No man in our post-Independence history has written this country’s present and future like Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
On this day, 34 years ago, died a fascinating man called Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Just about 37 yet, he had unleashed a militant, revivalist upsurge among many Sikhs which, at one point, threatened a break-up of the country. Not until the commanders leading Operation Blue Star had placed his body on slabs of ice on that burning day of 6 June, and his devotees and captured militants started lining up to touch his feet, could intelligence personnel feel relieved that the job was done.
Between the late summer of 1983, when I was assigned to the Punjab story, until his death the following June, I made a fortnightly visit to Amritsar and met him each time. He was always accessible during the day at his “durbar” of sorts. Here, I am sharing some impressions and assessments of him based mainly on those conversations and developments in those fraught months:
In my many public speaking engagements, the question I am often asked is to name the three most interesting people I have met as a journalist. There is a particular curiosity among millennials now about events that have occurred in what we may describe as the pre-Google era. At schools and colleges, very young people push me to go beyond the mainstream politicians of today: Tell us about some others we may not be so familiar with.
The most interesting? Why not Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, I ask.
I wonder, though, why should this post-Internet generation be made to recall one of the worst nightmares of our country’s contemporary politics that ended in Indira Gandhi’s assassination and then the massacre of Sikhs, when even I keep forgetting the man who defined my working life for an entire year (summer of 1983 to ’84), gave me many scoops, stories, and old reporter’s tales. He also wrote this country’s present and future as no one Indian has done in our post-Independence history. Good or bad, evil or virtuous.
[Bhindranwale] met his end on 6 June, 1984, grenade shrapnel hitting his face first and then a carbine burst.
So why do I think of Bhindranwale when pushed on that “most interesting persons you’ve met” question? Maybe I am influenced by some subsequent visits to the Golden Temple; memories are refreshed. It struck me — sadly — on these visits that it was the first time since my early childhood that I was visiting a peaceful Golden Temple as a humble devotee and getting that ultimate benediction, a kada (steel bangle) blessed at the Akal Takht. All my memories and references so far had been from the 1978-89 period of violence.
I start at 1978 because that was when, on Baisakhi 13 April, a clash took place between Bhindranwale’s supporters and a congregation of the Nirankari sect. Thirteen of his followers were killed, and suddenly an unknown young preacher became a name known nationally. His life ended, at just 36, with Operation Blue Star, not only one of the most traumatic events in our history but also one with the longest-lasting consequences. It was also the biggest story of my career, made so particularly by the fact that when the Army banished all of the domestic and foreign press on the evening of 3 June, filling them into buses that dropped them off directly in Delhi under armed escort, I was among the three reporters who managed to stay back to later tell the story. One, Subhash Kirpekar of The Times of India, way senior to us all, is sadly no more. The other was Brahma Chellaney (yes, your famous strategic pundit and TV talking head), who then worked for the Associated Press.
I may walk the Golden Temple parikrama as a devotee now, head bowed, but instinctively and inevitably, my points of references are the two Ramgarhia Bungas (towers) on which the sandbagged machine-gun nests of militants were located; the image of the bags and bodies sent flying when struck by the Army’s howitzers; the Guru Ram Das Sarai terrace overlooking the Golden Temple, where Bhindranwale originally held court and routinely updated his hit lists — in public (basically it meant adding new names and striking out those who had been “sorted out”); the Akal Takht building, the supreme seat of Sikh spiritual and temporal power with the authority to issue Hukamnamas (the Sikh equivalent of encyclicals or ecclesiastical bulls) to the community, where he finally took control of his faith’s Vatican and met his end on 6 June, 1984, grenade shrapnel hitting his face first and then a carbine burst. But not before nearly 2,000 lives had been lost, 136 of them from the Army – the highest casualties suffered by our armed forces in a domestic operation ever in 24 hours – and those of anything between 600 and 1,000 innocent pilgrims. Dead, along with Bhindranwale, were his most committed lieutenants, Major General Shabeg Singh (retd), Bhai Amrik Singh, the handsome, articulate and fiery deputy from whose father Bhindranwale had inherited the position of the head of the Damdami Taksal, an ancient and conservative religious seminary in Mehta, near Gurdaspur, and several others.
No, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was no saint. But he was the most interesting human being I have ever met as a journalist, and god knows I have met more than a few through the years.
No, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was no saint. But he was the most interesting human being I have ever met as a journalist. And he was one of the most talented, charismatic and, in the end, recklessly courageous men. You had to be so, to make a last stand in an ancient building, fighting off repeated assaults by six of the finest infantry battalions of the Army, besides special forces commandos, Vijayanta tanks firing from their main guns, Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 3.7-inch mountain howitzers, helicopter patrols, for 36 hours.
Luring assault troops and young officers into the killing ground between the Akal Takht and Darshani Deori, where the causeway to the temple begins, and cutting them down with machine guns sited to cover every inch, and peeping out of the slits cut out of the Akal Takht’s centuries-old marble walls. You had good defences but still had to be nuts to fight there, knowing the inevitability of how it will end.
There was a bit of that to Bhindranwale too; in fact, quite a bit. He had begun to believe the myths spread about him by himself and his devotees. That he was an embodiment of the divine, that his victory and the formation of a new Sikh state were pre-ordained, that in a holy war against the Hindu state, his Sikhs were obviously going to win. He genuinely believed it until the last moment. To him, the only inevitability in that murderous June week was fateh (victory). Shikast, or defeat, was for “Bibi’s” (as he addressed Indira Gandhi) Army. I was among the very small group of reporters whom he gave an audience over glasses of a herbal concoction (banafsha was his preference, tea and coffee were forbidden, like all intoxicants) just before the Army slammed the trap shut, a kind of last supper (see picture, three decades ago, you still have a reporter with sleeves rolled and back rounded in a manner that, in later years, would be a physio’s nightmare).
Bibi and her Hindu Congress, he said, had declared war on the Sikhs, and he was ready for the last battle and victory.
“But how will you fight the might of an entire army,” we asked, “they even have tanks lined up near the kotwali (old police station).”
“Dus diyo ehnan nun kis taran ladoge singho, (tell them how you will fight, my lions),” he said, “you will be victorious; you just have to mentally prepare to fight Russian commandos.”
“Why Russian commandos Santji?” I asked.
“Because Sikhs in the Indian Army won’t fight us and the topiwallahs (Hindus) won’t be able to withstand us. So Bibi will have no choice but to seek Russian commandos,” he said with a smirk that, to those familiar with him by now, usually meant a death sentence. Just that in this case, it was a death sentence for himself, almost all of his followers present there, and thousands of others.
Bibi [Indira Gandhi] and her Hindu Congress, he said, had declared war on the Sikhs, and he was ready for the last battle and victory.
My limited hack’s vocabulary and pen do not have the descriptive flourish or the turn of phrase to do a portrait of that once-in-many-generations character with any degree of fairness. He was taller than most of us, born in 1947, so a Midnight’s Child, and was between 35-37 years (he died at 36-37). He had a standout aquiline nose, wiry (healthy) vein-embroidered legs that stood out from his long, loose kurta that just about hung below the traditional Sikh underwear, or the kachcha, no weapon on his body barring the tiny ritual kirpan and a trademark stainless steel arrow that he carried as an army general would flaunt his swagger stick.
He had brilliant, studied delivery with perfect pauses to let his audiences enjoy his wisecracks or thirst in anticipation of the punch line, infra-red eyes and, most importantly, a laser wit and repartee. Of course, you could never answer back or join an argument with him. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale did not run a parliament or a panchayat in the Golden Temple. His was a medieval court with sub-medieval instant justice, and nobody would dare disagree with him or even protest when he pilloried you with cruel sarcasm or simply piled you with humiliation. My first conversation with him, in August 1983, was no different from any other visiting journalist’s, Indian or foreign.
