AMRITSAR: S.G.P.C. President Gurcharin Singh Tohra in an interview defended Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s decision to seek protection in the Golden Temple in the 198284 period and said that the Indian govt. had com polled him to do so. Replying to a question, Tohra said that it was wrong 16 say that Sant Bhindranwale had sought protection in Akal Takhat. He did so in an adjoining building where Sant Fatch Singh also had undertaken a fast. The Sant had developed differences with Babbar Khalsa and had consequently left Guru Nanak Niwas.” I was not in the complex when the Sant left the Niwas.” The differences later were ironed out but even then the Sant preferred to stay in the building ad joining Akal Takhat. If Sant Bhindranwale launched agitation from Darbar Saheb, for that the Indian government alone was responsible. On one day, SantJamail Singh’s followers went to Beas railway station to see off Sant Utiam Singh Khadoor Sahebwale, The police arrested all the followers along with their jeep and alleged that Rs.85000 and two M.M. Revolvers had been seized from them. When Bhai Amnik Sigh went to the Amnisar civil lines police Station to meet the detained followers, he too was arrested then and there. After two days, the police sent word to Sant Jamail Singh that they could take back a jeep on security. The Santsent Baba Thara Singh for that purpose but he was also arrested, After these developments, Sant Jamail Singh reached the Golden Temple and started agitation 16 seek the release Of his associates, The Akali Dal was then conducting its morcha on the S.Y.L. Canal issue from Kapuri but under the changed circum stances shifted its morcha to Amritsar and owned Sant Jamail Singh’s morcha as well,
In reply to another question, Tohra denied that Sant Bhindranwale was a conscious party to any Indian government conspiracy to undermine the position of Akali Dal, He was repeatedly harassed and pushed to the wall by the government. On the Punjab government’s complaint, the Bombay police searched Sant Bhindranwale’s jathamenat Dadar gurdwara and found nothing materially objectionable.
The Maharashtra chief minister himself wrote a letter that the Sant and his associates should not be harassed on their way. Despite this, Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal intercepted the party and attacked it and set religious books on fire. Therefore, the government alone was responsible for pushing Sant Bhindranwale to the Golden Temple complex and start a morcha, Tohra described as a bigly General K.S.Brar’s claim that the Indian government tried its best 19 prevent the operation Blue Star but it had to be resorted to as Akali leaders had been held to ransom by Sant Bhindranwale. “Badal, Barnala and | held secret talks with Pranab Mukherjee, Shiv Shankar and Venkataraman on May 26 at a rest house in R.K.Puram, New Delhi, where we had been flown in by a special B.S.F. plane from Chandigarh. “The ministers were assisted by Krishna Rao, Alexander and Chaturvedi. They asked us as to whether a way-out could be arranged, we suggested that the Anandpur Saheb resolution should be referred to the Sarkaria Commission for consideration. The river water issue should be referred 10 the supreme court for adjudication in accordance with national and international principles. Chandigarh should be transferred to Punjab by delinking it from Fazilka and Abohar issue. “For demarcation of Punjabi and Hindi speaking areas in Haryana and Punjab, a linguistic commission should be setup. There should be an all India gurdwara act, Punjabi should be declared second language in Punjab’s. Neigh boring states like Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
“They asked us whether Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale would agree to what they had suggested.”
We replied that “it was our responsibility to make him agree, we would end the morcha from tomorrow itself once the prime minister agreed to these demands,” They returned at 3:30 p.m. and told us that the prime minister was not agreeable. The ministers told us even while they kept us standing.
“We returned to Chandigarh. Badal and Barnala stayed on at Chandigarh while I went to Amritsar and apprised the two Sants of the talks. There was no further contact with us from the Indian government, As such there is no question of any last minute effort to arrive at a solution and to avert the operation” said Tohra.
Even in relation to the widely talked about suggestion that Sant Bhindranwale should have come out of the complex to offer himself for arrest, Thorn said that the Indian government never approached the S.G, P.C. nor issued any warning to us in this connection, The $:G.P.C. chief also denied that Sant Bhindranwale had sent any squad to kill him or Sant Longowal. On the other hand, there was sympathy and solidarity with each other within the complex. It was also wrong that he had told the government that the problem with in the complex had reached: out of his hand. Tohra also denied that he and Sant Longowal came out of the complex with raised hands. There was no question of any such Surrender in the case of non-occupants like us. Surrender takes place between combatants.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 11, 1993
