The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 48 — The Basmasura, created by Sanjay
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_29_09_2021.php
Author : Sri S.Gurumurthy
Translator : C.Rangarajan
In the 1980s, Punjab terrorism shook the country and was about to split it too. Hindus & Sikhs were together as one family. But, slowly, the Hindus were attacked & killed by the Sikh terrorists. They were united for 300 years like Ram-Lakshman and slowly the relationship became like Vaali-Sugreev. The intention was to create Khalistan on the lines of Pakistan. I had the experience (listening/seeing/researching) to witness how they got separated, how the politics were abetting it, how the differences between Congress & Akalis were sowing the seeds of extremism and how it evolved into terrorism. Then only I understood the entire game — what is meant by fundamentalism, terrorism, how the political parties use them initially, and how it went out of control, eventually.
My main sources of learning were the IE, the measures taken by the Government to quell it including operation Bluestar and the RSS, which was working for the Hindu-Sikh unity. There was a major turning point. Within one month of operation Bluestar, RSS had invited the Sikh journalist, Kushwanth Singh to participate in their Guru pooja in Chennai. I learned two important lessons:
- How the patriotic Goenka gave up his anti-Indira stance and managed the paper in the interests of the Nation
- How the Kanchi Mahaswami was viewing the Sikh’s side, beyond the political boundaries
Joint Family
First, let us see the transformation in the Hindu-Sikh relationship. Guru Govind Singh created a band of soldiers to oppose the aggression of the Muslims. They are specific identities prescribed for them, called 5 Ks
- Kes — the hair should never be trimmed
- Kach — the cloth wrapped around the waist
- Kada/Kangan — the iron Kangan in the hand
- Kanga — a wooden comb kept in the hair
- Kirpan — steel sword in the hand
Sikh means the disciples. In the beginning, the first son in the Hindu family was brought up as a Sikh. The Sikhs were part of the Hindu society and they did not want to be identified separately.
Edinboro University Professor Pau Tantas mentioned, “As per the initial census, the Sikhs & Jains considered themselves as part of Hindu society. In the 1921 census, it was reported by one of the census officers (Perspectives on Indian Society Dr.Binoy Kumar, 156[2]) that Sikhs & Jains were large in numbers and were requesting to be accounted as Hindus and requested for permission to segregate them in the census. Despite the request given by the Sikhs not to separate them from the Hindu community, the English separated them as part of their divide & rule strategy”. Without getting to the bottom of their relationship, we cannot understand the root cause behind the terrorism activities in Punjab.
Seeds of Sedition
Arya Samaj Hindus, who are popular in Punjab did not accept form-worship like the Sikhs. There were aligned with each other, Siddhantha-wise, whereas the Sikhs & Sanathani Hindus differed on that. But the relationship between the Sikhs & the Sanathani Hindus was cordial. And it was vice-versa between the other two. The founder of Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand Saraswathi (19th century) criticized the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak was not trained in Vedanta. It had put a strain on their relationship. The whites ensured that the gap between the Sikh-Hindu got widened. Arthur Macauliffe (who became a Sikh) and his associated Kahn Singh Nabha laid out the groundwork for their separation.
Macauliffe had written about 6 volumes on Sikhism. Due to that and being a Sikh, he had some influence among the Sikhs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Arthur_Macauliffe). Kahn Singh Nabha wrote a book called “I am not a Hindu” in 1898 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_Hindu_Nahin). It laid the 1st seeds of separation between the Hindus & Sikhs. After the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh riots, the British had started adding more Sikhs to the army. The Army was a major job provider at that time. During the partition, both the Hindus & Sikhs were heavily affected. It helped to strengthen their relationship.
Separated by the Politics
After the independence, the tug-of-political-war between the Akalis & Congress had worsened the relationship between the Hindus & Sikhs. Arya samaj movement — congress on the one side was fighting the Akalis on the other side, politically. Again, it leads to the separation between the Hindus & the Sikhs. It started with the language. Till 1966, both Punjab & Haryana were part of one state. Akalidal wanted Punjab to be declared as a separate state based on the language “Punjabi Subha”. To prevent that, Arya Samaj made the Hindus declare “Hindi” as their mother tongue. In their homes, both the Sikhs & the Hindus were speaking Punjabi and using the “Gurmukhi” script. Akalidal had compelled the Sikhs to report the same in the 1961 census. And, Arya Samah worked on the other side. The division started deepening. Arja Samah Hindus were responsible for the fiasco.
The Arya Samajis’ view was supported by the Jansangh for political reasons. But, it was opposed by the RSS, who was on the side of the Sikhs (Times of India, 15th May 2017). RSS Chief, Guruji Golwalkar had the vision on how this would spoil the entire friendly environment in the state. They started opposing Jan Sangh, tooth & nail. But, it did not solve the problem. The situation got aggravated and ended up in the growth of terrorism.
