by Dr. Devendra P. Singh
Certain hidden facts of highly explosive nature have surfaced recently about a sordid plan which had been formulated in the last week of September 1984 to massacre the Sikh Community on a massive scale all over the country and simultaneously to project the Sikhs as the traitors of the nation who were out to organize rebel lion and create troubles for the country. The primary aim of this plan which was to be executed on Noy.8,1984, the birthday of Guru Nanak, when Sikhs gather up large numbers in Gurdwaras, was to firmly install Indira Gandhi as a strong leader of the nation who did not spare any community if it acted against the interests of the nation, The objective of this blood bath was also to project Indira Gandhi as the Primary Protector of the Hindus.
The details of the “Operation Shanti” had been worked out by RAW, the top secret agency working in the Prime Minister’s office directly under Indira Gandhi and the primary target of this heinous exercise was to win a landslide victory in the elections slated for the last week of December, 1984 or early January 1985. “Operation Shanti” was in a way to be a follow up of two earlier exercises carried out with considerable precision against the Sikhs in Punjab, namely, “Operation Blue Star” and “Operation Wood rose” in other words “Operation Shanti” was to form the third and the conclusive act of a trilogy, a high tragic drama writ ten with the blood of the Sikhs. It also aimed at the complete decimation of the Sikh spirit and self-esteem which the Sikhs are proud to have in them ever since they were baptized by Guru Gobind Singh and later on they were able to establish their own rule in Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The outline of ‘Operation Shanti” reads like a horror story with hair raising and shocking details, Even the Nazi crimes involving the persecution of the Jews would have paled into insignificance and would have appeared only a civilized way of eliminating an enemy community, But the “‘operation Shanti” was to have traumatic and heinous attack on Sikhs at a scale never heard of in history. The action was to be like the jungle fire which would have left the entire Sikh community burned down, shocked and dazed,
An important aspect of the “Operation Shanti” was that the regular armed wings of the Home Ministry were to be supported by huge hordes of lumpen Iouts of the Congress (I) maintained by the power brokers of the Party. The preamble of the blood bath was that agent provocateurs were to make highly explosive speeches against the Hindus majority and declare the formation of an independent Sikh State and also an independent Sikh army to achieve Khalistan from the ramparts of the Gurdwaras on Noy.8,1984, This was only to be a cue for launching of “Operation Shanti” which was to snowball to cover larger areas simultaneously.
What were the basic reasons that had led Indira Gandhi to think of such a desperate plan? It appears that Indira Gandhi had realized that the atmosphere of hatred against the Sikhs after Blue Star could be quite conducive for a victory in the elections. But at the same time she feared that with the passage of time the degree of hatred for the Sikhs may wear off and instead a wave of sympathy may build up by the end of December 1984 when elections were due. She also feared that this sympathy wave may bring out her high handedness against the Sikhs,
Indira Gandhi was being forced to hand over the golden temple and other Gurdwaras to the Akalis, although she wanted to put into practice her plan to constitute a Board with Government nominees on it to control the Gurdwaras, She was told that by Diwali the Government will be forced to open the Golden Temple to the people otherwise it will not be possible to control the situation in Punjab. Zail Singh had agreed with this view and she was angry over this, she had felt that the Board with Government nominees would be a device to keep the Akalis away from their traditional power base,
An immediate provocation for the planning of a new doze of strong action against the Sikhs was the manner in which Zail Singh had behaved when he went to the Golden Temple on Sept.26,1984. Zail Singh visited the Golden Temple and participated in the ceremony to hand over the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Sikhs to the Akalis and the SGPC. In a sentimental voice choked with emotions Zail Singh had said, “I ask for sincere forgiveness from the Gurus for the unfortunate incidents.” He had also spoken of the bloodshed of the martyrs in the complex. The response of the high Priests 0 exonerate Zail Singh from the indictment of being a Tank haiya also hurt Indira Gandhi who felt that Zail Singh had tried to absolve himself and had roundly put the blame on her for the “un fortunate incidents,”
Another factor that had forced Indira Gandhi to formulate “Operation Shanti” was a report received by her from Punjab. She had sent a confidential group of intelligence experts to report on the impact of the “Operation Wood rose” under which the army had been keeping the Punjab under surveillance and control, The: report revealed that there had been a large scale bloodshed of innocent young people who were just rounded up on one pretext or another and were put behind the bars. There were also many cases where entire families were tortured and: several deaths occurred during the questioning. The torture and death In Military camps were reported from several camps but the most disturbing part of the report was that in spite of this kind of high handed attitude of the army, the morale of the Sikhs was high and they were in a fighting mood. They are still arrogant and not much bothered about the army presence. Being a traditional trained force, the army had not indulged in large scale genocide as had been expected in circles close to Indira Gandhi. Under the impact of the above mentioned factors Indira Gandhi had asked the RAW to formulate another plan in which the large network of Congress Tall over the country was to participate. 4 Indira Gandhi was afraid that during the execution of this plan Pakistan may attack India in Kashmir. So she was preparing the Generals about the possibility, a Strong one (though she did not tell them why she thought so), of active hostilities with Pakistan.
