had migrated. Hindus said that 75 per cent of the Hindus had migrated. It is worth noting that the Hindu Shiv Sena and the AISSF are both active here, calling bandhs on special occasions to keep up communal tension. Even so, in Fatehbad, the communal terrorists did not succeed immediately in causing large outmigration Part of the reason was the hard work of Ajit Ram, a CPI worker from a poor Scheduled Caste family. He and his family of four sons and four daughters not only stayed on despite communal terrorists’ threats; he actively persuaded Hindu families against going and on one occasion even play down before the truck on which a family was leaving. He also took out a peace march a few days before his death. On July 2, 1986, terrorists came at night and killed Ajit Ram and his 8-year-old son as they slept. Another CP1 worker, Mukhtiar Singh, who rushed to the spot on hearing the noise, was shot dead too. Tension in cities : AISSF-Shiv Sena clashes : Communal tension and incidents of mob violence are more evident in towns and cities, where the AISSF and Hindu Shiv Sena are the two main contending forces. It is in the urban areas, particularly among the middle classes, that communal propaganda now has a foothold. Interestingly, the Hindus and Sikhs we met who put forward communal views were educated people, capable of spinning out elaborate theoretical justifications and historical analogies. It is not necessary that such people will themselves carry out acts of violence; but they will support, and give an elaborate justification for the acts of AISSF or Shiv Sena goondas. Nevertheless, it takes the concerted action of the Shiv Sena, the AISSF, and their political backers, combined with the maneouverings and arbitrary action of the police, to bring about any mob incidents even in towns. In the towns, too, common people are not at the initiating end of the disturbances. Rather, they are generally fed up with the insecurity and disturbance of their daily lives. This was what we found in the town of Nakodar. Nakodar (1981 population: 26,000, of which, 20-25 per cent are Sikhs) was a peaceful town until last year. The AISSF local unit founded two years ago was weak; the Hindu Shiv Sena, promoted by local Congressmen, was also weak. On the morning of February 2, six copies of the Guru Granth caught fire in a Nakodar gurudwara. Hindus and Sikhs gathered put out the fire, and one Hindu’s hands got burnt in the process. The Gurudwara Committee was convinced the fire was accidental and the people, Hindu and Sikh, decided to go in a procession and consign the copies to the river. However, some communal elements meanwhile spread a rumour that the books had been burnt by Hindus. UAD and AISSF workers came to the spot and prevented the procession from proceeding. Nevertheless, a joint Hindu-Sikh procession was taken out in the afternoon, and was peaceful. But at the end, AISSF elements announced that “we will gather again tomorrow and decide what do about this”.
Police policy: Despite all this disturbance, the local police did not feel it necessary to investigate the fire and explain the truth to the people. On the other hand, Sikh communal organisation activists went to the surrounding villages, which are Sikh-dominated, and tried to mobilise peasants on the ground of the Granth having been burnt by Hindus. Yet on the following day, February 3, hardly 30-40 came from the villages and the procession numbered around 80 in all. The precisionists were in an angry mood. When they reached the post office road, a group of AISSF activists from outside the town joined them, raising provocative slogans. The common Sikhs, who were in the first procession, quickly left the procession and many were angry at the A1SSF’s intervention. The procession dwindled to about 60 by the time it reached the centre of the town. All this while, the police made absolutely no effort to check or control it. The AISSF raised provocative slogns. They arbitrarily blamed a local leader of the Hindu Shiv Sena for the burning and demanded that he be arrested. They also went back and broke shutters and shop windows of Hindu-owned shops. In the meantime, police prevented a Hindu Shiv Sena procession, organised by the Phagwara HSS leader Ramakant Jalota, and clamped curfew at 7.30 p.m. Baba Joginder Singh, father of J. S. Bhindranwale and then head of the UAD, arrived in the town and held a meeting at the gurudwara. At the end of the meeting an