The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 52 : K.P.S.Gill, The Great Sikh Warrior
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_27_10_2021.php
Author : Sri S.Gurumurthy
Translator : C.Rangarajan
As we saw in the previous chapter, the prophecies of the Kanchi Paramacharya and Cho’s foresight became true.
Narasimha Rao — K.P.S.Gill, deadly duo
Militancy in Punjab got intensified. Akali Dal under the leadership of Surjeet Singh Barnala came to power in 1985 and got dismissed in 1987. More and more problems mushroomed in the country.
1. Islamic terrorism reared its ugly head in J & K and Hindu pandits were chased out becoming refugees in their own country
2. Communism crumbled worldwide and created a financial crisis for our country that was dependent on them. We came to the brink of bankruptcy
The problems were not over and kept multiplying. Rajiv was murdered in 1991 and the congress party, the backbone of the country was in total disarray. Congress formed a minority government with P.V.Narasimha Rao as the PM. Like a heavy stone on the head of a sparrow, all the problems of the country were shouldered by him. To his credit, they were all managed by him and brought stability to the country. Then the leading opposition party BJP gave full cooperation to the government for the 1st eighteen months of Rao’s tenure.
Rao & RSS leaders had an intimacy. I will narrate it, later. But at the end of 1992, due to Ayodhya vs secular politics issue created a rift between them. Congress was like the cat on the wall and try to appease both parties. It led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid and deteriorated the Hindu-Muslim relation.
In 1991, Kanwar Paul Singh Gill (K.P.S.Gill) again became the DGP of Punjab. Both he and Narsimha Rao was responsible for rooting out the terrorism in Punjab. Today’s generation as well as the politicians, police, journalists should know how terrorism was weeded out by the patriotic K.P.S.Gill. I met him once and let me narrate that first.
A Rare Experience
In the 90s, I met him (Super Cop, Punjab Lion) in an interaction. I was invited by Arun Jaitley. By that time, he was retired and was running the Institute of Conflict Management. Many important dignitaries had come to that program. He was accused of human rights violations, his force had committed many murders and other things. The most important was killing the human rights activist Jaswant Singh Kalra by the police, in 1995. Human rights were gaining prominence.
When the towering Gill entered the arena, everyone stood up. He was 6-feet tall, well built, and moved around like a lion. Even today, I remember that meeting very well. He said, “I have not come here to give a speech but to have a conversation”. A youth questioned him about the human rights violation. His reply was a classic one, “ Beta, Today’s youth did not have the tough experiences that we had. Young journalists without understanding the fundamentals are writing about human rights issues. During wartime, if the preference is given to human rights then defeat is certain in the war. Those who are violating human rights cannot be handled with the methods that will preserve human rights”. He shared an incident that had happened in his life.
You continue to fight after killing your younger sister
Before the partition, Gill was a student in a boarding school at Mussorie (Uthrakand). His father was working in Lahore. Gil had gone to Lahore on vacation. His younger sister was there. Until then, Gill had never heard about separatism, partition, etc. One day, his mother called him and two swords were there. She embraced Gill, said softly, “Beta, the coming period is going to be a tougher one. There is violence & bloodbath, everywhere. It is going to get worsened. We are living in a model town, where the Hindus-Sikhs are in majority. But Muslims are the majority in the surrounding villages. They can attack us at any moment” and handed over the two swords to him.
She further elaborated, “You should carry these two swords at all times, even while sleeping. I want you to fight them when they come attacking. If you are not able to stop them then kill your younger sister first and then you too fight until you die”. There was a deadly silence in the room. Gill said to the crowd, “ That incident changed my life completely. Then, I understood if violence prevails in a society then the common public will suffer a lot. If such atrocities happen to those who work in the human rights industry, what will they do”? Later, there was a question on his handling of terrorism. He replied, “Look it was a fight between groups within the Jat community. Only a Jat Sikh like me could counter the Jat Sikh terrorists”. Everyone laughed.
After that unforgettable incident, I understood the dangers posed by the human rights activists. Then, I remembered another incident. In the 1980s in Chennai, There was a conference organized by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). It was dominated by the leftists. Myself, Arun Shourie and Chowere also participated. Cho was having a battle with the others. Some were blaming the police for the human rights violations; But, Cho turned the allegations towards the terrorists. No resolution was passed.
