ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION
International Journal of Sikh Affairs 24, No. 1, JUNE ISSUE 2014 ISSN 1481-5435
Excerpts (Brief)
Ravings of a defeated pervert or “spiritual expression” of a cowering civilization!
[The document relating to the massacre of Sikhs in November 1984, has re-emerged early this year. It was first published by the inimitable George Fernandes in the weekly that he published. I received it on my email. I commented on it immediately at a Jalandhar public meeting. Shortly after that, its Punjabi translation was prominently published, by the daily Pehredar. It was in existence when the book was originally published but somehow it could not become a part of it. The full text and its translation in to English was again circulated recently by the Indian Human Rights Organisation on the internet.
Nana Deshmukh throws a flood of light on the fascist mindset of an organisation that claims to be the sole mouthpiece of the permanent cultural majority. It believes that nationalism obliges it to massacre those belonging to minorities and other nations. Apparently the Indira Congress was also of the same mind. Surprisingly, so were many other parties and organisations that aggressively flaunt secular credentials. If there were more like Chandra Shekhar, they preferred to keep their views under wraps.
In the thirtieth year since the massacre, can it now be said that the country is neck deep in communal mire. The primary responsibility for the prevailing situation lies squarely at the door of the permanent cultural majority. Since communalism is so deep rooted, shall we ever be able to get rid of it without divine intervention or a particularly damaging foreign invasion? We have over the ages, learnt to ignore a Nanak or a Buddha. They drank the poison (halahal) of hate-filled centuries and tried to weld us into a powerful social entity, we ignored them.
Nana Deshmukh has tried to wean the Sikhs away from the springs of their faith by holding the Tenth Nanak’s administration of amrit to be a short time provision? This is cunningness at its lowest. Defying all logic, he expects the Sikhs to refrain from exercising the right of self-defence that is sanctioned to all individuals and societies by every law and all shades of morality.
Deshmukh’s fertile imagination leads him to the belief that Babbar Khalsa, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhnideranwale were working in tandem though all evidence is to the contrary. He also tries to invent ... His professed love for the Sikhs reminds one of the story of the “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.”‘Big shining teeth behind the smiting lips are to better eat you with, my dear,’ said the wolf.
His praise of the Sikh character, progressive attitude, work ethics, global presence and the hunger for education is also old hat. Vallabh Bhai Patel used similar words in the constituent assembly before concluding,... “their real roots,” while the offspring’s of those ‘real’ roots are still going about massacring Sikhs, desecrating and destroying their Gurdwaras (Gain Godri for instance).
“Revelations of history” are calculated to fortify the chakravyuh he is erecting to entrap and destroy the Sikhs.
This document helps as no other, to understand the plight of Sikhs in India after 1947. It reveals…
Care has been taken to circulate this statement on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The effort here is to pack a sting in every word and intent while the timing itself is meant to be a severe blow. He is totally so off-guard and so completely paralysed by fear, that the entire exercise undertaken by him becomes the work of a completely broken and defeated man, desperately mining in the deepest recesses of the collective mind overflowing with hatred for a five centuries old social order and a politically acknowledged Sikh nation.
Nana Deshmukh’s document is indeed “crucial” to understanding the situation and for that reason it has been included in this volume.]
RSS ideologue Nana Deshmukh justified massacre of Sikhs in 1984.
Shamsul Islam
The blood of innocent Sikhs massacred in 1984, spilled in different parts of the country and seen on the cuffs of the then rulers has not been erased from the memory despite the ganging up of almost all parliamentary political parties inensuring that the perpetrators are not punished. It is undeniable that since 1984, all kinds of political parties, left, right (which include BJP & Akali Dal) and centre ruled this country but the search for the culprits could not be completed….
The 1984 massacre is in news once again. This time it is a matter of acrimony between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the RSS choice for prime-ministership, Narendra Modi…Modi also forgot to share the fact that as per the autobiography of LK Advani (page 430) it was his Party which forced Indira Gandhi to launch the army action in which a large number of pilgrims were killed.
It is true that despite innumerable high-power committees, police investigation teams and commissions, the real culprits are still eluding justice. The reality is that in the last three decades, the country has been ruled by every shade of political opinion but there has been no political will to prosecute the real culprits.
This document may also throw light on where the cadres, who meticulously organized the killing of Sikhs, came from. Nana Deshmukh in this document is seen outlining the justification of the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984. According to him it was not the handiwork of any group or anti-social elements, but the result of a genuine feeling of anger among the Hindus of India.