activist whispered in his ear. Then he demanded that all Hindus in the midince stand up. He announced: “Only a Hindu could have done this act. You should identify who it is. Still the police made no effort to intervene or defuse the situation. The AISSF had decided to make the issue into a major drama. It would give them the opportunity to attack the Barnala ministry on the question of respect for the holy books. That night, they toured the nearby villages, announcing that Guru Granth Sahib had been burnt, and that Sikhs should come to demonstrate. The next day, February 4, AISSF activists armed with sticks and swords from various places in the state started arriving at Nakodar. However, since curfew was in force, they hijacked two buses and went to the nearby villages, shouting filthy slogans. With all this effort, by 11 a.m., they could only gather 50 people at the outskirts of the city. The police did nothing to prevent them from collecting, which would have been simple at this early stage. People slowly kept collecting. Interesting, despite the curfew, an AISSF jatha of 50 coming from the other direction was allowed to wend its way through the town, shouting provocative slogans. It passed by a temple, where Hindu Shiv Sena activists shouted counter slogans from inside. Finally it joined the main group collecting outside the city. In this manner, they allowed 500-600 or so youth to collect. Out of these only about half were hardcore AISSF; the rest were looking on from a slight distance. The leaders then declared that five volunteers (panj piaras) would advance, ready to die. The police first retreated, then began firing tear gas, which was ineffective because of the wind. Then a CRP contingent took charge. When the crowd was 30-40 yards away, police fired without warning with rifles and sten guns. As soon as the firing started, people ran back, and police chased them, beating them mercilessly. Among those beaten were onlookers, who could not get away fast enough. Some people, including an AISSF member with a serious leg injury, hid in a saw mill. A police officer who identified the AISSF member came in saying, “Where are you hiding?” Then the AISSF member defiantly called out, “I’m here!” The officer came closer and fired at the AISSF man’s forehead. A total of 4 were killed and 10-15 injured in the firing. Police cremated the bodies of the 4 killed in the absence of the family members. This created resentment against the police. On February 7, the local gurudwara committee, Akali MLAS, and Baba Joginder Singh were allowed to start a series of five Akhand Path for purifying the gurudwara. Meanwhile curfew continued to operate for the common people.
Common people fed up :
The entire incident demonstrates that (i) tensions were manufactured only by strenuous efforts on the part of the communal organisations; -(2) even so, they could not mobilise much mass support; (3) however, due to the refusal of the police and administration to defuse the situation, these forces were able to gather, create a tense situation and disrupt normal life; (4) the eventual, delayed police reaction was arbitrary and unjustifiably brutal, and so created resent-ment among the people. • The common people of Nakodar were not involved in creating the tensions, but they suffered as a result of them. That they are fed up with the activities of both Hindu and Sikh communalists is evident from the fact that they have ignored bandh calls by both. A few months ago a school teacher was murdered in a nearby village. Hindu Shiv Sena tried to call a general bandh of the Hindu-majority Nakodar town, but people completely ignored the call. When a Shiv Sena vice-president was killed in Ludhiana, Nakodar did not join in the bandh call. Similarly, AISSF bandh calls were ignored. A UAD call to peasants to boycott supply of requirements to Nakodar town was counteied by Leftist forces, who went to the surrounding villages and campaigned against the call. And the call was completely ignored. (A similar call given by communalists at Muktsar in Faridkot district was also frustrated by the people’s response; again, the initiative was taken by Left forces.) In sum, while the communal forces could rally only a limited section of people. the majority refused to participate in their games. This secular response was not to the credit of the administration or police, but was due to the sanity of the common people and the efforts of secular forces.
