Since 26th January this year, Punjab has been simmering with a combination of rage, frustration and pain. On that date, it became crystal clear to Sikhs all over world that Mr. Rajiv Gandhi had no intention of keeping his promises and that he was going the way of his later mother, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Subsequently, the youth who occupied the Golden Temple in Amritsar to rebuild the Akal Takht, the holiest to the holy Sikh shrines, disowned the sporadic violence that appears to have become a part of life in Punjab. The intelligence agencies of the Government of India as well as of the State Government have confirmed that the shootings and the killings were neither organized nor inspired from within the Golden Temple. The circumstances are such that the possibility of disgruntled antisocial elements of the State taking advantage of the situation cannot be excluded. There have been reports of police themselves participating in violence. The complicity of the Government of India in the incidents cannot be ruled out because violence in the State, on the one hand, discredits the Akali Government perpetuating the myth that the Sikhs are not capable of governance and on the other, it creates the false image of the Sikhs in the mold of terrorists. That has international implications and repercussions.
In these circumstances, bringing in a new Governor with the fanfare of his experience of dealing with the Nasalizes could hardly be productive. But to add to that a new Inspector-General of Police who, by his pronouncements, reveals the deep rooted desire of the Government to inflict “terrorism” on the people, especially the Sikhs, exacerbated the situation even further. After all, when Mr. Ribera said that he will match the ‘terrorists’ bullet for bullet and that while the ‘terrorists’ had “hit lists” he had “hit squads”, he did not allay the fears and apprehensions of the Sikhs in Punjab who have already suffered a lot and find their peaceful intentions thwarted time and again. The Gurus have ordained that when all measures has failed; pick up the sword for justice. Under the prevailing conditions, the Baisakhi Sarbat Khalsa at the Golden Temple in Amritsar had no alternative but to announce the beginning of an all-India armed struggle.
The Khalistan Council and I have always advocated a negotiated settlement and still do but we must recognize that it takes at least two to negotiate. We hope that the administration in New Delhi would be wise enough to avert the possibility of a civil strife in Indi and defuse the situation to make negotiation possible.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 2, 1986
