NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY EXECUTIVE EDUCATION FORT MCNAIR, WASHINGTON, DC

DYNAMICS OF TERRORISM NDU-SNSEE COURSE 6975

SPRING SEMESTER 2006

SIKH TERRORISM IN INDIA

Group Captain Imran Mahmood Rizvi (Pakistan) 6 April 2006

Introduction The State of Punjab in India was racked with political violence for more than a decade, beginning in early eighties which continued till 1993 when it was finally crushed by the Indian security forces. During the period, almost 20,000 lives were lost due to violence perpetuated by Sikh militants fighting for goals which were vague even to the militants themselves.1 During the turmoil, the Sikh religion was intermingled with politics; therefore clarity about the desired end state could not be achieved. The Indian authorities dealt with the problem with an iron hand and tackled the matter more as a law-and-order issue than a political matter. This approach did finally solve the problem however it left deep scars in the minds of Sikh people who suffered heavily in this period. They were at the receiving end both from the law enforcement agencies and militants themselves. In economic terms, the Sikhs in India were relatively a secure community. It had a higher per capita income compared to the other communities yet social unrest occurred which led to profound impact in the region. The causes of the problem were complex-history, misperceptions, changing socioeconomic trends, political and economic dynamics and so on. Ultimately it led to terrorism. In this paper, starting with a background of origins of Sikh militancy, the entire case of Punjab terrorism will be analysed through the framework of Rodney Starks social movement theory and built further on to see terrorism through the lens of Donatella Della Porta. The case study will be analysed in three parts. The first will deal with the era when Sikhs initiated many social movements to alleviate their grievances. Subsequently when violence became a dominant part of the movement and terrorism was adopted, it will be studied in two parts.

Paul Wallace, Political Violence and Terrorism in India, in Martha Crenshaw (ed.), Terrorism in Context (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003), 354.

1.

Background Sikhism is a religion followed by people who mostly live in the north-western state of Punjab in India and are known as Sikhs. They comprise about 2% of Indias population and are roughly twenty million in numbers. They are also scattered in small numbers in other states of India and the world around. Sikhism is relatively a new religion which was founded in 1469 in India by Guru (religious teacher) Nanak Dev Ji. He was born a Hindu but later on laid foundation of a new religion which comprised parts of Hinduism and Islam, the two dominant religion of that time. After his demise, the Guruship was handed over successively to nine more gurus till the tenth guru Gobind Singh ended this tradition by nominating Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, as eternal guru. Sikhism more or less remained a peaceful religion till the end of 17th century. However, Guru Gobind Singh reacting to the persecution of Muslim Mughal rulers of the time established a Khalsa (the community or brotherhood of the pure) which gave the Sikhs a distinct identity and set up a militant tradition to fight the oppressors of Sikh religion. However not all Sikhs adopted his version of Sikhism; those who did were known as Kesdharis and those who didnt were known as Sahajdharis (followers of Guru Nanak). These two sects were distinguished from each other by the appearance and name (Singh). This division still exists even to day and is a source of many conflicts amongst the two sects. However, overall Sikh community as a whole was very close to Hinduism in their traditions and customs. This was primarily due to intermarriages, common symbols, rituals and practises which only superficially set them apart from the Hindus. Besides they have always been surrounded by a huge Hindu population in India.2

2.

Rajiv A. Kapur, Sikh Separatism; The Politics of Faith (London: Allen & Unwin, 1986), pp. 1-14.

