Talveen Singh correspondent of The Telegraph Calcutta held the Interview a bare 4 weeks before Shahbeg Singh was killed in the Army crackdown of June 3-6-1984 on Harmindar Sahib (Golden Temple) and his body was found riddled with bullets along with that of Sant Bhindrawala in the basement of Akal Takht on June 7, 1984.Editor
Major General Shahbeg Singh whose body was found in the basement of the Akal Takht on June 6 along with that of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Bhai Amnk Singh was interviewed by The Telegraph four weeks before he died.
He was a sad sick man eaten up with bitterness against the Indian government and obsessed with the idea that he had been thrown out of the army only because he was a Sikh. The General was a slight frail-looking man with a long flowing grey beard A brilliant General who organized the Mukti Bahini in the 1971 war he was Suspected of having taken away loot and eased out of the army. He seemed surprised however that his name was being linked with the Dashmesh Regiment and said that he did not believe in violence.
He made no attempt to hide links with Jamail Singh Bhindrawala. His bitterness about what had happened to him had obviously overwhelmed every other consideration. The ruling passion of his last years was anger and hate.
Q: Why were you removed from the army?
A: You should ask the army. I’m the only person whom they did not even put on trial. If they could put up other Generals on trial if they could take them to court and frame charges against them why couldn’t they do the same for me?
Q: Why didn’t they give you a trial?
A: Because they had nothing against me and they just wanted to throw me out. Leave alone a fair trial they didn’t give me any kind of trial. They threw me out under a special clause which had never been invoked in the Indian army except in my case this is a special power given to the Chief under which my services were administratively terminated one day before they ended. Then they started two others cases against me: one was that | got a truck in somebody else’s name and the other was that I built a house costing Rs9 lakhs. I told] had built the house for Rs 1.75 lakhs. Vigilance valued it at Rs. 1.8 lakhs or something. In court it came down to exactly what I had said.
Q: So you won the cases?
A: I won the cases. This was after my dismissal. But I wasn’t dismissed on these grounds. What happened then was that they handed over the case to the CBI three years for the investigation. After dismissing me they filed this case in the court so for the next five years I was humiliated and harassed in court. I realized they were delaying the cases deliberately [went and talked to the then Home Minister Giani Zail Singh and he assured me justice. J had gone with the then Advocate General who is a friend of mine and he told Gianiji that this man has done so much for the country. He said look this is probably your only General who has brought so much fame to the country and look what you are doing to him. Gianiji asked for the case to be reviewed but he never did anything about it. In my case nothing was done. And instead of withdrawing these false cases against me they went on deliberately delaying the legal proceedings. The judge wrote a letter to the CBI saying that the time and effort of the court should not be wasted and witnesses should be produced in court. In spite of this the case continued to be delayed and the CBI wild me that they could delay it for 20 years if they wished.
Q: But how did you suddenly fall out of favor after being a hero in the Bangladesh War?
A: Because I made a statement not a statement really I just said during the Emergency that nobody was indispensable in the service of this country. This to me was a patriotic statement. But this statement was carried through the backdoor to the Chief and the PM and God knows what they thought that I was a rebel or whatever the aim was to deny me my promotion because I was a Sikh. This is how Sikhs are being persecuted in the army.
Q: Do you feel that other Sikhs in the army are also discriminated against like this?
A: Of course. It is not just a question of being discriminated against We are all suspect it has been stated by no less a person that Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh on TV that Sikhs as a class should be suspected.
Q: Can you tell us a lite bit about the Mukti Bahini how you went in and set it up.
A: These are all top secret things about which I am not supposed to talk. I’m not even allowed to write a book. (If I talked) I would be called unpatriotic and I don’t want that.
Q: But can’t you tell us about the first time you went in and what it was like?
A: You can ask General Jagjit Singh Aurora. He was my boss. I’m not in the habit of talking about these things.
Q: But since then you’ve been victimized?
A: Of course I’ve been victimized liven appealed to Mrs. Indira Gandhi. I said let me be court marshaled now or put me up before a civil court or a tribunal headed by an eminent legal man.
As a last resort I even suggested that my case be looked into by someone like Arun Nehru. I also stated in my appeal that I was unwell and that my wife was suffering because I had continuous active service for 12 years with just a six months break in between I was serving in Jammu and Kashmir when I went for the Chinese War.
There again in Kauls book I am mentioned because at autumn when people were retreating and bringing dishonor to the country I was going forward and bringing honor Read Untold Story page 419 I think.
Q: What was your rank at the time?
A: I was Lt. Colonel yet the work I was doing was not that of commanders. I was staff officer.
First I was staff officer to General Harbaksh then] became staff officer to General Kaul and after that came General Manckshaw. I was General Staff Officer in IV corps for all these three Generals Another person who was told to move forthwith from Jammu and Kashmir to go and face the Chinese took 20 days to get there. He was a Hindu; I took one day now that is my patriotism. But I am a Sikh and he is a Hindu. He became an Army Commander Lt. General but I was singled out so that I could not come forward for further promotion And all kinds of charges were brought against me.
I was even told that I was a friend of Bahuguna after he had been removed from chief minister ship Now what I said then was I’ve got nothing to do with politics but if he has been invited earlier when he was the chief minister to participate in a mushaira how can I tell him not to come even though the police commissioner and the DIG told me that now regular reports were being sent on him to Delhi. This was also considered an anti-national act the fact that he came to a mushaira in Lucknow arranged by me.
Q: But do you really think it was because you were a Sikh?
A: Aur kya what else
Q: But General Harbaksh made it too quite high up and so did General Aurora
A: Well then they probably denied that tome because there would have been too many Sikh Generals.
Q: But were you a supporter of the Sikh cause in those days?
A: You see I am a nondrinker; nonsmoker and vegetarian and my associations have always been with sants and sadhus. I was once told that this man associates with mendicants I have always been spiritually inclined. My mother taught me Japji when I was only five years old. And then I was in the habit of always organizing an akhand path.
I have met Bhindranwale. I feel that there is a strong touch of Spiritualism in this person. He is a man who stands by the truth. The Government is deliberately terming him a traitor because his brand of politics probably doesn’t suit them. But the fact is that there is hardly a Sikh in this world who does not accept him as a leader. I also accept him as a leader. I firmly believe that he is the only Sikh born after Guru Gobind Singh who can get justice for the Sikhs.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1992