….Those who were witness to the genocide of 1984 were stunned by the swiftness and military precision of the killer marauding gangs (later on witnessed during the Babri mosque demolition, burning alive of Dr. Graham Stains with his two sons, the 2002 pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat and cleansing of Christians in parts of Orissa) who went on a burning spree of the innocent Sikhs. This, surely, was beyond the capacity of the thugs led by many Congress leaders.
The author has in his possession a crucial document which may throw some light on the hidden aspects of the genocide and identify the forces which executed it. It was authored and circulated by veteran ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewaksingh (RSS), Nana Deshmukh on November 8, 1984. Interestingly, this document was published in the Hindi WeeklyPratipaksh edited by Mr. George Fernandes (Defence Minister of India 1999-2004,) in its edition of November 25, 1984 titled “Indira Congress-RSS collusion.”
...There was not a single sentence in the Deshmukh document demanding, from the then Congress Government at the Centre, remedial measures for controlling the violence against the minority community. Mind this that Deshmukh circulated this document on November 8, 1984, and fromOctober 31 to this date Sikhs were left alone to face the killing gangs. In fact November 5-10 was the period when the maximum killings of Sikhs took place. Deshmukh was just not bothered about all this.
... It represented the real RSS attitude towards the Sikh genocide of 1984. The RSS is very fond of circulating publicity material, especially photographs of its khaki shorts-clad cadres doing social work. For the 1984 violence they have none. In fact, Deshmukh’s article also made no mention of the RSS cadres going to the rescue of Sikhs under siege. This shows up the real intentions of the RSS during the genocide.
RSS IDEOLOGUE NANA DESHMUKH JUSTIFIED 1984 MASSACRE OF SIKHS
The RSS often poses as a firm believer in Hindu-Sikh unity. But in this document we will hear from the horse’s mouth that the RSS like the then Congress leadership, believed that the massacre of the innocent Sikhs was justified. Nana Deshmukh in this document is seen outlining the Justification of the massacre of the Sikh community very cunningly.
This document was published in the Hindi Weekly ‘Pratipaksh’ edited by George Fernandes in its edition of November 25, 1984 with the following editorial comment-
“The author of the following document is known as an ideologue and policy formulator of the RSS. After the killing of Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) he distributed this document among prominent politicians. It has a historical significance that is why we have decided to publish it, violating policy of our Weekly. This document highlights the new affinities developing between the Indira Congress and the RSS. We produce here the Hindi translation of the document.”
Nana Deshmukh’s article is translated to English by Shamsul Islam. It is as follows:
MOMENTS OF SOUL SEARCHING
Indira Gandhi ultimately did secure a permanent place at the doorstep of history as a great martyr. With her dynamism borne out of her fearlessness and dexterity, she was able to take the country forward like a colossus for over a decade and was able to build an opinion that she alone understood the realities of the country, that she alone had the ability to run the decadent political system of our corrupt and divided society, and probably that she alone could keep the country united. She was a great lady and her death as a brave leader had added to her greatness. She was killed by a person in wham she kept faith despite several complaints, Such an influential personality was killed by a person who had the duty to protect her person. This act came as a blow not only to her admirers in the country and the world but also her critics. This cowardly and treacherous act of killing not only ended the life of a great leader but also killed, in the name of the Panth, the mutual faith of humanity. Explosion of sudden arson and violent hysteria throughout the country was probably a direction-less and improper expression of the hurt, anger and feeling of loss of her followers. Lakhs of her followers used to see her as the only defender, powerful protector and a symbol of united India. It is a different matter whether this is right or wrong.