4 This pattern amongst the Sikhs in India continued more or less in India. During the process, few off shoots evolved such as Nirankari sect, Namdhari sect etc. however Keshdharis Sikhs remained dominant in rural areas while the Nirankaris were restricted to sections of urban Sikhs.3 The high point in Sikhs history came when a kingdom was carved out by Maharaja Ranjhit Singh (1780-1839) which spanned from Afghanistan in East to the central plains of Punjab in the West, to Kashmir in the North to river Sutlej in the South. The mighty Sikh kingdom fell to the British in 1849 who were by that time ruling most of India. Due to the courageous nature and militant attitude of the Sikhs, the British found them very suitable for the Army. Sikhs were recruited in thousands in the Indian army and police; a tradition which continues even today.4 Periodically, during the history of Sikhism, issues would crop up whether it was a part, or extension of Hinduism. In all cases the Sikhs would react vociferously that they are separate entity and were not Hindus. One such controversy emerged in 1898 and exacerbated after a court case involving the inheritance of property of a widow of a Sikh. The Hindus insisted that Sikh Hidu Hain (Sikhs are Hindus) while the Sikhs insisted that Hum Hindu Nahin (We are not Hindus).5 During the same period 1873-1900, the Sikhs formed Singh Sabhas-new Sikh organizations- to unify all Sikh factions into one. They primarily adopted the Khalsa tradition and created a Sikh identity to distinguish themselves from Hindus and restore Sikhism to its pristine purity. This was also done as reaction to the emergence of Arya Samaj (Aryan Society), a militant Hindu ideology organization which wanted to absorb Sikhs into the fold of Hinduism.6 After WW 1, almost one hundred thousand Sikh soldiers who served in the Indian Army came back to Punjab. During the same time, the Khalsa Sikhs launched a movement to take over the management of Sikh Gurdwaras (Sikh place of worship) from Mahants (caretakers of Gurdwaras)
3. 4.

Ibid., 15. Wallace, 365. 5. Kapur, 19. 6. Wallace, 367.

5 who belonged to Sahajdhari sect and were more Hindu than Sikh. Also they were very corrupt. The movement launched was known as Gurdwara Reform Movement. During this movement, the Sikhs formed a temple-management committee SGPC (the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee) and a Sikh political party Akali Dal that dominated it. This episode took place in the Golden Temple (Sikhs holiest temple) in Amritsar. After five years of struggle the movement achieved success. In 1925 the SGPC assumed charge of Gurdwaras. The management of the temples provided it with large incomes and resources as they were funded by the Government and contributions from thousands of Sikhs. The SGPC and Akali Dal became an institutionalized part of the larger political system.7 The next significant step was the partition of India in 1947 where Punjab was also partitioned into two. The Indian Punjab which emerged had approximately 60 % Hindus and 40% Sikhs, thus the Sikhs remained a minority in their own State. Soon after independence, the Sikhs started demanding the demarcation of Punjab into a Punjabi-speaking province. However they were bitterly opposed by the Hindus who despite being Punjabis chose Hindi as their language on the insistence of Arya Samaj party. Subsequently, the Sikhs demanded that the State should be so divided that it ensures a majority for the Sikhs. After six years of struggle in 1966, the Akali Dal managed in their endeavour. The southeast Punjab became the new state of Haryana while the hill areas in the North were joined to Himachal Pradesh. In the truncated Punjab, the Sikhs with 60% of the population became a majority in the State. The city of Chandigarh became the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, which has been a point of contention ever since.8 Punjab was an agrarian state. It needed water for its crops and electricity (to run the tube wells). However the Central Government started to divert water into other states by digging canals.

7. 8.

Ibid., 369-371 Ibid., 376.

6 Therefore, the farmers had to rely on tube wells run on electricity for irrigation of their fields, which raised the cost of irrigation three to four times. Similarly the price of fertilizers, the availability of diesel fuel and accessibility of credits also became factors of discontent. Lastly, as Punjab grew wealthy because of its Green Revolution, the number of educated increased, but the employment opportunities remained restricted. With absence of industries in Punjab, the skilled and unskilled manpower became unemployed. Therefore the youths milled about the cities doing nothing. As the Government who did all this was dominated by Hindus, tensions began to rise. All these socio economic problems and the demand for Chandigarh as exclusive capital of Punjab were expressed in a document called Anandpur Sahib Resolution (ASR) in 1973 by the Akali Dal. Lot of deliberation took place in Punjab on these issues; however the imposition of a state of emergency by the Central Government suspended all discussions.9 As far as political arena is concerned, the Congress I (a Hindu dominated political party led by Indira Gandhi) and Akali Dal vied for power in Punjab and for Central Legislative Assembly. The Akali Dal could not dominate politics in Punjab despite Sikhs being in majority. There were two reasons. Akali Dal was limited to rural areas and Congress dominated the urban areas which had more Hindu population. Second, the Sikhs were socially and politically heterogeneous and not homogeneous. Many factions of Sikhs voted for Congress to the detriment of AKali Dal. Also due to difference in views on many issues, the Akali Dal split into two warring factions, led by Harchand Singh Longowal and Jagdev Singh Talwandi.10 Primarily the moderate Longowal group wanted more autonomy for Punjab within the Federal framework, and implementation of Anandpur Sahib Resolution. While the Talwandi group wanted a sovereign state of their own. Besides the latter group also felt, that if any deviation from true beliefs
Cynthia Keppley Mahmood, Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues with Sikh Militants (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 117-118. 10. Wallace, 380.
9.

