the Armed Force's. At this critical juncture Longowal, sitting in the Air conditioned room was, glibly smiling while Sant Bhindranwale was devotedly planning to defend the sacred of the sacred shrines Grolden Temple and Akal Takht. Such was the different stands taken of the grave situation by the two leaders, the former a pa­per tiger and a traitor and the latter a real tiger and pa­triot to the core,

Undaunted by the treachery of Longowal and machi- nation of Indira Gandhi. who had nursed deep personal contempt against Sant Bhindranwale the latter contin­ued giving politico-religious discourses to the audience from the Langar building. He was motivating and mobi­lising the Sikhs especially the youths to defend the faith of Nanak and the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh which seemed to him to be in peril. The impending danger to the faith of Nanak and the Khalsa of Gobind Singh, he declared was coming from within as well as from with­out. He therefoJre exhorted his supporters to be ready to fight on two fronts, one, the enemy dwelled within you waiting, and, two, the enemy waiting to pounce upon you from outside. Ultimately his prophetic statement proved true.