Invasion of campuses by fundamentalists A special note must be made of the invasion of academic institutions by both communal fanatics and the State. Punjab’s colleges have traditionally been centres of progressive and radical movements, not only of students but also of teachers, In many universities in Punjab, due to a long history of students movement, there is unusually good co-ordination between unions of students, teachers, and employees. Even now, only such sections can effectively mobilise a substantial number on campuses. The attack on those freedoms and movements started much earlier. One incident, given in detail, will give an idea of how the Congress rulers themselves fostered Sikh communal terrorism. This incident was narrated by several academics the team met. A scholar, Fouja Singh, published an article during this period called “Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur” in the Journal of sikh Studies. This article, while in no way derogatory to Tegh Bahaciir;’ suggested that the traditional version of his death was not correct, and that he had, in fact, been executed for leading a peasant movement.- Immediately, fundamentalist scholars raised a furore and demanded that the article be withdrawn, which it eventually was. A group of academics, ‘ Concerned at this development, organised a seminar Temperance Hall, Amritsar, in April, 1975, on the question “Of -,academic freedom. – On the day of the seminar, as invitees turned up from through-out Punjab, they found the station and the hall pasted with posters -warning that those who questioned the Sikh traditions would be fink-, shed off. Many returned. The hall itself contained a majority off;: people hostile to the topic of the seminar. The Congress-I Niha21- Sant, Baba Kahan Singh entered the hall with his men. They were aimed with guns and were reeking with liquor. They used threatening and foul language. One man said that ‘`Only those who believe”‘ in Sikh tenets will be allowed to preside or speak.” Despite all such– threats, the -organisers went ahead with the seminar.
All this was done under the Chief Ministership of Giani Singh who supported Baba Kahan Singh. When Emergency was declared, Baba Kahan Singh was its most vocal supporter. We have mentioned elsewhere that the AISSF was itself cultivated by the Akalis as a form of attack on the radical student movement: “We have also described their role in directly attacking the leadership of this movement, and how there was massive student response against-this repression. In this period, AISSF was not able to command any. influence among students at any centre in Punjab. Today, however, in a condition of a temporarily weakened’ democratic student movement, the AISSF is able to command considerable terror. Even now it cannot be said that they have a large’- following among students in fact, a large number of the ranks they’: have are not even students However, even with a small number of activists, the knowledge that they have the backing of the Khalistani terrorists give them a power in excess of their numbers. They make a practice of challenging programmes held by any student organisation such as PSU, SFI or AISF. Even memorials to Shaheed Bhagat-Singh by such student organisations are disrupted, threatened or attacked. Among the faculty, both Hindu and Sikh chauvinism have some following today (as we earlier observed, communalism has penetrated to a greater extent among the educated classes than among the .common people), but there are also Leftists who have opposed the introduction of communal values in the syllabi. A lecturer from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, descri-bed how the AISSF simply dictates what it wants on campus. Out of the 800 students, more than 50 per cent are Sikh, but at most 50 Sikh students are AISSF supporters. The AISSF activists come from prosperous agricultural backgrounds. The activities of the AISSF have nothing to do with any real student issues. For example, they demanded a gurudwara on the campus, took over a newly constructed students centre building and converted it into a gurudwara. No disciplinary action was taken against any AISSF member. When a Leftist student union held a Bhagat Singh memorial meeting, an AISSF member forcibly took hold of the stage and gave a lecture to the effect that the Khalistanis are the Bhagat Singhs of today. The AISSF activists decided to hold an Akhand Path at the University. They collected money from students and teachers. The AISSF activists would state the amount that was to be given (eg, Rs. 100). Not a single person dared to refuse, though the large majority definitely did not want to give anything. Again, no action was taken against the AISSF activists; on the contrary, Rs. 500 was reportedly given by the Vice-Chancelor when it was demanded of him. The University unofficially declared a holiday on the day of the Akhand Path and closed down. The university maintenance staff was asked to put up decoration flags prescrribed for formal university functions. AISSF activistes aside from this are minimal. There was no AISSF wall-writing or postering that we could see on the campuses. AISSF does not hold student rallies