7 and traditions of Sikhs were permitted, after sometime the Sikh faith would fade away into oblivion.11 Rodney Starks Social Movement Framework Having built a background of the problems which existed in Punjab, the case will be seen through the lens of social movement theory as advocated by a leading sociologist Rodney Stark. He lists four factors which are important for a social movement to occur and another four factors for it to succeed. 12 In Punjab at that point in history, because of unrest in the Sikh population, there were many social movements existing to change or prevent changes in the society. Analysing it from the viewpoints of Stark, we see: For a Social Movement to Occur Grievances It is clear that the Sikhs in Indian Punjab had many grievances, primarily against the Central Government. As the population in India since its inception has remained overwhelming Hindu, they obviously have dominated all shades of life including the Government. The grievances of the Sikhs were many, however, from the religious angle, they had a great fear of being absorbed back into Hinduism from where they had originated. It was because of similarity of customs and traditions, intermarriages, co-habitation in towns and cities etc. Besides, the Hindus never accepted them as a separate entity. Furthermore, the majority of Sikhs who belonged to Khalsa were Kesdharis and they had complains against Nirankaris, whom they blamed were diluting the religion by not abiding with the tenets of Khalsa as set by Guru Gobind Singh.

11. 12.

Kapur, 221. Rodney Stark, Sociology (Belmont CA: Wadsworth, 1992)

8 Economically the grievances shared by many Sikhs were unjust policies related to agriculture, food pricing, water sharing, movement of their products to other states, unfair allotment of resources to Punjab and above all, high rates of unemployment amongst the educated youth. Politically the Congress party who was predominantly Hindu did not let Akali Dal to rule Punjab. Due to their intrigues, Congress kept the Sikhs divided. Besides, the Punjabi Hindus chose to side with Hindus in general in the language movement by not supporting Punjabi language to be declared the state language. Hope As seen earlier in study of historical background of the Sikhs, they had hope. They always related themselves to the high point of their history during the period of Maharaja Rangit Singh. They wanted to see themselves in the same state once again. Besides they kept winning modest successes like gaining control of Gurdwaras, the Gurdwara Act of 1925, forming of Akali Dal political party, gaining majority in Punjab in 1966 by reorganization of boundaries etc. Therefore, they had hope that if they continued their struggle, they will meet more successes. Precipitating Event Gaining control of the Gurdwaras was the precipitating event in Sikhs history of modern times. It gave them platforms SGPC and Akali Dal from where to organize themselves and have their voices heard. Once they acquired power, they thought the time for action had come to act. Networks The entire Khalsa primarily consisting of Keshdhari Sikhs, joined the movement to win their rights from the majority Hindus, which exclusively dominated the Central Government and to quite an extent, the state Government. By family links and conversion of low caste Hindus who embraced Sikkhism, the Khalsa grew.13
13.

Kapur, 31.

9 For a Social Movement to Succeed Mobilization of People and Resources SGPC and Akali Dal focused on mass mobilization soon after their formation and this trend continued ever since. Besides manpower, it gave immense wealth to them in cash and kind. From the time of British rule, the holy shrines were given large chunks of land as good gestures by the Government.14 They also had huge and well managed infrastructure in Amritsar by the name of Golden Temple to manage their affairs from. Besides, they collected huge donations from the Sikh community at home and diaspora abroad. The table below highlights this fact.15 SGPC Budgets 1964-1980 Year 1964 1970 1977 1980 1988 Overcome External Opposition In their struggle for their rights, they faced opposition from within and without. The Central Government in Delhi did not agree to majority of Sikh demands. Within the Punjab, the Hindu Punjabis set in motion a countermovement against Punjabi language by identifying themselves as associated with Hindi. They launched a Save Hindi Movement. This movement was spearheaded by Arya Samaj, the Hindu fundamentalist party. They also faced opposition from Haryana state when Sikhs launched movement to have Chandrigarh declared as the state capital of Punjab alone. Because of these oppositions, they met small successes in their endeavours. Enlist External Allies
14. 15.