“Bhagwan Ram, Krishna, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, have you seen any of them without a full head of hair and beards?”
“Weren’t you born a Hindu,” he asked.
“Yes, Santji, though like all Hindus, we pray at the gurdwaras as well,” I said, put somewhat on the defensive already.
“Oh, you do, of course,” the smirk appeared, “so tell me the names of the gods you pray to in your mandir.” And then he carried on without waiting for me to answer.
“Bhagwan Ram, Krishna, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, have you seen any of them without a full head of hair and beards?” he asked.
Even if you wanted to say that most of the Hindu iconography was clean-shaven, you did not somehow gather the courage to do so. In fact, nobody did. Christians, Muslims, Parsis, they were all given the same treatment.
“Now, aren’t your gods like your father?” he would now ask, and you’d have no choice other than to say, yes, of course.
“So your father never shaved and cut his hair, while you are clean-shaven. What do we call a child who doesn’t resemble his father,” he would now turn the knife or, rather, give the cue to his congregation, which would avoid using the “h” word but would break into a collective snigger.
“That’s why I say, Shekharji (or whoever his victim was that day), keshan di hatya band kar dawo (stop murdering your hair, literally), start looking like your forefathers so we will all call you a decent, legitimate son.”
This was the treatment every visiting journalist was subjected to, in full public view of a delirious congregation, on his or her first visit. And this somehow softened you. No journalist ever openly contested what he said or argued with him except, to an extent, two — in varying degrees. The first was our very own Tavleen Singh, herself a proud Jat-Sikh. Bhindranwale never fully got the better of her but got his cheap thrills, and amused his doting congregation by referring to her in her absence as that “Sikhni patrakar who plucks her eyebrows (jehdi bhoan patdi hai)”.
Bhindranwale amused his doting congregation by referring to journalist Tavleen Singh in her absence as that ‘Sikhni patrakar who plucks her eyebrows (jehdi bhoan patdi hai)’.
The other, old Satinder Singh, The Tribune’s bureau chief from Delhi and much older than all of us (he was film star Dev Anand’s schoolmate and bosom pal, and Khushwant Singh’s alter ego), got away with more. He even got Bhindranwale to laugh, genuinely laugh, not snigger or smirk when he told him, one evening, that if Khalistan became a reality, he would have to emigrate to “vilayat (Britain)”.
“Why, Satinderji?” asked Bhindranwale, with (probably) mock concern, “don’t you think Khalistan will need budhijeevis (intellectuals) too?”
“It may, Santji, but I will tell you my problem,” said the irrepressible Satinder, “Hindus will then not let me live in India because I am a Sikh, and you won’t let me live in Khalistan because I am padhiya-likhya (well educated). So I will go to England.”
It was the only time I saw Bhindranwale let someone else win an argument, even if it was a joke. He justified it to the audience, however. Something like, in any family, there was the odd offspring who was uncontrollable. You have to tolerate those types. Of course, Bhindranwale was still laughing, in fact, giggling. The only time I ever saw him do that in possibly 30 encounters. Once, I froze as I saw him tick off a very old woman who bent to touch his feet. He nearly threw her off her feet, admonishing: “Don’t you do this. What will people say, an 80-year-old woman (assiyan saal-an di budhdhi) and a 36-year-old sant.” Sorry.
I have said often that the subcontinent specialises in producing a unique type of demagogue, with the ability of picking up the grievances of a minority when it is most vulnerable and then magnifying and amplifying them brilliantly to create wide popular outrage. Even in that formidable pantheon, Bhindranwale was at the very top. One of the finest accounts of the way his “court” functioned has been written by Tavleen in the chapter she wrote for a book, ‘The Punjab Story’, published by Roli Books after Operation Blue Star and later republished in 2009 on its 25th anniversary, where Lt Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora, Khushwant Singh, M.V. Kamath, Kirpekar, Sunil Sethi, the CPI’s Amarjit Kaur and I also contributed chapters.
