Chapter 5 - INDIRA GANDHI'S MANOEUVRING AGAINST SANT BHINDRANWALE

We have seen that some sort of agreement between the Akalis and a team of cabinet Ministers oflndira Gan-dhi was reached but she had resiled. Her ulterior mo­tives were perhaps not known to the Opposition Party leaders It was well known that the parliamentary elec­tions were due in January 1985 and she contemplated to advance the elections. In order to win the elections she needed Hindu votes as the minorities were disillusioned with her policies and they had drifted away from the Con­gress (1). To achieve her set objectives she cooked up a plan with the active support of Rajiv Gandhi who had risen from the grave of his younger brother Sanjay Gan­dhi. Her courteries like Arun Nehru, Arun Singh and oth­ers also played a partisan role in the sinister game.

Their wicked plan was to rouse Hindu sentiments and revive Hindu fundamentalism and then to exploit them to win the general elections. With a view to achiev­ing her aim Indira Gandhi directed her agents she had planted in the Akali Dal to aggravate the crisis in Pun­jab. It is worth noting that when the Akalis launched Morchas for anti-hike passenger are and A'e/icrr Roko, Bhajan Lal Chief Minister Haryana and the Haryanavis remained passive. When the Akali Morcha gathered strength and pressure on Indira Gandhi increased she incited. Bhajan Lal to react to the demands of Akalis and he faithfully acted upon her advjce. He thereafter opened his mouth and vehemently countered the demands of the Akalis especially concerning Chandigarh. Abohar. Fazilka and (list ribut ion of river waters. Subsequently Kajasthan was also brought in the fray as far as (he question of river waters dispute is concerned. Darbara Singh Chief Minis- ter of Punjab also became vocal and launched a tirade against the Akalis. He termed the demands for implemen­tation of Anandpur Sahib Resolution as anti-national, Step by step all main Opposition Parties such as Bhar-tiya Janata Party, Lok Dal and CPI openly came out against the Akali's demands. Thus there was a chain re­action and ultimately all the Hindus of India including those of Punjab irrespective of party affiliations rose against the Akalis. The fire was fuelled by Indira Gandhi and fanned by her stooges as well as by the Opposition Parties. All were however outwitted by the Machiavel­lian Princess, for, they had failed to see through her game.

It was not only that the Hindu dominated political parties were arrayed against the Akalis and the Sikhs, Indira Gandhi also incited every deputation of Hindus that waited upon her in Delhi and goaded them to react against the Akalis. The deputationists gave distorted ver­sions of the occurrences of Punjab and misrepresented that the militant Sikhs, working under the guidance of Sant Bhindranwale. were committing atrocities on the Hindus. Her only reply used to be "why are you taking every thing lying down? Why don't you react and retali­ate." This used to be her message to the Hindus. This was disclosed to me by more than one responsible Con­gress (I) leaders who had led the deputations to wait upon Indira Gandhi. They encouraged some hitherto unknown Congress workers and antisocial elements to fan the fire of Hindu backlash. One such instance is of a criminal Pawan Kumar Sharma of Patiala who formed Hindu Suraksha Samiti overnight which was actively supported by the Congress (I). He created a lot of mischief in Pa­tiala. Another instance is of Jagdish Tangri. a notorious Brahman smuggler of Ludhiana. He formed Hindu Shiv Sena. He too got the clandestine support of the Congress (I) Then there is one Surinder Kumar Billa ofAmritsar who formed his own Suraksha Samiti. These hitherto unknown persons and other similar scoundrels were pro­jected by the Hindu press and the government media as the protectors of the Hindus. With the political and mon­etary support of the Congress and the BJP these new paper organisations spread hate against the Sikhs and publicity given to them by the Hindu press was so exten­sive that they coloured the demands ofAkali Dal as anti-national. It is not unusual that every movement launched against the Congress is termed by them as anti-Hindu and hence anti national. Whatever the Hindus consider as anti-Hindu that is treated as anti-national. So they dubbed the Sikhs as anti-national. This was also the mes­sage Rajiv Gandhi disseminated from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari and from Punjab to Assam during the Lok Sabha elections held in December 1984. This is the real face of the Congress which always harps on secularism