Rupees 6,306,000 20,000,000 30,000,000 60,000,000 130,000,000

$ Equivalent 1,340,000 2,600,000 4,000,000 8,000,000 9,600,000

Ibid, xiv. Wallace, 369.

10 The Sikh social movements could not win support of any organizations within Punjab nor India. However, the Sikh Diasporas abroad provided moral and material support wholeheartedly. Also there are indications that the neighbouring country Pakistan provided support in many ways including funding.16 Break up into Separate Organizations The Akali Dal was the main political party of the Sikhs. It remained cohesive for considerable length of time but once it became powerful and resourceful, it finally split into two i.e. under the leadership of Logowal and Talwandi in 1980. Both factions fought to gain supporters for respective parties. However, in movement for the implementation of Anandpur accord, both cooperated against the Central Government. Militancy and Terrorism Till late seventies and early eighties, the Sikhs conducted various movements to fight for their rights. There were agitations by the Sikhs and arrests by the Government. Violence was adopted as a means by both sides in the contests. However the violence was low level and was not directed purely against innocent civilians and thus could not be classified as terrorism. But by this point of time in Punjab, the two factions of Akalis sabotaged each other and the Congress party taking advantage swept the State and parliamentary elections.17 Some of the demands of the Sikhs were accepted but they were not to the entire satisfaction of all players. Some started to feel that they needed to do more or adopt other means to meet their religious and political demands which were closely intertwined. Looking Punjabs Terrorism by Della Portas Framework

16. 17.

Ibid, 401. Ibid , 381

11 As mentioned earlier, all the grievances were not mediated by the State. Therefore, moderates like Akali Dal President Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal continued political negotiations with the Government. But there were others who resorted to violent repertoires. One such person who gained prominence was Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was a young militant fundamentalist person who was the head priest at Dam Dama Taxal (Sikh monastery). He stressed orthodox religious Khalsa teachings. Bhindranwale saw himself the saviour, a reincarnation of the revered but militant, Guru Gobind Singh. He set upon himself to restore the Sikhs and Sikhism to its pristine past glory. In the process, he very craftily snatched the leadership of Gurdwaras from the Akali Dal, thus fully consolidating his power over the Sikhs. In his crusade, he immediately found widespread support from the disenchanted and unemployed youth of Punjab primarily from the youth organization, All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF). In their ideology, Bhindranwale and his followers referred back to the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh, where he had professed not to bow down in front of oppressors and fight vociferously for the protection of the Panth (faith). They started using violence regularly. Initially he targeted the Nirankari Sikhs whom he felt were heretics, because Nirankaris believed in a living Guru and did not bind themselves to the verdicts of the last Guru. Bhindranwale then began a very violent campaign against the Government for violating the rights, and repressing the Sikhs in Punjab. In well planned moves, he started a series of violent activities. He began by looting banks and jewellery stores, causing bomb explosions, carrying out robberies, killing Nirankaris, and targeting minor Government and police officials. Media persons who wrote agaist Sikhs were also targeted. His followers also set fire to railway stations.18

18.

Kapur, 227.

12 The state reacted harshly to the violent acts. Many Sikhs were rounded up and tortured. In search for militants, even the families of militants were not spared which further alienated the Sikhs. Some were killed.19 Bhindranwale got further organized and created illegal structure. He set himself up in the Golden Temple and started operating from there. He justified his violent actions as acts of self defence when the police started reacting against his followers. At this point, Bhindranwale made the strategic choice of clandestinity and many of his followers went underground to escape police hunt. Once fully entrenched in the Gurdwara, Bhindranwale resorted to full scale terrorism. Group dynamics took over and killing people was justified by the notion that it was being done to save the religion from evil influences and win over the communitys genuine rights. Individuals sense of right and wrong disappeared from the terrorists minds. Without any remorse, innocents were targeted by perceiving them as enemies. His violent actions motivated other young Sikhs and more and more joined his group to vent their spite for Hindus. He also used the media to propagate his cause. In 1983, besides others, he started a new campaign of indiscriminate killing of Hindus. Hindus travelling in buses would be forced out and killed. The number of violent incidents increased monthly. The terrorists intention was to create widespread panic amongst the Hindus and force them to leave Punjab. Similarly they were expecting Hindu reaction against Sikhs in other states which might lead them to migrate to Punjab. This way he perceived, Punjab would become a Sikh State.20

