CHANDIGARH: A big, new wave of anti-Sikh repression in Punjab is at hand. The army about 1.25 lakh strong which was inducted in November 1991 in the state has been ordered to Stay put for at least four more months. Night patrolling will made} more regular in Punjab border districts, Police their K.P.S. Gill formally organized the night patrolling at Amritsar recently. He ventured into a few villages of Amritsar at night under tight security. The army will lend a helping hand in the night patrolling. According to a publically announced schedule, the army was to leave Punjab on Aug.15, but on chief minister Beant Singhs per-suasion, it has been directed to remain in the state for four more months, Meanwhile, in accordance with the new strategy, the newly appointed chief of the western army command, Joshi, inspected several army cantonments in the state to tie the loose ends and to give new directions to field commanders. Indias aim appears to be to move ahead with the initiative following the killing of several important militant leaders. Indian authorities think that the security forces should not relax at this moment when they have an “upper hand” over the Sikh militants fighting for Khalistan. The police also appear to have launched a systematic propaganda campaign to demoralize the militants, Rumors are set afloat about the claimed arrest of leading activists such as Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal and Bhai Daljit Singh Khalsa. But K.P.S. Gill himself, in reply to a question, denied Baba Manochahal had been arrested. The latest police rumor pertains to Bhai Daljit Singh. It is said that he was arrested from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Apart from Indias heavy stakes in Punjab, the latest round of repression of the Sikhs has an important personal factor, too. K.P.S. Gill has only four months left full retiring as the states police chief. He belongs to Assam cadre of the Indian police service. Not many senior officers of the Punjab cadre were ready to head the police force in the state prior to Gills induction. One or two were sounded but they refused to play Indias “dirty game” of killings. But Gill had no such inhibition, He belongs to a family of government servants, His father, R.S. Gill, played a key role in the part construction of the anu Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link canal for Haryana, K.P.S. Gills grand father, an engineer, had loyally served the British rule. Thus Gill belongs to a culture which praises advancement in service to the government, He has the ambition of becoming governor of some State on the eve of his retirement, Preferably he would like to be Punjab’s governor. He could be made, alternatively, governor of Kashmir. He has few weeks at his disposal to “show results” and impress Hindus about his effectiveness to claim appropriate rewards. Such rewards have been given to Gills procedures also, Meanwhile, Sikh militants are lying low these days. Some of their urban forts have fallen such as at Patiala, Mohali and Ludhiana. However, they are quite active in rural areas but the actions of the rural militant groups do not find a prominent place in the media. Gill publicly stated recently that “pressure” would be stepped up on militants soon. The present amount of pressure, he said, was nothing as compared to the pressure now planned to be mounted. Political observers feel that Gills game is that there should be a relative calm in Punjab in the next few months so that he quietly leaves his post to claim the post he covets most before things get spoiled.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 4, 1992