First instance of Hindu backlash occurred when the Akali Dal decided to lead their workers to Delhi in the beginning of 1982 for holding a peaceful demonstration. Bhajan Lal C.M. ofHaryana overreacted to please Indira Gandhi. He ordered his police and para military forces to stop vehicles carrying Sikhs to Delhi. Trains passing through Haryana were stopped and Sikh passengers were rounded up. The Sikhs were insulted, attacked, even fired upon and many were killed when they were on their way to Delhi. It is strange that other Parties like CPI. Com­munist Party of India (Marxist), Lok Dal and BJP, when­ever they wanted to hold demonstrations and rallies in Delhi, were never stopped. It was only the Sikhs who were discriminated against in such matters.

A second round of gross misbehaviour with the Sikhs had yet to come. It came in the second half of November and December 1982 when Asiad Games were being held in Delhi. This time no Sikh, whatever his status, was al­lowed to enter the boundary of Delhi. All roads from Pun­jab leading to Delhi via Haryana were completely sealed to prevent the entry of the Sikhs. Prominent personali­ties such as former Air Chief Marshal Arjun Singh, Lieu­tenant General Jagjit Singh Arora and many dignitaries had to suffer humiliation at the hands of the fanatic Hin­dus while on their way to Delhi. A Judge of High Court, Brigadiers and other Sikhs of high status, including even Congress (I) leaders like Amarjit Kaur M.P., had to suf­fer indignity.

However, the 3rd round of worst type of maltreat­ment awaited the Sikhs as yet. That outragrous episode was well planned by the Haryana and Central Govern­ments and it happened-in the third week of February 1984.

This humiliation further injured the Sikh psyche and they were compelled to realise that they are virtu-ally second rate citizens. They felt alienated. That is why Sant Bhindranwale declared time and again that the Sikhs are living in India like slaves. He therefore, ex­horted them to fight for their freedom.

Seeing the agony being suffered by the Sikhs In-dira Gandhi again pretended to assuage their injured feel­ings by inviting the Akali leaders for further negotia­tions. Strangely enough this time Rajiv Gandhi took ac­tive part in negotiations. The talks were held at Delhi on 17th & 24th January 1983 but as usual the result was yet another zero. Except these two secret meetings Rajiv Gandhi never participated in any other negotiations. This was very intriguing. Perhaps he had made up his mind that further negotiations with the Akalis would be a fu­tile exercise. He appeared to have opted for military ac­tion against the Sikhs led by Bhindranwale.

The.year 1983 passed under great stress and strain created and fomented by the Intelligence Agencies on the directions of the Central Government. The Central Gov­ernment had fully succeeded in bringing about a com­plete break between Longowal and Sant Bhindranwale in November 1983. The chasm created between them turned into atrocious war They were not even on speak­ing terms.

Here Indira Gandhi made full use of "Kufil Niti" enunciated by Kautalya or Vishnu Gupt in the "Arlh Sfiastra". The four unethical principles laid down by Kautalya to vanquish the enemy inter alia are : Sama, Dama, Bhed and Danda, that is : appeasement, bribery. dissension and force. If the king (ruler) wants to destroy or kill his enemy with some ease he should first try to appease his adversary, if that fails he should try to bribe him, and if that, too. fails he should create dissession and lastly use force to vanquish him. With a view to vanquish­ing paramountcyofSant Bhindranwale and quelling other traditional Akali leaders led by a spineless leader, Longowal. Indira Gandhi employed all the four unethi­cal means. She succeeded in creating unbridgeable gulf between Sant Bhindranwale and Longowal. She appeased Surjit Singh Barnala, Balwant Singh Ex-Finance Minis­ter with a secret promise of bribing them with Chief Min-istership and Ministership. She then isolated Sant Bhin­dranwale and later used military force against his cita­del. Thus she achieved her mission successfully though with potent and unforeseen disastrous consequences.