She describes the case of one Leher Singh, who Bhindranwale presented to his audience in her presence (I wasn’t there that day). His beard looked like it had been rudely hacked with a large knife. He said he was from Jatwali village in Fazilka district, bordering Punjab in Pakistan, and that his beard had been cut off by Thanedar (inspector) Bichhu Ram. Six months later, Bichhu Ram was shot dead. Tavleen wrote later how she never realised then that she had seen a death sentence being delivered.
However devout he was, Bhindranwale was really no man of god, no realised master who had conquered ego and vanity, if other worldly desires.
However devout he was, Bhindranwale was really no man of god, no realised master who had conquered ego and vanity, if other worldly desires. In any congregation, he always wanted to be the centre of attraction and hated anybody stealing the limelight. On several of those visits to the Golden Temple, I was accompanied by (or, correction, I accompanied) Raghu Rai, the greatest celebrity photographer in five decades.
Raghu, with his locks, tall, wiry frame, shirts in exotic weaves and undone low to flaunt tufts of chest hair, many cameras, humongous lenses dangling from his neck barely providing tantalising cover, if at all, was a big “magnet for Bhindranwale’s rustic audiences, and he did not like it one bit. Particularly when, one winter afternoon at his sarai terrace, Raghu sat soaking in the sun on the parapet. He attracted a lot of attention.
“Shekharji, tell your photowallah to get off that munder (parapet),” said Bhindranwale.
Nobody usually asked him why, and it wasn’t such an impossible demand, so I told Raghu that Santji wanted him to get down and either stand or sit with the congregation on the floor, like me, lower than Bhindranwale.
“Why, what is the problem,” Raghu, a prima donna if you’ve seen one (albeit a genius with the camera), asked with just a hint of petulance.
“Tell him, Shekharji, to get off that parapet. Or he may just roll over and die, and then the whole world will say santaan ne maar ditta (that the sant killed him).”
This time even Raghu obeyed.
“Tell him [photographer Raghu Rai], Shekharji, to get off that parapet. Or he may just roll over and die, and then the whole world will say santaan ne maar ditta (that the sant killed him).”
On another occasion, possibly just a couple of weeks before Operation Blue Star, I went to see him along with my frequent fellow-travellers to Punjab and one of the greatest reporter-writers of all time, Edward Behr of Newsweek (check out his reporter’s memoir, Anyone Here Been Raped and Speaks English?). Behr was quite a spirited old man, one whom nothing would ever bother or irritate. On long drives through terror-soaked Punjab, he would regale you with stories from the battlefront, reportage as well as the years he spent as an officer in the Indian Army’s Garhwal Regiment before Independence. As we got up to leave, he hobbled a bit, as old people, particularly foreigners, do because they are not used to squatting.
“Why is the gora (white man) limping,” asked Bhindranwale.
I asked Behr what Santji wanted to know.
“Oh, just tell him my foot has gone to sleep,” said Behr, just a little dismissively, and Santji did not miss it even as I played the honest interpreter.
“His foot has not gone to sleep,” he said, turning to his fully armed audience now, “no, the white man’s legs are trembling at the sight of our Sten guns.”
Up came a spirited bole so nihal. There was no way Santji was going to let anybody, even a benign old “gora” journalist, walk away with the last laugh. Of course, Behr figured the joke was on him and for once he, the reporter with the thickest skin, lost it.
“Tell them I am not afraid of these Stens,” he said, wagging his finger, “we used the Thomson carbine in the Indian Army and even if you dropped it accidentally, it fired three rounds. What do you guys know about guns…”
It felt by now as if the temperature had dropped to minus 30 degrees. I grabbed Behr by the waist and dragged him, and myself, out to safety.
‘The white man’s legs are trembling at the sight of our Sten guns.’
By May 1984, it was evident that something catastrophic was going to happen at the temple. Intrigue hung heavy in the air as everybody, even Bhindranwale, felt insecure. I wrote a story headlined “Temple Intrigue” in the 15 May issue of India Today, describing a string of cases of torture, assassination of suspected rivals and renegades, chopped bodies being taken out of the temple and dumped in gutters.