Operation Bluestar and Woodrose

19. 20.

Mahmood, 129. Kapur, 227.

13 Due to high level of terrorism and wanton killings, the Government decided to act decisively against the terrorists led by Bhindranwale who were holed up in the Golden Temple Complex in Amritsar. They had fortified their defences inside to meet any eventualities by the security forces. On 3 June 1984, the Government decided to move decisively against the terrorists. Security forces comprising 70,000 military and paramilitary forces surrounded the city and the temple complex. In the two days operations, the security forces were able to kill most of the terrorists including the top leaders such as Bhindranwale, Amrik Singh of AISSF and Shahbeg Singh. More than one thousand people died in the operations and many more were injured. Considerable damage was also inflicted on the structure of the holy site.21 Although the security forces warned and asked the terrorists to give up, strong effective ties developed within the group held them together. They preferred to die together rather than to walk out and abandon the group. After Operation Bluestar, the Indian paramilitary forces carried out Operation Woodrose which was a combing operation done in the villages to flush out the militants from the rural areas. During the Operation Woodrose, police committed many atrocities against the villagers for harbouring extremists.22 The repercussions of these two operations within the Sikh community were extremely profound. Many moderate Sikhs became radicalized; Sikhs and Hindus got further divided in Punjab. After the events of June 1984, the government introduced Draconian laws to handle the violence. It was known as Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA. It allowed confessions under torture to be admissible in courts as evidence. Another was National Security Act (NSA) which allowed detention of suspects without trial for a period of two years and which was

21. 22.

Wallace, 387. Mahmood, pp 97-98.

14 extendable further. It also allowed trial in camera. This created a feeling of further anger against the Government.23 Assasination of Indira Gandhi Assassination of Indias Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards resulted in violent backlash by Hindu extremists. With state connivance, more than two thousands Sikhs were killed and their properties looted primarily in Delhi, Haryana and other parts of India. Even Gurdwaras were not spared and attacked by frenzy Hindu mobs. Sikhs were beaten to death, necklaced with tires soaked in Kerosene and set fire, dismembered, and raped. Due to these two episodes, many Sikhs from the Army deserted.24 The next Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi tried to reach a political accord known as Punjab Accord with Akali Dal in 1985 but failed to implement it. This encouraged the extremists and reaffirmed their views that their interests will never be mediated by peaceful means. Therefore the terrorism continued unabated in Punjab. The death of three major leaders had no effect on terrorism. The extremists belonging to revivalist Damdami Taksal seminary and AISSF once again to retook control of Golden Temple. At this stage, terrorism had set in within the group, the violence preceded everything. They enter into a downward spiral and descend deeper and deeper into the crisis. Looting, extortion, murder and assassination of police, their families and other Government officials continued. Adoption of violence limits the strategic choices within the group. Violence and more violence remains the only choice. The militants did not even spare their own; in July 1985 they shot and killed Harchand Singh Longowal for betraying the cause of Sikhs and compromising with a Hindu Prime Minister.25 Sikh Alienation
Joyce J.M. Pettigrew, The Sikhs of Punjab: Unheard Voices of State and Guerrilla Violence (London:Zed Books Limited, 1995), 13. 24. Mahmood, 135-142. 25. Ibid, 143.
23.