The Akali Dal had given a call for peaceful Punjab Bandh on 8th February. 1984. In retaliation the Hindu Suraksha Samiti. Hindu Shiv Sena and other similar fa­natic organisations supported by the Congress (1) gave a counter call for Punjab Bandh on 14th February. Centre wanted to further foment trouble in Punjab in order to later justify the impending Military Action, code named, Operation Blue Star.

The fanatic organisations, new ly formed by the Hin­dus. gathered antisocial elements from whatever source they could manage. The Hindu leaders gave each of the miscreants a bottle of liquor and hundred rupee note a day preceding the Bandh. Bricks, stones, soda water but­ties. acid bottles and other missiles were stored by them on the roof-tops on both sides of the main bazars as well as the streets and alleys of Ludhiana city. The weaker sections of society, mainly the \'almi.kif; (scavengers) were hired by the Hindu leaders and these hirelings spear­headed the violence. They wanted the Sikhs to pull down the shutters of their shops and on their refusal to oblige them they indulged in heavy brick bating and pelting stones.

The author is narrating here eye witness account of Ludhiana incident. The most sensitive area in this In­dustrial city is the Chaura Bazar where the head office of the Hindu Shiv Sena is located. I was the chief Magis­trate on duty for maintaining law and order in that sen­sitive area. When the crowed of a few hundred Hindus, including Gundas and anti social elements, mingled with hired and misguided Valmikis, gathered in the Bazar at about 10 A.M. and tried to force the Sikhs to close down their shops^ dispersed them with the police help with great ease. Soon after Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police appeared there. The scattered agitators gathered around them and both the Officers entered into futile arguments with them. The crowed was allowed to swell and no action was taken by the District Administrators to disperse them. The agitators were per­sistent in their demand that they should be allowed to move about freely in order to ensure themselves that the shops owned by the Sikhs had been closed. This was not allowed as by doing so the situation, which was already surcharged, would have deteriorated further. Then the Hindu Shiv Sena leader Jagdish Tangri signalled the mis­creants to begin their job. All sorts of missiles mentioned above were thrown on us and the police. The Bazar was so thickly littered with the bricks, broken bottles and stones that there was absolutely no room to place a fool anywhere. The police fled helter skelter and so did the high officers. The author and a few Sikh policemen were however stranded up right in midst of the Bazar in an unsafe room just opposite the Shiv Sena office. Then at about 2.00 P.M curfew was clamped by the District Mag­istrate and the orders to open fire were given. Heavy ston­ing continued from the roof tops. It took the police nearly two hours to control the situation. Had timely action been taken as the author.had suggested to the D.M. at about 11.30 A.M. the situation could have been easily control­led without any casualty. But it appeared that the situa­tion had been deliberately allowed to deteriorate under the secret orders of the government. Latter I came to know that curfew was also imposed in Amritsar and Patiala almost at the same time as was done at Ludhiana. Clearly it was a well planned move of the government to escalate violence in Punjab.

What had happened in Haryana was more cruel and more disgusting. The fanatic and barbaric Hindus in­dulged in worst kind of violence from 15th February 1984 to 20th February 1984. They brutally lynched and killed about a dozen Sikhs and grievously injured and main­tained many more. The Ghunda Hindus molested some Sikh women and looted their ornaments of gold and dia­mond. More than a dozen Gurdwara were damaged and destroyed in towns like Panipat. Karnal, Kaithal and Jind. This violence, too, was instigated bv the government intelligence agencies. The sole purpose of the government behind this morbid vandalism was to forestall the outgo­ing talks with the Akali leaders The talks which had been held on 14th February were postponed to 20th February 1984. But by escalating violence through its agencies in Punjab and Haryana at that time the government suc­cessfully forestalled the talks as the Akali leaders were outmanoeuvred by a tacticai move oflndira Gandhi. Thus they were forced to withdraw from the ongoing negotia­tions in February 1984. Why Indira Gandhi scuttled these talks? Because the opposition parties had suggested a formula which had nearly resolved the Punjab tangle but that solution was not acceptable to the Prime Minister. It is surprising that the Government in the calendar of meetings mentioned in the White Paper has deliberately omitted the holding of meeting on 14th February 1984. It is clear that the government has fabricated the White Paper with dishonesty. Hence the Punjab crisis was al­lowed to persist till military action was taken in June 1984.