A lone woman shot dead Surinder Singh Sodhi, Bhindranwale’s favourite hitman, while he sat sipping tea outside a tea shop near the temple and screamed, waving her pistol, “Maine badla le liya hai (I have taken revenge).” Next morning, two assassins shot the tea-shop owner. Several mutilated bodies then appeared in gunny bags here and there and the local police had a rough time dealing with them, fishing them out of the gutters. One of these, evidently, was that of Baljit Kaur, the Dalit woman who had shot Sodhi because she believed he had killed her husband. Policemen who put together that body said they had not seen evidence of such brutal torture before.
It was in this atmosphere of rising blood-letting, revenge killings and suspicion that when Bhindranwale raised the pitch, Indira Gandhi decided to strike.
On a recent visit to Amritsar, I spent some time with Mohkam Singh, whose imposing figure is etched on my mind as one of Bhindranwale’s closest lieutenants; although he claims he never carried arms, my memory tells me something else. Now in his newly-built Amritsar home, he posed for pictures under a portrait of Bhindranwale, steel arrow and all, and argued passionately that his sant was not a separatist. He only demanded autonomy for states, which is the norm now. He was deliberately misunderstood, he said. That is why, “because of their belief in decentralisation”, the rag-tag group of Bhindranwale supporters that he leads had extended support to the Aam Aadmi Party. But then, as the conversation proceeded, he relaxed.
“Santji was no ordinary human,” he said, “remember how his arms were so long they hung below his knees, just like Guru Gobind Singh. He was no ordinary human.”
‘Santji was no ordinary human. Remember how his arms were so long they hung below his knees, just like Guru Gobind Singh.’
Mohkam (three years younger than me, actually) had transported me back to the Golden Temple in 1983-84, when people looked at Bhindranwale and “pointed out” the same “fact” to you, that his arms hung lower than his knees. But, god’s own truth, they didn’t. They didn’t, if you believed your eyes. But in Punjab of 1984, so many were not willing to believe what they could see, hear and comprehend. They simply believed what they wanted to believe.
It was a phase of madness, and so eminently worth forgetting.
I’m an 18 year boy and I’m deeply impressed by his thoughts and courage.
Much respect to such type of people💝🙌🏼
I am from Bali Indonesia, I am very impressive sikisme, they are polite and obedient also kind and humble..i have read a lot about bindrawale satji..and I admire him.
Thank you for this article. Many of us have forgotten our history. Today, because of the farmers protest in India, I started searching on internet and found this article through which I could understand some of the rhetoric being heard today.
You are fascinating a terrorist…?? Ohh yeah it the habit of a liberandu to fascinate terrorist as saint, a teacher , a doctor etc…Journalist like you are real threat to this country 🙏🏻
The people who are writting bad comments for sant ji..their jameer is already died just like Indra Gandhi..who killed so many innocent people with Operation blue star & also ordered military to attack on the pious place of all Sikhism..& military entered with shoes…how can a real Sikh let it happen…
Bhindrawale was a Sant. There was not a single criminal record against him. Once he was caught by police and was set free after 20 days because the police was not able to prove the charges. Also, I have heard people saying he killed Hindus and Sikhs. He didn’t kill any Hindu or Sikh who was innocent. He was a preacher of Sikhi and loved Sikhi more than his own life. Sikhism taught us to use weapons only in defence and so did bhindrawale sant g. Just check anywhere, he always acted in self defence and never intiated anything. He was great and Sant. He was simple and not twisted like govt and these journalists.
I donn know u r residing in india or avroad but my desr he was killed by indian army he is no saint and he dont deserve to live people like you are misleading by reading blogs and videos about him now better you ask those of his era i have heard stories how ladies were held in temple when he was killed they all came out. Dont spread fake ideology
Entertaining facts, the way u write is entertaining
Shekhar you are misguided, luck you you managed to get a glimpse of the Santa ji! That guy stood up against the system on his own and it is evident where your opinions are coming from. Remove the veil of ignorance and embrace the truth. Sant ji was right about everything. His ways were harsh but he stood for Dharma which you Hindus have made a joke of, our India culture has gone to the dogs thanks to people like you.
