Ever since Surjit Singh Barnala’s dismissal as Chief Minister in May 1987 the Government of India had been following a policy in Punjab that had only one dimension to use mindless force against militants.
The P.H.R.O. investigated and produced a series of reports suggesting false encounter killings in hundreds especially in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Kapurthala districts. A new phenomenon in evidence during the intervening period has been the elimination of whole families including women and children. These killings have not only been disowned but also denounced by known militant groups such as Panthic Committee, Khalistan Commando Force, Khalistan Liberation Force and the Babbar Khalsa. Nevertheless, the media and the public opinion as a whole have been led to believe that the militant groups in Punjab were the culprits.
Who Kills Whole Families?
The P.H.R.O. investigations do not bear out this charge fully. It is notable that the phenomenon of whole families being eliminated pertains essentially to Amritsar district.
‘Me media and the public have been kept carefully uninformed about the existence of time Kala factor or the ” Alam sena”. Both these factors appear incontrovertible. The so-called counter-terrorist Santokh Singh Kala has himself boasted of his mission being blessed by none others than the Indian
Prime Minister and the Adviser to the Punjab Governor. The matter is very grave i f Kala’s self-confessed charges are correct. The ‘country’s Prime Minister himself blesses extrajudicial killings and the State’s “law and order” supremo whose word is law sanctions this “good work”. The P.H.R.O. recommends that the entire matter should be thoroughly investigated and the persons responsible for extra-judicial killings be proceeded against howsoever high positions they may occupy.
And what should one make of the Press – with honourable exceptions – that completely blacks out the misdeeds of men like Kala who has been issued identity cards by the C.R.P.F.. who is permitted to steal cars obviously to commit crimes “provided he returns such cars to the Police within ten days” and whose crimes ar’nt to be recorded by the Police? Why should India’s democratic Opposition keep silent on such horrible developments that strike at the root of the credibility of the State machinery? There have been killings of prisoners either in jails or while being produced in courts during the past one year.
Much has been written recently about the discovery of dead bodies from the Akal Takht debris. In at least one case, the whole matter smacks of a disturbing conspiracy. One of the bodies discovered from the debris is of Kuldip Singh which has been identified by the man’s unfortunate mother. The woman actually reported the alleged disappearance of his son in the first week of March 1987.
The then S.S.P. Amritsar, lzhar Alam, told the Press on March 9, 1987, that the bullet-ridden body of Kuldip Singh had been recovered from “the outskirts of Amritsar”. The mother next day demanded the dead body but was refused. How come the dead body has now been discovered from the Akal Takht debris? Does the incident bear out the charge that the “Alam sena” functioned from within the complex?
Jasbir Singh after Darshan Singh
It was in the wake of these happenings that the Government of India brought into play through Sushi I Muni such characters as Prof. Darshan Singh Ragi and Bhai Jasbir Singh. A careful study of the statements and slogans issued by the two gentlemen bear a close identity. It is a moot point whether they were brought into the picture to bring the agitating Punjab youths to submission or to eliminate them in a carefully planned manner.
The operation Black Thunder 11 appears to be the case in point. It was planned well in advance, perhaps several months prior tp its execution. The Punjab Pradesh Congress President now says that the border fencing plan and the operation Black Thunder II were an integral part of the Centre’s plan for Punjab. It also appears that the Emergency Act, too, was an integral part of the operation Black Thunder II and the emergency powers were kept in hand to thwart a possible protest movement against the seizure of the Golden Temple complex. The possibility of any large scale protest became minimal due to the choice of the month of May for the operation which normally is an extremely
busy period for the peasantry. The latter is the backbone
of the Punjab agitation. A few opposition functionaries have alleged that the operation Black Thunder II was also timed to influence the by elections in the country. The Emergency bill has yet another grave dimension to it. Its advocacy came through an article from C.P.I. leader Satyapal Dang as early as on September 11, 1987 (The Tribune). The P.H.R.O. then issued a rejoinder against the reimposition of the Emergency. The C.P.I. officially opposed the Emergency bill in Parliament and even Dang protested against the amendment. The question is : who could have prompted Dang to write the article? Intelligence agencies? Even the arrest of Kuldip Singh Arora and the threatened detention of Mohinder Singh of Akali Patrika, both Amritsar based journalists; could also possibly be preparatory measures for the operation.For, Arora and Mohinder Singh were among the journalists who earned the authorities’ wrath for reporting facts unpleasant to the establishment. The authorities were even upset at an Arora despatch that spoke of Bhai Jasbir Singh backing the demand for “Khalistan”. The then Akal Takht Jathedar presumably informed his friends in the
Punjab establishment that the journalist had put words in his mouth. He was, therefore, arrested on April 12, 1988. When journalists protested, the authorities in Delhi, according to newspaper reports, assured that Arora would be released by mid-May, the original dead-line-for the conclusion of the operation.