Though Cho fought for human rights during the emergency period, he understood the true colours of the human rights activists. He and Gill converged on this issue. I briefed Cho about the meeting with Gill.
The brave warrior who defeated the terrorists
In the 1984 elections, Rajiv’s campaigned targeting the Sikhs and gained a huge victory. He asked MP CM Arjun Singh to hold secret talks with Akali Dal leader Haricharan Longowal. As the talks were proceeding, In June 1985, Khalistan terrorists bombed the Canada-London-Delhi Air India flight, “Air Kanishka”. 329 people had died. Most of them were Hindus. It exposed Sikh terrorism to the world. On 23rd Jul, the Rajiv-Longowal pact was signed. In August, the terrorist killed Longowal for signing the pact. In the next month, Akalis won the election and S.S.Barnala became the CM.
In Jan 1986, the terrorist decided to form Khalistan appointed a committee to draft the constitution. Then Punjab DGP, Julio Ribeiro conducted “Operation Black Thunder”. 300 terrorists who were hiding the Golden Temple were arrested. But, in April, the Sikhs formed a Khalistan commando terrorist outfit. Lots of Hindus were murdered.
At this time, Gill was appointed as the DGP of Punjab. The terrorist had captured the Golden Temple, again. Gill conducted “Operation Black Thunder-2” to flush them out of the temple. In Hindustan Times,” Gill asked the administration to cut off water & electricity to the temple. Within 3 days, the terrorists surrendered in front of the media & TV. Public and even the police, who were afraid of them felt relieved. The backbone of terrorism was broken.
Gill led the police from the front; His police force was following him with little fear in the mind. He had asked the media people to stay low. When someone questioned, why he was not staying low, he replied, “ The Turban should always remain upright”. His tough acts started giving results in Punjab. Slowly the terrorism started fading and came to a halt in 1995.
Julio Ribeiro about Gill
Julio Ribeiro, who was the DGP of the Maharashtra police is a famous one. Initially, he was appointed as the DGP of Punjab and later as the advisor to the Governor. In 1986, he survived the terrorist attacks. His wife was hospitalized. He said that whatever he could not accomplish was completed by Gill was something akin to Sage Vasishta calling Sage Viswamitra, a Brahma-Rishi. Let me give the summary of Ruberio’s saying on Gill.
“In the Indian police history, Gill occupies a special place. He valorously led against the terrorists. When Gill expressed his wish to work with me, I accepted it immediately. I had asked many police officers to work with me. They were not ready to pledge their lives. Gill is a master of field strategy. I know that I did not have his skill. I was not specialized in hunt & kill operations. I was good enough to motivate others but lacked the necessary planning for such types of activities. I understood the situation and gave him full responsibility. He did it skillfully and with eagerness. He continued to enjoy his tough methods too.
Once, Gill told my wife jokingly, “ Your husband’s soft style does not suit rugged Punjab. I, a Jat Sikh knew how to tackle the other Jat Sikh terrorists. Gill did not believe in the positive approach of winning the terrorists. He decided to confront them, ideologically. He indulged in guerrilla tactics. In his war against terrorists, there was collateral damage too. He assumed the DGP role for the 2nd time in 1991 and retired in 1995, after finishing off the terrorism in Punjab. We should always remember that Gill was responsible for such a brave act”.
This is the best accolade that one could get. Riberio further writes on Gill’s Operation Black Thunder-2 , “ for many days, he did not sleep. He continued to work for 5 days at a stretch, continuously. His energy levels were high. His personality & presence was a majestic one. Even the foreign media appreciated his efforts of keeping the situation under control. His proficiency in English, his dexterity and his fluency attracted them. Despite reservations from Gill, his boss P.Chidambaram facilitated the media to have a special viewing of the operation. It was telecasted worldwide. What a sea of difference between the blood Operation Blue Star and this operation”.
Punjab’s additional DGP Dinakar Gupta said to the journalist Praveen Swami, “ his scale of thinking was grand. In 1992, he promised protection to the contestants. Everyone thought that it would fail. But, he successfully did that and gave protection to all of them”.
Whoever is in the governance, it is the skills of patriotic officers like Gill, Ajit Doval that can protect this nation. To bring up such leaders, we need to inculcate patriotism in education. Nihilistic Periyar ideology (prevailing in TN) will not help to promote patriotism.