Sant ji was right you are harami, and for your information Hindu Gods are clean shaved not because they shave, their state is callind every youth in Vedas where the beard never grows except Bharma because he was cursed by Lord Shiva. So give up the veil of ignorance and rise up and follow your faith.
Shekar Ji u haven’t covered whole topic. What was the political condition of Indian politics. Weren’t a hijacker who hijacked a plane for release of Indra Gandhi awarded by Indra Gandhi? Why was army (lt Gen shabeg Singh)told to arrest an honest man of India named jay Prakash Narayan? N of his saying no pm orders an army men who never met his family for 6 months to make India win war against Pakistan was dismissed a day before retirement by making up a case of bribe of 2500 Rs.
Shekar Ji u forget to tell there is no record who ordered attack in which lots of innocent would have been saved if proper procedures were followed as army had enough time after 1983 when they asked for tanks from lt Gen sk sinha( another honest man).
Shekarji u forget to tell there was not a single case against bhindrawale and still he was declared terrorist. She kar Ji u forget to tell how would a Sikh react when a narankari head claims to step on Sikh guru sggsji. U forgot to tell what justice were given to those boycotting narankari head n gunned down with help police. Then Indra Gandhi to add up fire makes narankari head as spiritual head to represent India in a spiritual gathering of world. U forgot tell to tell Akal takth was a military decision making place of sikhs from where all hindues were saved when required. U forgot tell how will a person react when he recieves a news that army is launching an attack on holiest shrine. Will get arms to fight back or will just let things happen. What will you expect from a community who has contributed by giving their life’s for saving Hindu at time of Mughal or whether it’s indian independence.
Have a respect as you to show your face to god. I know my comment will b either deleted as it shows your own self or will be taken negatively. But as a true Indian I have asked u this question as I have read books and sorry but u n other journalist are spreading hatred among people rather than thinking what we have done for that community who once safegaurded us or what went wrong that they asked for separate piece of land.
Thanks for sharing facts
The Grenade which killed Bhindrawaale and General SHABEG SINGH was lobbed by my commandos on the night of June 5/6. The pair was killed while crawling back. One had nine and other had seven bullets.
I had 4 on the 8th Jun while saving the President of India.
How can we believe you when there are videos which claim that everything was sanitised when the President Giani Zail Singh visited Amritsar after the Blue Star operation, and the videos in which the firing shots are heard are fake ( created ) videos ?
This story provides insight into mind of a reporter who came to idolize a person commonly believed to be behind much bloodshed & selective killings for a decade plus…Number of people who actually lost their lives during the operation is far less than that given by him. Poor show!
Completely agree! There was nothing Sant about jarnail singh.
Very good article. Agree with Sekhar ji. This Long-arms thing going below knees was spread widely in Punjab. I had ( lived in Punjab from 1970 to 1984) my-self heard this thing during my stay in Punjab. Whenever a news-item related to JSB appeared in vernacular Newspapers ( we used to share our newspaper & read them at a common place), people belonging to a Particular Caste/profession used to tell this story. And 1 more story : that there was a pitcher in which piece of paper (parchee) having names of persons written on them ( to whom some punishment has to be given by JSB) were dropped. Then these were drawn in a random manner to execute orders of JSB on these persons.
Again so brilliant and nuanced and courageous to put Bhindarwawale as most imporatant persson Shekhar Ji met.last line seaks the deal for people talking about stockhom syndrome, it was maddening phase and so eminnently worth forgetting. So even if he was fascinating person its the time to kill the past.thanks
What about the atrocities , massacres on poor persons , mostly hindus by those, your hero.