15 Failure of Punjab Accord, assassination of Indira Gandhi and its aftermath led to further alienating feelings amongst the Sikhs. The Sikhs demanded compensation for the Sikhs whose family members had lost their lives, for their lost property and investigation into Government patronage of the deadly attacks against the Sikhs.26 Once again we see that there were widespread grievances which were shared by the Sikhs in Punjab due to highhandedness of the police and paramilitary forces. As their grievances were not mediated by the Government, a mushroom growth of organizations occurred who chose violent repertoires, recruited through networks, used violence regularly, created illegal structures, chose clandestinity and employed pure terrorism to meet their objectives. They were Babbar Khalsa, which had religious deep religious inclination and were experts in bombs: the Bhindranwale Tiger Force (BTF); the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF); and the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). They all formed an underground umbrella group by the name of Panthic Committee. Babbar Khalsa opted to remain out, however the Sikh Student Federation (SSF, formerly known as AISSF) joined in. The Panthic Committee called a press conference on 29 April 1986 and announced Declaration of the Independence of Khalistan. In reaction, on 1 May 1986, the security forces once again carried an operation codenamed Black Thunder 1 to flush out the guerrillas out of the Golden Temple Complex. This had an effect on the Akali Dal Party also who were in power in Punjab. The Chief Minister Barnala was blamed for allowing this second desecration of the Holy site to happen and many of his party members resigned in protest. After the Operation Black Thunder 1, many Sikhs went underground to avert arrest.27 According to Della Porta, at meso level when organizations are set up, they break up into smaller splinter groups and some change their ideologies or simply approach the same issues with a

26. 27.

Pettigrew, pp. 8-9. Mahmood, 152.

16 different perspective. This is what exactly happened in Punjab. KCF split into two, the new one was known as Jhamke group. AISSF broke into two; one led by Gurmit Singh and the other by Manghit Singh. There were many other subgroups which surfaced. Each competed against the other to gain prominence, even to the extent of killing each other members. During the same period, an organization abroad known as International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) was formed adding new dimension to the movement.28 As the Khalistani movement was gaining grounds and violence escalated, the Central Government once again initiated action against the militants in the Golden Temple codenamed Operation Black Thunder 11 on 12 May 1988. It was not an all-out military assault like Bluestar but selective killing of militants by sniper fire. This time instead of fighting it out till the end (only 30 were killed), about 200 militants surrendered and the Operation was hailed in the media as great success. It was carried out by Black Cat Commandos of National Security Guards.29 Reorganization of Terrorist Organization after Operation Black Thunder As the groups change strategies in order for survival and to continue with their activities, the same happened in Punjab in 1998. Four Panthic Committees emerged and all claimed to be representatives of the movement. The first was led by Gurbachan Singh Manochal along with Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan, however after the death of Manochal, its members were reincorporated in other groups. Second was led by Wasson Singh Zaffarwal and had Khalistan Commando Force as its militant group. The third was formed by Dr Sohan Singh and it controlled the faction of KCF and had allegiance of SSK. Fourth comprised members of Babbar Khalsa and the forces under its control were KLF and BTFK (Sangha). After reorganization, there were many factions with different ideologies and obviously it led to in-fighting. It also made it easy for the

28. 29.

Wallace, 396. Wallace, 398.

17 Government to infiltrate and pitch one against the other. Dr Sohan Singh and his Panthic Committee became an ally of the Government and started to undermine the legitimate struggle for Khalistan. They committed atrocities against others and Sikhs alike which discredited the movement. Gurjit Singh of AISSF also started cooperation with the Government as he was promised the Chief Ministership of Punjab as a reward for promoting division in KCF. During the same period there was massive inflow of weapons which made militant actions more violent.30 During the period 1987 to 1991, many Sikhs were killed due to intramilitant fighting. Since the guerrilla activity was primarily being conducted in the rural areas of west Punjab which is devoid of any mountains, sea or jungle, the guerrillas relied on the people for harbouring them, albeit some under gun point. However, when the guerrillas started attacking the very people for whom they were fighting, they lost support among the masses. Many Sikhs were killed by groups because of being informants.31 Hindus & Sikhs Killed by Militants 1987-9132 Year 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 Hindus killed 425 858 442 743 744 Sikhs Killed 478 1044 734 1694 1847

By 1992 -93, the Government increased the number of paramilitary forces significantly to handle the extremist elements of Khalistani Movement. Alongwith the paramilitary forces the regular Army units provided support as and when required. Through concerted efforts, the Government was able to decimate the terrorist movement. Most of the terrorists were either killed or integrated back into the society. Similarly, the leaders were either killed, arrested or fled the country. The border
30. 31.