Paradoxically, more or less, the same formulation which had been suggested by the opposition was made the basis of settlement reached between Rajiv Gandhi the then Prime Minister and Harchand Singh Longowal on 24th July 1985. Harchand Singh Longowal at that time was a puppet president of a splinter group of fake Akalis including Balwant Singh and Barnala and the like.

The Haryana police, instead of restoring law and order, and saving the lives and property of the Sikhs. instigated the Hindus to indulge in hooliganism and van­dalism. Bhajan Lal, the Chief Minister of Haryana, glibly smiled when he was asked by a press reporter to com­ment on these inhuman crimes. Several Hindu and Con­gress (I) leaders boastfully declared that this was only a trailer shown to the Sikhs living out side the Punjab. They were proved right as the holocaust that had occurred later in the first week of November 1984 was a full length fea­ture film of monstrous brutalities committed on the Sikhs.

And this was what Indira Gandhi declared time and again to warn Sant Bhindranwale that he should keep in mind what would happen to the Sikhs living outside the Punjab. What she said she proved. Is this the charac­ter of a secular and a civilised Prime Minister?

II

It has been made clear that Indira Gandhi and her kitchen cabinet never wanted to resolve the Punjab prob­lem through purposeful negotiations with the Akali Dal. tndira Gandhi knew full well that the minorities which formed vote bank for the Congress Party had drifted away. Therefore, the only alternative left for her was to win the Hindu vote bank. She could win the Hindu votes ei­ther by repeating the performance of 1971 like Bangia Desh war or to intervene in Sri Lanka. To attack Paki­stan in order to free "Azad Kashmir" was very dangerous proposition which could threaten the integrity of India. The reason. Pakistan had become very strong and pow­erful. It now had possessed Atom bomb. Apart from this the USA repeatedly declared that she was committed to preserve integrity and security of Pakistan. Unlike the India-Pak war of 1971 this time America could not be sup­posed to have been a silent spectator. She appeared to have fully prepared herself to intervene in favour of Pa­kistan in case India imposed war on Pakistan. To pro­tect Pakistan two factors were compulsive for America. First : USSR had already militarily intervened in Afghani­stan which had endangered the security of Pakistan. Two : Ayatulla Khumaini had revived Muslim fundamen­talism in Iran. Thus Iran, which in the Middle East Asia was a frontal ally of America before rise of Khumaini, had turned her guns against America. Now the only last frontal state left with America to restrict Russian expan­sion and to contain India was Pakistan. If Pakistan col­lapsed American influence in whole of Asia and South Asia would end once and for all America had already lost Vietnam. Cambodia and Laos in the east. Under these circumstances it was not possible for Indira Gandhi to annex ,\'/ad Kashmir by force and repeat feat of Bangia Desh \var.

Intervention in Sri Lanka could have not influenced Hindus in the Hindi speaking areas. The only course therefore left for her was to invade the Golden Temple Complex believing that that action would rouse Hindu, sentiments in her favour.

To embark upon this plan was also fraught with danger and serious consequences were bound to follow but her advisors, namely her wooden faced son, Rajiv Gandhi, and elephant-like Arun Nehru, were the strong votaries of taking military action. All Hindus and both Communist Parties also encouraged her to launch attack on the Golden Temple Complex. In order to create favour­able conditions which ostensibly could justify her mili­tary action Indira Gandhi had formed a top secret Super Intelligence Organisation. This Super Intelligence Agency was code named as the "Third Agency" which was officed in Bikaner House, Shahjehan Road, New Delhi. To cam­ouflage it a board bearing the nomenclature of "Cabinet Secretariat (Security) was hung at the gate of this office, The actual name of this Agency was Research and Analy­sis Wing (RAW).