There were no massacres on hindus
Shekhar ji, personal one. Had you ever tried to tell him that he is doing wrong. We respect Sikhism but not a person like him.
But will you ever be honest about writing the complete story from BOTH SIDES, not just what BHINDRANWALE did? Will you ever write about the atrocities that were done to the sikh community by police? That gave rise to bhindranwale.
Will you ever write about “Jaswant Singh Khalra”, who collected record of 36,000 innocent sikh people killings by police. Who was later abducted from his house and was never heard from again.
Will you? Or are you too afraid of the Indian Govt.?
You people start pushing us in the corner, beating us, poking us with a stick and when we bark you say “oh look, you’re violent, you’re terrorists”.
It’s disgusting to see, how much of a sellout,biased, scaredy cat Indian media is. I see articles portraying Bhindrawale as terrorists everywhere. But nowhere do i see, the articles doing justice and showing the real faces of Indian govt., police forces.
Spreading all those lies about, Sant Jarnail Singh demanding Khalistan just to get sympathy from Indian public. But in reality, word Khalistan didn’t even had any mention in all of their 18 Demands (Anandpur Resolution’old one’).
Firstly the topic of the article is Bhindarwala and the run up to the blue start so Mr. Kalra’s list need not be mentioned here.
Secondly, do Sikhs own Punjab ? They are barely a majority after hoards of them migrated to India after partition. The Indian side of Punjab was majority Hindu before the partition.
Listen to Sant Jis speeches. He never once says we want our own country or anything. He simply wanted equal rights. Why is that when two Sikhs get married, the official govt record labels it as a Hindu marriage. Why is all of the water of Punjab (Punjab=5 rivers) being diverted to different states. Why were/do Punjabi farmers get taxed so much compared to other farmers in India and resort to suicide because they cannot afford to provide for their families. Why was 80% of only Punjab and no other state given to be made into Pakistan. These are a few of the questions Sant Ji asked the people of Punjab. You could get brainwashed as much as you want by the Indian propaganda but go to Amristar right now and you’ll see atleast 20 shops selling pictures of Sant Ji. Go to any temple (even outside of India , like here in Vancouver B.C.) and you’ll see huge paintings of him. Go on youtube and search in speeches and check out how many likes he has and listen to the speeches while you’re at it. Indian newspapers and websites also label KPS Gill as a “supercop” and give him so much respect but google Jaswant Singh Khalra right now and you’ll see how many innocent sikhs KPS Gill killed. Are you gonna trust the same sited that label KPS Gill as a supercop?
You seem to be ignorant of the history of the Sikh Empire . The area to which people migrated to after the partition was once a part of the Sikh Empire, including the present state of Jammu and Kashmir ( now made into Union territories by Modi ). Get your facts and understanding of Sikh Empire correct, and update your reading.
Nice read..
Shekhar Gupta is suffering from the Stockholm syndrome. Clearly so scared of Bhindranwale , that he is now going to create a legend. Parts of this article where Shekhar drools like a school fanboy will be quoted by separatists to justify the 21000 killings in Punjab of 80″s.
Bhindranwale was clearly a terrorist and killed both Sikhs and Hindus, who disagreed with his violent thug approach. Let us not make him a martyr.
Recently an activist Advocate ( a Hindu gentleman) has through an RTI thrown light on Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale that no case was registered against him in any police station for any crime, so how can you call him a terrorist ?
Yes because he killed everyone who were against him.
bai agar tum kisi k sath dkka kroge rape kroge kisi k dhrm k khilaaf likho ge tho ye sb hoga hi na tho is lie apne apne dhrm m pure bno bai
Yet all of India mourned the death of indira ghandi even though she was behind operation blue star and ordered soldiers to kill thousands ? Makes no sense
Indira Ghandi started a genocide
Finally a person who had the guts to speak against him.
It was absolute pleasure in reading your article. Great learning while recalling about the tragic times.
You did a wonderful job, and hats off to you for your courage and of those you mentioned about.
Read it in one breath,scintillating ,amazing,thanks sekharji