For these innocent and uninformed followers, the treacherous murder of Indira Gandhi was the tragic culmination of the poisonous campaign of separatism, antagonism and violence conducted over the previous three years in which hundreds of innocents had to lose their invaluable lives and the sanctity of religious places was destroyed. This campaign assumed an ominous pace after the painful army action in June which, in the eyes of most of the people of the country had become necessary to protect the sanctity of the religious places. Barring a few exceptions, the Sikh community observed silence for a long time on the barbaric massacres and heinous killings of innocent people, but they condemned the long-pending army action with anger and dangerous explosiveness. The country was stunned at their attitude. The army action was compared to the “ghallu ghara” action of Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1762 to desecrate the Harmandir Sahib. Without going into the objectives of the two incidents, Mrs. Gandhi was pushed into the category of Ahmed Shah Abdali. She was termed the enemy of the Sikh panth and big prizes were announced on her head. On the other hand Bhindrawale who was guilty of heinous crimes against humanity in the name of religion was hailed as a martyr. Open display of such feelings in different parts of the country and abroad played a special role in increasing the distrust and alienation between the Sikhs and the rest of Indians. In the background of this distrust and alienation, stunned and bewildered people accepted the validity of the rumours of celebrations by the Sikhs at the heinous murder of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation of the army action. Of these the most hurting explanation was that of Giani Kripal Singh who being the Head Granthi considered himself to be the sole spokesman of the Sikh community. He said that he expressed no sorrow at the death of Indira Gandhi. This statement added fuel to the tire of boiling anger. No immediate and natural condemnation of this despicable statement by an important leader came from responsible Sikh leaders, intellectuals or organization. Therefore the already angered common and unimaginative people took it as correct that the Sikhs celebrated the death of Indira Gandhi. Because of this belief, selfish elements could succeed in making the common people become violent against the hapless Sikhs.
This was the most explosive situation which needed utmost patience and skilful conduct on behalf of our Sikh brothers. I am saying this, being a life member of the RSS, because on January 30, 1948 a Hindu fanatic, who was a Marathi and had no relation with the RSS, rather was a bitter critic of the Sangh, committed unfortunate killing of Mahatma Gandhi. On this occasion we also suffered the sudden eruption of hysteria, loot and atrocities of misdirected people. We ourselves saw how selfish elements who were well acquainted with this incident, deliberately declared a murderer to be a member of the RSS and also spread the rumour that the RSS people were celebrating throughout the country the death of Mahatma Gandhi, and thus they succeeded in diverting the love and the feeling of loss and hurt in the hearts of people for Gandhi. Such feelings were spread against Swayamsewaks and their families, particularly in Mahrashtra.
Having gone through such experiences myself, I can understand the strong reaction and feeling of innocent Sikh brothers who became of victims of sudden eruption of people’s violent hysteria. In fact, I would like to condemn in strongest words the inhuman barbarity and cruelty on Sikh brothers in Delhi and elsewhere. I feel proud of all those Hindu neighbours who protected lives and property of troubled Sikh brothers without caring for their lives. Such things one being heard from all over Delhi. These things have practically increased the faith in natural goodness of human behavior and particularly faith in Hindu nature.
... then the ‘dictator’ of the RSS known as the so-called big private army, the then head of the Sangh late M.S. Golwalkar issued an appeal in Nagpur on February I, 1948 to the lakhs of armed young followers throughout the country in the following unforgettable words:
‘I direct all my Swayamsewak brothers that despite spread of provocation under lack of understanding, they should adopt cordial attitude towards all and remember that this mutual distrust and improper hysteria is the result of the love and respect that the whole country has for Mahatma who made the country great in the eyes of the world. We salute such great respected departed soul’.
These were not empty words to hide cowardice and helplessness in the hopeless situation. In those life threatening serious moments he proved that every word of his appeal had a meaning. On the evening of February I, hundreds of Swayamsewaks in Nagpur urged for armed resistance and resisting till the last drop of their blood to stop the probable attack on their leader the same night….
I hope that in present difficult situation my Sikh brothers will also show the above-referred patience and tolerance... I am surprised how a section of our society considered to be most disciplined, organized and religious, adopted such a negative and self-defeating attitude. May be they could not get proper leadership at the moments of such a crisis. Through my scanty study and understanding of Sikh history I consider that such a nonpolitical reaction of Sikhs in moments of such a crisis came from their complete involvement with teachings of love, tolerance and sacrifice of Sikh nature. Warrior nature of Sikh religion was a short time provision against barbarity of foreign Mughals which was taught by tenth Guru. For him Khalsa was a relatively small part of a broad Hindu-Sikh brotherhood and was designed as an armed hand to defend Hindu community and its traditions. Guru Gov[b]ind Singh laid down for Khalsa followers five KS(Kesh, Kripan, Kangha, Kara and Kachha) and ‘Singh’ in the name of Khalsas. This was a symbol of their being soldiers. But unfortunately today these only are being projected as basic and necessary forms of Sikh religion.
I am sorry to say that Sikh intellectuals too have failed to understand that conversion of Sikh religion into Khalsaism is a much later event and this was due to deliberate plan of British imperialists to divide and rule in Punjab. Its aim was to cut the Sikhs off from their Hindu environ. Unfortunately, after independence power hungry politicians kept alive for their own interest the unnaturally born problems of separation and equal existence, and carried forward the game of imperialists to divide and rule by their vote bank politics. This improper equating of Sikhs with militant Khalsaism is not only the basic root of separatist tendencies in some parts of Sikh community, but it also raised militancy and faith in the power of weapons to the level of religious worship.