The Third Agency was masterminded by R. N. Kao. Chief Security Advisor of Indira Gandhi. N. F. Santook Ex-Chief Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), G. C. Saxsena, the present chief of RAW, and R. Shankaran Mair, Director of P.M.'s Secretariat, were other impor­tant organisers of this super Intelligence Agency. It is surprising that they secured active professional help, training and guidance from MASSOD, an Intelligence Agency of Israel with which India had no diplomatic re­lations.

The Third Agency or the RAW was personally su­pervised and controlled by Indira Gandhi. Her chief aide in this secret Agency was Rajiv Gandhi. Their main ob­jectives were :

(i) To teach a lesson to the ever-agitating Sikhs and to appease the Hindus so as to turn them into vote bank of the Congress (I) :

(ii) To demolish the credibility of the Jana Sangh and other Opposition Organisations representing Hindu fun­damentalism and to ensure the Hindus that those Par­ties could not safeguard their interests; and (iii) To prove that the Congress (I) is the only Political Party which represented the Hindus. And Indira Gan-dhi did temporarily succeed in achieving these objectives though the grave consequences arising out of the Mili­tary Operation later proved counterproductive.

The organisers of the Third Agency fully utilised the services of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and RAW offic­ers without letting them know the actual motives. G. S. Mishra was brought back by Indira Gandhi from hiber­nation in 1980 and was made in-charge of Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan to coordinate and monitor clan­destine activities. He was assisted, by colonel B. Longer who was considered expert in political outmanoeuvring and planning secret assassinations. He was also in-charge of Political Branch of Intelligence Wing of Indira Gandhi during the emergency. H. S. Kriplani, a RAW man, was also expert in planning secret murders. He was made in-charge of Punjab and was entrusted with the job to plan clandestine assassinations in Punjab. He was also as­signed the job of gun running operations. Rabinder Ohri, Assistant Director of RAW. operated from Jodhpur in Rajsthan in 1980-81 and coordinated with Kriplani. W.N.B. Rao, Assistant Director of RAW7, took over from Ohri and coordinated clandestine activities. R.N. Gupta. Assistant Director RAW, replaced Rao in 1982 and su­pervised the operations from Jodhpur and also secretly inducted arms in Punjab. He remained on the job till De­cember 1983. By'that time.his job was over because he had inducted sufficient arms in Punjab,

A. I. Vasavada, a RAW officer, remained in-charge of Amritsar till mid 1982. He was (he author of mayhem

that was unleashed on 20th September, 1981 at Chauk Mehta after the arrest of Sant Bhindranwale. He was replaced by S. K. Tripathi in 1982 who had planned mur­der of a dozen of Hindus in Gurdaspur and also attack on 47 Railway Stations in February. 1984. He was, however withdrawn from Amritsar on 3rd May, 1984 because his job was also over.

Colonel B. Longer also played a hideous role in Pun­jab crisis. He was the man who analysed the overall po­litical fallout if a military attack was launched on the Golden Temple Complex. His conclusion was that mili­tary operation would create a political climate in the coun­try in favour of the Congress (I) to win the elections. It was, therefore, he who had turned the military action in favour of the Congress just six months before the elec­tions were due in January 1985.