or public meetings. It does give strike calls on various occasions to demand the release of arrested AISSF members and the like. On such days, students do not turn up on the campus for fear of retaliation. Another AISSF activity is to persuade Sikh students to wear their kirpans. This has not had much success. By contrast, though they also are not powerful, AISF, SFI and PSU activities are more visible and involve mass mobilisation. Once when SFI activists at Guru Nanak Dev University were under attack, PSU and AISF students defended them and drove away the AISSF attack. Before the last examinations, posters were put up threatening that anyone who tries to stop the AISSF activists (who constitute about one or two per cent of the students) from cheating would be finished off. On the day of the examination, the AISSF activists came with their books into the examination hall, and openly cheated during the exams. No one dared to interfere. – ‘ The team also met faculty members, Hindu and Sikh, some of whom are known as Leftists. The AISSF members go to such professors and issue threats to them. Many answer these threats with courage. Invasion of Campuses by the State the State machinery, instead of checking this type of terror is engaged in its own type of; terrorizing on campus. Soon after the Army action in Punjab, two teachers of Punjabi University, Sukhdayal Singh and Harpal Singh Pannu, were arrested and interrogated. The latter was tortured, kept in custody for 2 months, and implicated in a case of the burning of a post office near Rajpura. In 1984, college examinations were delayed for three months. The authorities of Punjabi University (Patiala) asked students to deposit their hostel rent for 3 months till the exams. The students insisted they were being charged extra, since the delay in the examinations is the Government’s responsibility. On July 24, the Dean of Student Welfare issued a circular in which hostel rent for two months was exempted, but one month’s was demanded. The students, however, insisted that collecting even one month’s rent was improper. On this demand, about 60 students met the Dean at 9 p m, on July 24. The ‘Dean took the students to the Vice-Chancellor’s residence, wheie some 3 students negotiated with the Vice-Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor fixed the time of negotiation for the next morning. As the students were returning peacefully to their hostels,- they were surrounded by Army men. The Army men abused them. ,All of the students were made to crawl on the road. Then the 3 students who had negotiated with the Vice-Chancellor Varinder Singh, Kabul Singh, and Balwinder Singh— were segregated from the rest. The other students were made to run in front of the Army jeep. Varinder, Kabul and Balwinder were taken to the guest-house, and were beaten all the way. At the guest house they were kicked on the belly and were dragged by the hair. The Army men threatened to kill them. After this severe beating, they became unconscious. They were thrown into the hostel in an unconscious state. I However, the timely efforts of organised sections on this occasion showed the correct approach towards resisting State repression.
On July 25, research scholars, teachers, and other employees organisations organised a rally on the campus. They protested against the incident, opposed Army rule, and pinned responsibility for the whole incident on the Vice-Chancellor as well. The strike was successful. On July 26, the University was declared closed. After this incident, the Colonel, Brigadier, and other Army officers, as well as the Vice-. Chancellor, had to beg the students’ pardon.
Secular crime under communal garb:
It was reported to us in several places that the communal terrorist gangs are in league with smugglers in the border districts, and that they obtain weapons and money from these smugglers in exchange for armed protection and carrying of smuggled goods. This would partly explain the terrorists’ ability to move back and forth across the India-Pakistan border, as the smugglers regularly bribe the Border police and their higher officials into allowing their traffic. Given the police officials’ close connections with smugglers, it may also explain the fact of the terrorists appearing to possess prior information of police raids on the hideouts.
It also needs to be remembered that, in Punjab, armed gangs are not a new phenomenon; every Congress and Akali politician worth his salt has had an armed gang to protect and carry out his feuds and his local rule. Earlier such gangs did have the cover of Khalistani ideology under which to operate, but they definitely committed many crimes. In fact, many killings in personal feuds, in land disputes, or on behalf of local politicians are being carried on under the cover of the Khalistani ideology.
Crimes in Punjab
Year Murders Burglaries Robberies Total Cognisable Crimes
1971 604 1387 29 11433
1983 591 938 66 13971
The above table shows that either other criminals evaporated in the air and were replaced by Khalistani criminals, or, more likely, many criminals are continuing their purely secular murders, robberies, etc. under the garb of religious fanaticism.
