AMRITSAR: Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, the legendary Sikh leader, who fought the Indian state for about 15 years, is no more. True to his word, he died in an encounter with Indian forces near Rataul village in Amritsar district on February 28. The announcement of the death was made by Punjab police chief, K.P.S.Gill, who flew in here from Chandigarh for the purpose, Baba Manochachal’s body was found in a pool of blood close to a farm house which Indian security forces had surrounded earlier presumably on a tip off. In fact, the Indian intelligence agencies had made deep inroads in the entire area of the militant leader’s operation, on the day of his death; the forces raided at least 60 places. In these raids the Indian army too joined the paramilitary forces; the farmhouse belonged to Sukhdev Singh son of Harbhajan Singh. The raiding party was headed by D.S.P.Harbhajan Singh. When Baba Manochahal saw the security forces surrounding him, he opened fire on them and in the course of the encounter which, according to the police, lasted one hour, the Sikh leader died. Later, the police cremated Baba Gurbachan Singh’s body and did not hand it over to his relations or the people of his village on the ground that “no one came to claim the body.”
Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal was born on June 6, 1954, at Manochahal village in Amritsar district. He was 6 {U1 in. He weighed 95 kg and his blood group was AB Negative. After an early education he joined the Indian Army in its ranks but left it after sometime and joined the ranks of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was one of those who protested against the Nirankaris holding their congregation at Amritsar on April 13, 1978, when 13 other Sikhs were shot at, Baba Manochahal stood by Sant Bhindranwale through thick and thin, He played a role in the safe conduct of Sant Bhindranwale from Bombay to Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, in 1982.
During the operation “Bluestar,” Baba Manochahal was with Sant Bhindranwale inside the complex but on Sant’s advice had left it. He organized the underground Sikh movement for Khalistan in the Masha districts and enrolled a large number of armed followers. Baba Manochahal was made jathedar of Akal Takhat in 1986. He made a brief appearance in the Darbar Saheb complex in April 1986 but left it after making a formal announcement of Khalistan. He also formed the first panthic committee which guided the Sikh underground movement for many years along with other panthic committees.
In 1987 Baba Manochahal formed Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan with the cooperation of Bhai Wassan Singh Jaffarwal but later the two parted company and formed their separate groups B.T.F. In the course of last few years, Baba Manochahal lost more than 60 of his followers in different encounters. The biggest loss to him was the death of Bhai Surjit Singh Beehla.
His modus operandi was to equip himself heavily with arms and move about mostly at night and away from main roads and highways. Often he was on horseback. He spent time in villages and farmhouses or in fields. He escaped the police dragnets for more than a dozen times few years. There was a fierce encounter between Baba e followers and the Indian security forces at Rataul village about two years ago when a deputy inspector general of Punjab police was among those killed. But he himself had succeeded in escaping from the village. A few days ago he was again surrounded by security forces near Bargain village but had escaped after firing from a machine gun which he Indian authorities had announced a reward of Rs 75 lakh, one of the highest for any Sikh militant, to those who would give a clue to the whereabouts of Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal.
Baba was quite popular among the people of Amritsar district. He was pillar of strength for the Khalistan movement and was greatly feared by the Indian security forces.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 5, 1993
