A Bouquet Of Peace Or Chains Of Terrorism In Punjab
~ Prof: Neelam Mahajan Singh ~
At the outset I would like to state that I had covered insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s. As a young lady journalist, it was no easy task with a little child, whom I used to take along with me during the coverage! Journalists bravely covered armed insurgency and bloodshed in the 80s. In an interview with a few journalists, 'Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale' said, ' I will create Khalistan before I'm killed by the government". It wasn't easy. Excerpts of Bhindranwale's interview with me were published in 'The Week' and 'Sunday' magazines. Recently the Supreme Court of India made an observation, "how the Punjab Police with 80000 policemen could not arrest one person, Amrit Pal Singh"?
Deep Sidhu was murdered. Amritpal; the neo-saint
Whatever be the ground situation, it is definitely difficult to take such a decision. How did this modern day militant; 'Amritpal Singh of Waris Punjab De' suddenly emerge? Punjab is not boiling in militancy. Punjab is a democratic state with an elected government headed by Chief Minister Bhant Singh Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party. Punjab is an extremely sensitive state, as it shares it's borders with Pakistan.
Bhagwant Singh Mann, CM PUNJAB
It is highly vulnerable due to the 'drug's route' from Afghanistan. It may be made very clear that the present situation in Punjab; although has a representative system, it can in no way be compared with the intense insurgency of the 1980s. In fact, in 1980s it was bloodthirsty, murder of innocent people who were being brutally killed in large numbers.
The so-called extremists even had the patronage of a political party! One bad political advice; can give rise to historical errors that changes the political narrative; e.g. the Indian Army's attack on the Golden Temple' in Amritsar! The Sikh community has not been able to forget this incident which left the Akal Takht riddled with bullets.
Arun Singh with General S. Sunderjee
Despite this, they have come to terms with the situation. Armed guerrilla men and religion's nexus are nothing new. Religion and weapons; are historically linked; be it Hinduism, Christianity, Islam or Sikhism. In a civilized society; 'Synchronization' of different religions and cohesion is important. Unfortunately, every religion tries to show its supremacy over the other religions. Although all religions 'lead to the same path; to the glory of God'. We have seen globally that political parties patronize religious armed movements. A Prime Minister of India patronized Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Of course, he was raising slogans of 'Khalistan'. That's considered anti-national, as pro-Khalistan activities were happening in 'The Holy Golden Temple'. General S: Sundarji and Rajiv Gandhi's friend, Arun Singh, also did an aerial survey of the Golden Temple. They advised army's invasion in 'Darbar Saheb - Sanctum Santorum; Akal Takht'. This changed the political history of Sikhism in India! Sikh sentiments all over the world were deeply bruised. This led to the brutal assassination of Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, by her own gunmen, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh.
The 'Sikh Sangat' could not forget the devastation of the bloody anti- Sikh riots in Delhi, till date! An estimated 3500 Sikhs were killed in the massacres after Indira Gandhi's assassination. This radicalized two generations of Sikh youth. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, UPA; the chairman; have apologized for the military's attack on Darbar Sahib and the killing of Sikhs in 1984 riots.
Indira Gandhi's advisors, of course, could have devised other strategies; by which to drive out the militants from Golden Temple. Differences of political leadership is leading to radicalization of youth of different religions. Today the search is on for Amritpal Singh in Punjab. Has Amritpal been 'overplayed'? The state is now dominating on this false narrative. How the state deals with the political and potential polarization remains to be seen. Rapid Action Force personnel conducted a flag march amidst action against 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh and his associates. On hindsight, it is fair to say that Amritpal Singh should have been arrested soon after his return to India in August 2022. His crimes began almost immediately thereafter, even as his support base began to grow. Worse, both in political and administrative statements and in media projections, a larger than life image of a 'Messiah' was being created. He was given out of proportion importance. The state and its agencies must be held accountable for their failures. Sensationalism, jingoistic media indulged in irresponsible myth-making by airing Amritpal Singh's interviews on national TV channels. Amritpal is no Bhindranwale 02. The continued coverage of his blatantly attention-grabbing tactics, the series of fawning interviews, other exaggerations and distortions in reporting, amplified Amritpal Singh's work, provided him with a platform, which he would otherwise have struggled to possess! In September 1981, the Punjab Police arrested Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, head of the Dumdami Taksal. He was charged with murder of Lala Jagat Narayan, M.P., chief editor and owner of Jalandhar-based newspaper; 'Punjab Kesari'; of Hind Samachar Group of Papers. Bhindranwale, while addressing a crowd at Chowk Mehta, Amritsar on September 20, 1981, said that the government could kill him at any time. As the Punjab Police began its crackdown on Amritpal Singh last week, many began to draw parallels between the current situation in the state and that of the early 1980s. This is far from the truth. In retrospect; Amrit Pal Singh is neither a saint nor a saviour of Punjab's youth. He is just a terrorist, who is part of an international conspiracy after the murder of Deep Sidhu. K.P.S. Gill, IPS, had controlled militancy in Punjab by taking tough decisions. However, he was also accused of human rights violations. Now there is a need for the central government and Punjab government to control this humongous odd situation. The bouquet of peace should blossom in Punjab to break the the shackles of terrorism.
Prof: Neelam Mahajan Singh
(Senior Journalist, Political Commentator, Doordarshan Personality, Solicitor)
singhnofficial@gmail.com
With Flowers of Peace; Neelam Mahajan Singh
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