Pettigrew, pp 45-50. Wallace, 399. 32. Ibid, 400.

18 between Pakistan and Indian Punjab was fenced which prevented cross border movement of terrorists and foreign patronage. The army launched civic operations in Punjab to win the Hearts and minds of the population which had positive impact. Summary of Events 1984-1993 Macro Level During this period, it was witnessed that the Central Government was not willing to make concessions to the demands of the Sikhs in Punjab. Probably it feared that if it starts agreeing to the demands, it will ultimately result in separation of Punjab from India. This could have caused a domino effect on other states also where insurgency was going on for separation. Besides, there was uncertainty in the political circles. The elections of State Assembly which were to be held in 1991 were postponed at the last moment. The splitting of Akali Dal into two factions and decision to boycott helped the Congress party to win elections in Punjab in 1992.33 It was also widely believed that Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale was initially supported by the Congress to undermine the power base of Akali Dal in Punjab.34 The repressive strategy of the State in 1984 through operation Bluestar, operation Woodrose and later on, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, further deteriorated the situation. Collusion of the State with Hindu fanatics in the aftermath hurt the Sikhs physically and emotionally. Therefore, the movement got further radicalized adopted violence in self defence and terrorism as counter attack. Meso Level In this period, a lot of organizations emerged (KCF, KLF, SSF, etc) and adopted terrorism as a means to reach their political objectives. Internal conflicts arose as each contested for the limited

33.

Manoj Joshi, Combatting Terrorism in Punjab: Indian Democracy in Crisis, Conflict Studies 261(London Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, 1993), 9. 34. Mahmood, 80.

19 resources. As mentioned earlier, each tried to dominate the Gurdwaras and make it their power base. Dominating Gurdwaras also meant resources as they had lot of wealth at their disposal. As the terrorist began contesting each other, they targeted the Sikhs of other factions and others who were considered informants, or simply the bystanders. Micro Level At the micro level, it was found that most of the recruits were from Khalsa and were Kesdhari Sikhs. Many joined willingly due to their ideology. However, the most significant recruitment in the Sikh terror organizations was due to the atrocities committed by the law enforcement agencies on suspects and their families. Entire families joined or a group of friends joined to avenge the humiliation they were receiving at the hands the authorities.35 Police brutalities were excessive against individuals which simply forced the people to join terror groups for protection from the police. Once inside, the recruit would get absorbed in the group ideology and would not have any views or opinion of his own. He/she would be willing to die or kill without any remorse.36 Conclusion Why did militant terrorism fail in Punjab to achieve its aim of creating an independent Khalistan despite so much blood shed, and loss of life and material? It was because their goals were incoherent and kept changing from autonomy to complete independence. Also their grievances oscillated from religious persecution to economic deprivation at the hands of Hindu dominated Government. The strategy adopted to counter the State was flawed i.e. terrorism which ultimately failed.

35. 36.

Mahmood, 128. Ibid, pp. 216-220

20 The policy of massacre of Hindus severely strained the ties between the two communities, but could not break it. The perceived exodus of Hindus from Punjab to escape Sikh terror did not occur nor did reciprocal influx of Sikhs into Punjab due to Hindu reprisals. Besides, terrorism against Hindus did receive tacit support of majority of Sikh population, however it did not receive wide spread open support. When the militants shifted their violence against the very people for whom they were fighting, it became the turning point of their movement and beginning of the end. The Government had a one track approach to solve the problem and it stayed the course. On the way, it committed mistakes and used excessive force to root out the evil, which created hatred against it by the Sikh population. But use of massive force and ruthless treatment bore fruit at the end. The return of the democratic process in the State through the elections of 1992 and 1997 has contributed the situation to stabilize further. Most of the guerrilla leaders have been killed or have gone abroad to escape arrest. Normalcy exists in Punjab and chances of resurgence of separatist movement are remote. However, the struggle for achievement of Khalistan is active amongst the Sikh Diaspora. The dream changing to reality in Punjab remains a distant proposition.