Upper and lower echelons:
An interview with a doctor in a jail housing communal terrorists. (including some well-known detenues) gave the team a picture of different types of Khalistanis. The doctor said that the communal.. terrorists in his jail could be divided into three categories—lower, middle, and high-ranking. The lower and middle ranks are all members of AISSF, though they are generally non-students or drop-outs; none, is a matriculate. They fall in the 18-25 age bracket. They come from middle peasant families—Harijans are an insignificant number. heir general perception is that all Hindus are traders, and loot Sikh farmers. They feel that only Khalsa Raj can abolish Hindu imperialism. They: are in a state of intense depression and frustration, bordering on mental illness. By contrast, there is a section of top-ranking communal terrorists and comrnunalist leaders. They have the political pull to obtain1 good care. Some of them are addicted to certain drugs, or have a_ heavy dependence on injections for sleep. However, they are confident about their prospects. Periodically they propagate rumours among’ the others that Bhindranwale is alive and living in China or Pakis-” tan. Certain top-ranking communal terrorist leaders, it appears from news reports, also have better conditions because of the possibility Of:, a future deal with the Government. Link (14 June 37) reports that former Punjab DIG Police, Simranjit Singh Mann, who was elected’ president of the “Unified” Akali Dal, has pleaded for bail to enable’ him to meet the Prime Minister. Mann’s two influential brothers-in-‘ law—the former Congress-I M.P. Amrinder Singh, and the External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh—are reportedly active behind the’, scenes to get Mann released. Marn is kept in comfortable surroundings—he is the only prisoner in three halls and a verandah of Bhagalpur Central Jail. He receives comparatively excellent treatment—recently, when Mann complained of tooth trouble the Com-e_ missioner B. K. Singh, the IG (Prisons) S.P. Singh, and the principal of Patna Dental College flew to Bhagalpur. The Commissioner and the IG personally accompanied Mann to the hospital where two of his teeth were extracted.
Why Sangrur is unaffected It is also important to note the areas and sections relatively , unaffected by communal feeling. The team found that, in Sangrur district, not only were very few incidents of terrorist activity reported
but there were several recent cases of people catching ‘ communal terrorists: Ranike, Bahmanian, Tallewal, Bhiwanigarh, Sanghera, etc. There are also no instances of very large-scale State repression, as in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, etc. Hindus too in Sangrur affirmed that “This is a most peaceful city; and in our district it is also peaceful in the villages.” The Akali Dal Longowal) has its strongest base in Sangrur, borne district of both Longowal and Barnala. But, besides that, as the writer Gurmail Singh Madhad informed us, “Marxist forces are strong and active in this district, particularly the southern part. So if fundamentalism based on religion has no strong roots. If someone tries to incite communal feeling people don’t like him.” An advocate told us Here we only read in the papers about such incidents. Sangrur has a history of strong communist movements, since pre-independence period, with a strong anti-landlord movement led by men such as Hira Singh Bhattal and Teja Singh Swatantar.” An old Sikh told us: “When there were lots of killings in other regions of Punjab, some Hindu villagers in our district migrated to the cities. But the other villagers came to them and took them back, saying, if anyone harms you, we will be the first to defend you.” When the 1984 November riots occurred at Delhi, said Madbad, “I expected some kind of retaliation. But actually, as soon as curfew was withdrawn, people ran to get diesel for their agricultural operations.” In Sangrur, too, there are, of course, communal elements. An RSS cadre told us, “The Delhi riots were only a reaction to what was happening here.” But another Hindu countered him; “No, everyone, including Hindus, felt the riots were very bad. They were Government-planned. Everyone condemned it.” One Hindu told us, “The Central leaders have given some directives to census-takers. A man came to my door with the census questionnaire, He asked, “What is your mother tongue?” I said, `Punjabi’. He said, ‘How can it be?’ It is such politicking that has created a wedge between the communities.” This all is not to say that communal elements are not active in Sangrur.’ However, it does show that terrorism and the communal divide have nothing to do with the so-called “Sikh psyche”, as some claim. It has to do with the deliberate decisions and actions of the communal terrorists and the State machinery as to where to con-
