When Mr. V.P.Singh, visited the Golden Temple and drove in an open jeep through the ‘Dreaded’ bazaars of Amritsar along with a horde of his cabinet colleagues, many people, especially the middle class liberal sections both inside the outside Punjab thought that the much awaited solution to the Punjab tangle is not far off. Euphoria Generated by this ‘peace offence’ was so powerful that a good section of militant turned parliamentarian. Khalistani. gathered around (not under!) the convenient leadership of Simranjit Singh Mann surpassed even the traditional Akali leaders in showering praises upon the ‘well meaning’ Prime minister for his ‘genuine concern’ and ‘sincere effort’ to heal the wounds inflicted upon the Sikh community by the Preceding Mother and son regimes. Some conciliatory gestures, though of cosmetic nature, like the phased release of Jodhpur detenus and the promised rehabilitation of ‘army deserters’ coupled with the appointment of Mr. Nirmal Kumar Mukherjee (known for his liberal views on the Punjab and Sikh problem) as the governor of Punjab effected by almost forcible removal of ill-famed S.S, Ray; helped in strengthening the illusions about the sincerity of the new rulers to solve the Punjab problem through ballot as against the openly proclaimed bullet for bullet policy of the RayRebeiroKPS Gill combine backed by Rajiv and Buta Singh. Giddy with their victory in the Lok Sabba elections and blinded by the constitutional illusions, the Mann Rode Manjit combine was overzealous to reward the Ram Jethmalani types for their ‘good services’ by persuading the Khalistani militants to prefer and opt for the rosy path of ballot papers as against the thorny way of armed struggle for the ‘redressal of their grievances‘(!)
It was in the thick of these torrents of constitutionalism that JATAK PAIGHAM (a Marxist-Leninist popular organ advocating for the liberation of Punjabi nationality through the smashing of the existing Indian state by the protracted armed struggles of all the enslaved peoples of India) cautioned the people of Punjab against failing prey to the deceptions of the new rulers.
‘What will the new rulers bring to Punjab?” was the caption of the article published in the December issue of Jantak Paigham. The hypocrisycum hollowness of the ‘peace offence’ of ministry donors and the bankruptcy of the new variants of ministry seekers was exposed in a razor sharp manner. Analyzing the basic causes of what is called.
“Punjab problem’ (as against the talk o! ‘Grievances’ of an ‘aggrieved community’!) and identifying the basic political trends manifested and consolidated in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, Jantak Paigham asserted that whatever the deceptive cries of ‘turning over a new leaf’ and making demarcation from the Congress(I) regime, the new rulers are bound to follow the footsteps of their predecessors with the utmost audacity. Cast away illusions and get prepared to step up the struggle for the national liberation of Punjab by defeating the conspiracies of the new rulers was the message of the revolutionary Marxist— Leninists to the people of Punjab issued through Jantak Paigham.
Many people, especially the new aspirant for ministerial posts did not take these assertions of Marxist Leninists kindly. They were reading the ‘age old’
‘Skepticism’ an ‘cynicism’ of the ‘Comrades’ towards the
‘Peaceful solutions’ and criticized Jantak Paigam for its IL Punjab sad commentary
When Mr. V.P.Singh, visited the Golden Temple and drove in an open jeep through the
‘Dreaded’ bazaars of Amritsar along with horde of his cabinet colleagues, many people, especially the middle class liberal sections both inside the outside Punjab thought that the much awaited solution to the Punjab tangle is not far off. Euphoria generated by this ‘peace offence’ was so powerful that a good section of militant turned parliamentarian. Khalistani. gathered around (not under!) the convenient leadership of Simranjit Singh Mann surpassed even the traditional Akali leaders in showering praises upon the ‘well meaning’ Prime minister for his ‘genuine concern’ and ‘sincere effort’ to heal the wounds inflicted upon the Sikh community by the Preceding Mother and son regimes. Some conciliatory gestures, though of cosmetic nature, like the phased release of Jodhpur detenus and the promised rehabilitation of ‘army deserters’ coupled with the appointment of Mr. Nirmal Kumar Mukherjee (known for his liberal views on the Punjab and Sikh problem) as the governor of Punjab effected by almost forcible removal of ill-famed S.S, Ray; helped in strengthening the illusions about the sincerity of the new rulers to solve the Punjab problem through ballot as against the openly proclaimed bullet for bullet policy of the RayRebeiroKPS Gill combine backed by Rajiv and Buta Singh. Giddy with their victory in the Lok Sabba elections and blinded by the constitutional illusions, the Mann Rode Manjit combine was overzealous to reward the Ram Jethmalani types for their ‘good services’ by persuading the Khalistani militants to prefer and opt for the rosy path of ballot papers as against the thorny way of armed struggle for the ‘redressal of their grievances‘(!)
