Preface by George Fernandes
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Justice V. M. Tarkunde
Introduction
Part 1: Suppression of a community
Punjab: 1982-84 14
Rise of Bhindranwale 14
Nature of terrorism: then and now 16
Who is an extremist? 17
Discovering Punjab 18
‘Occupied’ territory 18
Lawlessness of the police 19
Communalism 20
The role of some Congressmen (I) 21
Unfurling of Khalistan flag 22
Hindu-Sikh harmony in the villages 23
Who are the real terrorists? 25
Communalism of our protection forces in a ‘secular’ state 26
Obsession with Amritdharis 28
Our disciplined army 30
Scorched earth policy 31
Types of harassment 31
Government actively communal 32
Army rule in Punjab 32
Role of the panchayats 34
Police corruption and fake ‘encounters’ 34
Encounter deaths 35
Habeas corpus 36
How the repressive policy is affecting the economy
of the small peasant 38
Women: courage in the face of humiliation and death 40
Atrocities on children 42
Torture 43
Image of the army 45
Police terror 46
Keep up the spirit 49
What kind of Khalistan? 50
Part II: ‘Operation Bluestar’—the untold story
- Eye-witness accounts of the army action 52
- Official version: fact or fiction? 64
- Jodhpur detenues: were they waging war? 75
- Some retrospection 82
Part 111: The black laws—charters of slavery
A disillusionment 85
National Security Act 1980 86
Bluestar Operation and rigid censorship 87
Amendments in the National Security Act 89
Waging of war against Government of India 91
Order 95
Jail, not bail 97
Everyone guilty till proved innocent 98
Avoiding the public: trial in camera 98
Who is a terrorist? 100
A futile cause 102
Annexures
- Statement of Baljinder Singh 105
- Statement of Amrik Singh 108
- Statement of Narinder Singh 113
- Statement of Swaran Singh 116
- Report of T. S. Cheema, District and Sessions Judge, Patiala 118
- Letter to Home Secretary 121
6A Statement of Boota Singh and Sukhdev Singh 126
- Postmortem report 128
- Postmortem report 129