If the clandestine vicious operations of the Third Agency are studied along with political manoeuvring of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi vis-a-vis the Akali lead­ers the matter would stand cleared. Indira Gandhi re­traced her step thrice after agreements were reached with the Akalis. Swarn Singh Ex-Defence Minister, Captain Amrinder Singh and H, S. Surjit of CP1 (M) besides oth­ers are witnesses to Indira Gandhi's last minute dither­ing with the agreements. Why? Because she was never serious to resolve the Punjab problem. She was only in­terested in prolonging and aggravating the crisis till she was ready to order military attack on the Golden Temple Complex. Rajiv Gandhi's role was not less vicious. He held secret negotiations with the Akali leaders twice: First on 17-1-1983 and then on 24-1-1984. If the calendar of inci­dents published by the Indian Government in the White (Lie) Paper is consulted it would be observed that after his first round of talks with Akali leaders number of inci­dents of violence in Punjab had abnormally increased. According to the figures published by the government only

28 violent incidents occurred in 1981 and 33 in 1982. It is pertinent to note that the number of such incidents rose to 138 in 1983. After the second round of talks conducted by Rajiv Gandhi on 24-1-1984 violent incidents rose to 342 from 1st May 1984 to 31st May 1984. Of them as many as 22 incidents occurred only in two days i.e. on the 1st & 2nd June, 1984 although military was deployed in Pun­jab on 31st May. If the nature of these incidents, espe­cially those referred to have occurred in the first five months of 1984, is analysed, 90 percent of those are frivo­lous and are of no significance. Those incidents were clearly manipulations of the Third Agency. This Agency accelerated series of violent actions just two months be­fore the impending Operation Blue Star so that the Mili­tary Operation could be justified. Thus the clandestine activities of the Third Agency and political manoeuvring of Indira Gandhi outwitted not only the hazy minded Aka-lis but also the Hindus and other Political Parties. In­dira Gandhi never disclosed her hidden aims.

Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi assisted by the Third Agency meticulously planned, implemented and in the end succeeded in teaching a bitter lesson to the Sikhs but at the cost of integrity of the country. Paradoxically all such violent incidents have been foisted by the gov­ernment on Sant Bhindranwale. What a tragedy that few people knew the reality.

The frequent replacements of Intelligence Officers of the Third Agency who had been operating clandestinely in Punjab from 1981 to 1984 were done purposefully lest their identity and activities should be exposed. The Gov­ernors in Punjab were also transferred at the same speed under a well considered scheme. Jai Sukh Lal Hathi was the governor of Punjab when Congress (I) Government was formed in June 1980. Hathi resigned in August 1981, and Aminnuddin Khan Ahmed stepped into his shoes who after completing about 8 months in the office was eased out in April 1982. Channa Reddy was brought in his place who too had to quite after a period of ten months. Then came the turn of A. P. Sharma who remained in the of­fice for about 6 months and made the way for B. D. Pan-dey. Pandey was brought into the picture after imposi­tion of President's rule and it was during his tenure that the ghastly military action code named "Operation Blue Star" was launched in the first week of June 1984. He resigned in protest on 28th June the same year because. Mr. Pandey had opposed the savage military action on the Golden Temple Complex.

The calculated game of the two malevolent persons, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, aided by the Third Agency did not end up in frequent transfers of the Gov­ernors and the Intelligence Officers. The Chiefs of the Punjab Police were also shifted one after another. Dur­ing the Punjab crisis as many as four police Chiefs were brought in and sent out in quick succession. Birbal Nath, the first IGP during Darbara Singh's Government was succeeded by C. K. Sahney who was replaced by Pritam Singh Blunder, the blue eyed haby of Indira Gandhi. It was during his tenure that the "Operation Blue Star" was carried out. He. too, had to resign after the military ac­tion was over. He gave way to K. S. Dhillon, a clean shaven, Sikh.

It was not for nothing that the Governors and Po­lice Chiefs were transferred frequently. This game of shut­ting and reshuffling was a part of the sinister game played by Indira Gandhi. Her vicious scheme was that no Governor or Police Chief should have an inkling of what she intended to do in Punjab. She kept every body in the dark about her conceited plan till she sent Armed Forces to attack the Golden Temple Complex. Even on the eve of D-Day she vainly tried to conceal her plan when she ad­dressed the nation on the TV in the evening of June 2 1984.