It was in the thick of these torrents of constitutionalism that JATAK PAIGHAM (a Marxist-Leninist popular organ advocating for the liberation of Punjabi nationality through the smashing of the existing Indian state by the protracted armed struggles of all the enslaved peoples of India) cautioned the people of Punjab against failing prey to the deceptions of the new rulers.
‘What will the new rulers bring to Punjab?” was the caption of the article published in the December issue of Jantak Paigham. The hypo crisycum hollowness of the ‘peace offence’ of ministry donors and the bankruptcy of the new variants of ministry seekers was exposed in a razor sharp manner. Analyzing the basic causes of what is called
“Punjab problem’ (as against the talk o! ‘Grievances’ of an ‘aggrieved community’!) and identifying the basic political trends manifested and consolidated in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, Jantak Paigham asserted that whatever the deceptive cries of ‘turning over a new leaf’ and making demarcation from the Congress(I) regime, the new rulers are bound to follow the footsteps of their predecessors with the utmost audacity. Cast away illusions and get prepared to step up the struggle for the national liberation of Punjab by defeating the conspiracies of the new rulers was the message of the revolutionary Marxist— Leninists to the people of Punjab issued through Jantak Paigham.
Many people, especially the new aspirant for ministerial posts did not take these assertions of Marxist Leninists kindly. They were reading the ‘age old’
‘Skepticism’ an ‘cynicism’ of the ‘Comrades’ towards the
‘Peaceful solutions’ and criticized Jantak Paigam for its ill-timed clamor for armed struggle when the situation had thrown up fresh opportunities to achieve the same objectives through peaceful and constitutional means,
But what the overzealous aspirants for the ministerial posts refused to listen and learn from the warnings of “Jantak Paigham’, life was to teach them in an unbelievably short period.
Mr. Nirmal Kumar Mukbeqi talked, and talked ad nauseam, about giving a civil and humane face to the state administration which had earned notoriety as a butcher raj under RajivButaRay regime. What was the follow up action to give a humane face to the notorious police raj? Refusal to change the hated chieftain of the police raj, Mr. KPS Gill! No to the demand of Punjab Human Rights Organisation for taking action against proven culprit’s responsible for staging false encounters! Even turning down the demand of transferring the police officers notorious for their brutality! Why? Because it will demoralize the police force In order {0 give a humane face’ to the ‘organised gangs of criminals in uniforms’ they will have to be condoned for all their sins so that they should not lose their butcher instinct essential to their role as protectors of ruling class interests So the result was that the police atrocities in the form of illegal detentions, inhuman tortures and false encounters continued unabated as the ‘gentle Subedar’ of Delhi continued to talk about giving ‘humane face’ to the police raj! And the militant forces among the Khalistani continued to resist and retaliate, All the designs of Jethmalanis to seduce the militants through their new ‘deals’ fell through. Even the attempts to tame such a confused person like Mann back fired. Fed up with the hollow prom of the National Front government and lated at the evil designs of DeviLal and Co. to project and build up Badal by marginalising the less trustworthy ones like him. Man shifted his posture from conciliation to confrontation with Delhi Darbar. With the disillusionment of Mann, the Khalistani found a reader with a mass appeal, who could play the much needed role of giving mass character to the Khalistani movement. With hopes on Mann belied, the Central rulers also changed their mind and strategy mainly under the influence and pressure of BJP. The talk of installing popular govt. in Punjab (i.e. to hold the Punjab assembly elections) was stopped and all the tall claims and promises conveniently forgotten, The Congress(I) was approached to help new rulers in giving a ‘humane face’ to the police raj in Punjab by extending the President’s rule for yet another 6 plus 6 months. The change of strategy demanded a change of Subedar i.e., the agent of Delhi in Punjab. Thus the story of demarcating from the Congress (I) approach to solve the Punjab problem ended with the ceremonial recall of Nirmal Mukerji and crowning of Virender Verma with the clichés and axiomatic statements people are tired of hearing for more than 8 years.
MASSLINE
Article extracted from this publication >> September 28, 1990