Early in October R.K.Dhawan, special Secretary of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told one of his friends that India is expecting a war with Pakistan around the first week of November. This thinking was common in Prime Minister’s secretariat. A strong: possibility of hostilities with Pakistan leaked out to major international agencies since top secrets were being sold by the personal staff of the Principle Security of the Prime Minister, P.C. Alexander.
When the news of preparations for hostilities and war with Pakistan leaked out and reached Pakistan, President Zia made frantic efforts to ward off such feelings in Delhi. He instructed his ambassador in New Delhi. Humayun Khan, to convey directly to Indira Gandhi of his great concern at deteriorating Indo-Pak relations and suggested direct talks between’ the two. Consequently Humayun Khan bypassed the Indian Foreign office and called on P.C. Alexander on Oct25 to con vey his President’s proposal for a summit level talks without any preconditions, Indira Gandhi was cool to the move and she suddenly paid a visit to Kashmir on Oct.27 since she was certain that Pakistan will be tempted to coincide with her strong action against the Sikhs, in which an attack on Sikhs on the border of Pakistan was also involved.
The “Operation Shanti” included large scale skirmishes virtually amounting to war along the Paki Stan border and it was to be given out that the Sikhs had risen in revolt in Punjab and had joined Pakistani armed forces which had made considerable advances into India territory. The Sikh in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Jullandhar villages were to be subjected to serial bombardment, apart from being slaughtered by paramilitary forces.
While she was making preparations for a strong section against the Sikhs, she also developed fear in her mind about the possibility of an attack on her person. So while in Kashmir she had a no men that she can die a “violent death,” an expression she started using a number of times. Alexander has recorded that “on October 28 she sent for General Vaidya and asked him in my presence about the preparedness of the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir to meet any unexpected outbreak of trouble, General Vaidya assured her that the army was well prepared for any eventuality and there was no danger of its being taken unaware by the Pakistanis.” After General Vaidya’s departure Indira Gandhi asked Alexander to fully appraise the Vice President, R. Venkatar a man, of development in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and “remain in close contact” with him for it would be helpful to keep him fully informed of all developments and get his views on them.” Alexander further records:”1 do not know what prompted her to give such instructions to meal that time.” Alexander met Venkatar a man on Oct.30 and apprised him of the Prime Minister’s concerns and fears.” Indira Gandhi obviously wanted to involve Vice President from that very stage as he was expected to be the acting President once “Operation Shani” was launched and Zail Singh was sidelined.
The omen of her imminent death weighed on Indira Gandhi during the next four days of her life. That was uppermost in her mind when she spoke of her violent death while addressing a Public meeting at Bhubaneshwar on Oct.29. Inder Malhotra of Times of India in his book has recorded that after the public meeting she later on broached the subject with Orissa Governor B.N.Pandey, at his dinner table. The thought lingered on as she returned to Delhi on the night of Oct.30.
As a result of a deep friendship between Beant Singh, a security guard at Indira Gandhi’s house and some members of the personal staff of Indira Gandhi including R.K.Dhawan, Indira Gandhi’s personal secretary, the broad outline of the “Operation Shanti” got known to Beant Singh, Possibly R.K.Dhawan or some other member of her close circle could not hold back the secret from a friend, It was this plan for a fresh round of genocide of the Sikhs which prompted Beant Singh to commission Satwant Singh to assist him and the two carried out their plan to ensure that the proposed genocide was not carried out. It seems Beant Singh cautioned Satwant Singh to ensure that his friend R.K.Dhawan was not injured, after shooting Indira Gandhi, Beant Singh had said, “I have done what I had to do. Now you can do what you want.”
R.K.Dhawan had enquired from All India Institute of Medical Sciences where efforts were being made to resuscitate Indira Gandhi, about Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. He had rung up the Prime Minister’s House a number of times trying to find out if Beant Singh was alive. He was obviously nervous at the prospect of Beant Singh disclosing the “Operation Shanti” as the motivating factor for his act. Since there was also the possibility of his disclosing the source of information.
What was Dhawan’s motivation in disclosing the “Operation Shanti” to Beant Singh? Was it just his deep friendship or general indiscretion during an off guard moment with a friend or both? Beant Singh’s death has put a thick veil ‘on the st6ry of another genocide of the Sikh the dimension of which would have been much larger than “Operation Blue Star” since it was to be spread over the entire country.
The killings of the Sikhs following the Indira Gandhi’s assassination was only a kind of a trailer of what was in store for this community, had Indira Gandhi survived beyond Nov.8,1984, in a way Beant Singh, the mastermind behind the slaying of Indira Gandhi was motivated by the highest consideration for the good of the community and had committed an act of tyrannicide for which the Sikh community would feel indebted to him. Otherwise blitzkrieg planned for Nov.8 would have enabled the goons of the Congress-l and other forces to commit genocide with perfect precision.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 22, 1993
