Five districts of Punjab have virtually been placed under Martial Law. The law and order control in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozpur, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts have been handed over to the paramilitary forces. These forces are directly under the Central government and are not answerable to the Punjab Government. ‘Speaking at the Bhog ceremony of Harbans Singh Ghuman’s son, Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Surjit Singh Bamala, had threatened that Martial Law would be imposed in Punjab if violence continued unabated. He has partially carried out the threat and in the process implemented the assurances given to Punjab Congress (I) leaders and Shiv Sena deputationists.
Like Indira Gandhi, Barnala has also started harping upon the old tune that Pakistan is responsible for the continuing chaos in his State. He has reportedly sent a detailed note to the Union Government containing what he calls confessions of some of the ‘captured’ Sikh youths. The note holds Pakistan responsible for the ‘subversive activities in Punjab. As a follow up action, Indian Foreign Minister, Mr. B.R. Bhagat, has warned Pakistan that serious consequences will follow if it did not stop meddling in India’s internal problems.
‘The imaginatively choreographed scenario excels in subtlety and finesse even the masterly performance of Indira Gandhi who through’ a series of engineered murders of Hindus and relentless propaganda blitz had succeeded in convincing the unsuspecting ‘world that the Golden Temple was “forcibly” occupied by a handful of trigger happy “terrorists” and “separatists” and that she was left with no option but to “reluctantly” order the army to “enter” the Golden Temple with “prayers on their lips and reverence in their hearts”.
In keeping the myth of “terrorists” and “separatists” alive even after “flushing out” the Golden Temple and in identifying the mysterious “foreign hand”, Rajiv Gandhi intends to detract the focus from the real issues as well as to justify Central Control over the law and order machinery in the State. While keeping a pack of Sikh stooges in powerless chairs at Chandigarh, he is ruling Punjab directly from Delhi. It provides an ideal situation to fulfil his mission of eliminating Sikh youth and yet remain unblamed. 15 Sikh students were shot down in cold blood by paramilitary forces in Nakodar (Punjab). No body blamed Rajiv. Their bodies were not given to their kith and kin. No body blamed Rajiv. How could he be blamed when the order for dispose of their bodies was issued not directly by him but by his puppet Balwant Singh, Punjab Finance Minister?
Why were the boys shot down? What was their fault? They were not indulging in violence or rioting. They were only going to the ‘Gurdwara where Shiv Sena miscreants had burnt down the sacred Guru Granth Sahib. Their only fault was that they had violated Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code that forbids an assembly of ‘more than four persons.
Curiously Akali Government has killed more Sikh young men in its rule of five months than were killed in any corresponding period during the entire Dharam Yudh Morcha. This, perhaps, is the Singular accomplishment of the Barnala regime. What has Barnala done in respect of the Akali demands for which Sikhs had to make unprecedented sacrifices? Has even a single outstanding issue been settled? What is the fate of issues like Chandigarh, river waters and hydroelectric power, left out Punjabi speaking areas, All India Gurdwara Act, release of Sikh youth, rehabilitation of army deserters, anti-Sikh riots enquiry, Sikh personal law, etc. Economic plunder of Punjab goes on.as ever, discrimination against Sikhs has multiplied manifold particularly in services and harassment of foreign Sikhs visiting their relatives in India has increased.
Sikhs in Punjab would certainly be better off without the buffer of Barnala Government. They would then be contending with a visible adversary directly and they know how to fight in the open. Besides, Indian Government would not then be able to deceive the World. Let. Barnala pack off and leave the Sikhs to their fate. Therein lays his good and the good of the Sikhs.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 28, 1986