Punjab Terrorism 1978–95
Sikh terrorist leader Bhindranwale was popular among the Sikh youths in the 1980s. Even the Sikh leaders were afraid of him. The terrorists were funded by the Pakistanis (Kiessling, Hing (2016), Faith, Unity, Discipline: The Inter-services-intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan). It was indirectly abetted by the USA, Canada. In the 80s, the Sikhs were 68% and the Hindus were 32% in Punjab. To chase the Hindus out of the state, the terrorists started killing prominent Hindu leaders, RSS members, and the general Hindu public. Police gave protection to Bhindranwale. Akalidal leader Longowal had invited him to the Golden temple at Amritsar for a stay. Without the open approval of the temple administration, he cannot be arrested. He continued to do murders from there too.
In 1983, the growth of terrorism became like a cancer cell and threatened the unity of the Nation. Indira had authorized “Operation Blue Star” to flush the terrorists out of the temple. 1000s of the Sikhs had died. Subsequently, she was murdered by the Sikh bodyguards in Oct 1984. The Congress party had started a riot in Delhi against the Sikhs and the estimate was that 3000+ people had died. Congress party rode on the sympathy wave and captured 414 parliamentary seats in the election. It was a massive mandate for them. This was followed by the destruction of the Air Kanishka airplane by bombing in June 1985. It led to the death of all the 329 people on the board. The Sikhs were very much worried about losing their control over terrorism.
The rajeev-Longowal peace accord was signed in July 1986. He was killed by the terrorist the very next month. The terrorism fire continued to burn more. Despite the threat from the terrorists, some 60% of the people came out for voting in the elections held in Sep 1985. It surprised the entire world. The Akalis won the majority and Prakash Singh Badal became the CM of Punjab. But the terrorism continued to play havoc. Again in 1988, another terrorist flush-out operation “Operation Black Thunder” was performed. Then Rajeev’s murder had happened in 1991. Finally, the credit should go to the trio — PM Narasimha Rao, Punjab CM Beant Singh & State DGP KPS Gill for bringing terrorism under control. The role played by Gill was a huge one.
In both the flush-out operations, the present NSA Ajit Dhoval played a big role. We will see about that, later. Only with the help of such stainless patriotic people, the conspiracy plot of Pakistan to carve out Khalistan was defeated. The Sikhs escaped the harrowing ordeal. But, here and there and with the help of Pakistan-American, the terrorists are continuing to operate. Because of their penetration in the present-day farmers’ protest, huge violence was perpetrated on the gullible masses. This was told by the farmers’ leaders (The Hindu, 27th Jan 2021). Let us also the role played by the Congress party that encouraged terrorism.
The deadly Basmasura, created by Sanjay
Punjab terrorism is a textbook example of how the divisions between two communities can be made explosive by political activities. After losing the elections in 1977, Sanjay started plotting different strategies in each state that would help them to restore power. To defeat the Akalis, he was seeking an influential leader amongst the Sikh youth. This was mainly done to tear apart the Akalis. He recruited Sant Bhindranwale to do that activity. Sant means Sadhu. But Bindrawale was not a sant in spirit. Kuldip Nayar wrote the following, “The Akalis had exposed the scandals of the then CM Zail Singh after the Congress party lost the power in Punjab. Zail Singh was unhappy with the Akalis. Both Zail & Sanjay were intimate. The then leader of the Akalis, Sant Longowal was very gentle. He was a Sant in the letter as well as in spirit. Sanjay positioned Bindranwale against the Akalis”.
Kuldip’s friend Kamal Nath briefed on how Bindranwale was recruited by Sanjay. Two Sants were interviewed by Sanjay. He had rejected the 1st one because of his Sant-like nature. Bhindranwale ticked all the ugly boxes that Sanjay was looking for. He was chosen for the job and all the necessary funding was given. But we never realized that one day he would become Basmasura and work against us. Immediately, it paid off in terms of destruction. The Nirankari sect was not accepted as Sikhs by the Sikh community. On the Baisakhi day in 1978, there was a big fight between them and 14 had died. Bhindranwale brainwashed the local Sikh youth by claiming that the Sikhs were not feeling safe in the Akali’s rule. Instantly, Bindranwale became famous. This is how his journey started. Even after that, he continued to be a friend of Zail Singh (India Today, 08th Jul 2012).
The whole world knows about it
None of these matters are secret, anymore. Everyone knew that Sanjay was the force behind Bhindranwale. Goenka would exclaim, “Guru, does this boy do it on his known or under the guidance of his mother. They are playing with the fire. Sikhs are very emotional people. Akalis are brainless and do not dare to stand up. I don’t know how to explain this to Indira”. It was a truthful prediction. Arun Shourie started writing about the state of the state, terrorism, and other things in 1982. It was opposed by the Sikhs, particularly by the terrorists. IE published the rebuttals from them too. Since 1983, based on National good, IE blindly supported the Government on the actions against terrorism. It also opposed the mindless human rights issues raised by the international community. In 1984, Indira made a bold move and ordered “Operation Bluestar”.
To be continued…
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