This religious worship gave rise to terrorist movement like Babbar Khalsa in the second decade and recently Indira Gandhi was killed as a result of terrorist wave under the leadership of Bhindrawale and a long ‘hit list’ is yet to be executed.
I used to imagine that Sikh community has freed itself totally from illiteracy, ignorance, frustration and defeatism in which it was in the fifth decade of 19th century after losing its freedom and which was exploited by cunning British imperialists and selfish Sikh elites for their selfish interests. It is clear that in eighth decade Sikhs adorning the places of high responsibility represent highly educated, laborious, vigilant, relatively rich, enlightened and active section of Indian society in every walk of life. In nineteenth century their experiences and vision was limited to the boundaries of the then Punjab but today they are spread not only throughout India but throughout the world, and they are in a situation to directly know the conspiracies of big powers which are being hatched against independent and united India rising strongly in the world. In such an advantageous situation they should know their historical development as an integral part of India.
Such a revaluation of history will give them the opportunity to see many wrong formulations of their own religion and past which has been systematically drilled into their brains by wrong and distorted historical writings by British administrators and intellectuals about nature and development of their religion. Such an attempt will take them to their real roots.
This is the time that our Sikh brothers should search their hearts so that they can get rid of the false description inserted by British imperialists and power greedy opportunist people into their basic religious nature. Removal of such false descriptions is necessary to bridge the gulf of distrust and alienation between two communities of similar destiny, nature and similar traditions. I am afraid that without such a self-introspection and revaluation of history they would not be able to live with peace among themselves and with other countrymen. A disinterested analysis of their own enlightened interests will be enough to make them understand that their fate is indivisibly linked with the destiny of India. Such an understanding will save them from falling prey to the disruptive and destructive interests of foreign powers.
I disbelieve that my Sikh brothers will accept the cautious words of spiritual expression of a well-wisher.
Lastly, it is not to deny the truth that sudden removal of Indira Gandhi from Indian political scene has created a dangerous void in the Indian common life. But India has always displayed a characteristic inner strength in the moments of such crisis and uncertainty. According to our traditions, responsibility of power has been placed on the inexperienced shoulders of relatively young person in a lively and peaceful manner. It will be hasty to judge the potentialities of his leadership at this time. We should give him some time to show his ability.
On such challenging juncture of the country, in the meanwhile he is entitled to get full cooperation and sympathy from the countrymen, though they may belong to any language, religion, caste or political belief.
In the capacity of a nonpolitical constructive worker I only hope and pray that God bless him with more mature, balanced, inner strength and ability to give an impartial Govt. to the people so that he can take the country to real prosperous unity and glory.
Guru Nanak Divas November 8, 1984 Nana Deshmukh.
*****
Chapter 24.
Blood of other nations – flows freely in world’s largest democracy
The Asian Games were to take place in Delhi. The Akalis announced that they will demonstrate at the venue of the Asian Games to draw international attention to their plight. This statement was distorted by the press. It was published with sinister intent to represent that the Akalis planned to disrupt the Asian Games. Many clarifications issued by the Akali leadership were to no avail. The impression that the Akalis were bent on shaming the country by disrupting the games continued to be propagated vigorously by the politicians and the press.
This gave an opportunity to Bhajan Lal, the then chief minister of Haryana to pursue his anti-Sikh policies. He decided to do so in a spectacular fashion. Since the road to Delhi runs through Haryana, he posted the Haryana police all along the highway and assigned to them the task of insulting and harassing every Sikh man, woman and child who travelled to Delhi in the normal course of routine business. Buses and cars were stopped on the road, all Sikhs inside were asked to step aside, were obtrusively searched, freely insulted, abused and assaulted in every way. Amarjit Kaur who was a member of parliament belonging to the Indira Congress was in tears when she reported the matter to her colleagues. The same treatment was meted out to the Maharani of Patiala and her son Amarinder Singh. Several army men in uniform and even retired generals were likewise treated.
Two Sikh advocates, Rupinder Singh Sodhi and A. S. Sohal of the Supreme Court of India who suffered humiliation, brought the matter to the notice of the court through a writ petition (number 8816of 1982). At the same time, Nirlep Kaur, former member of parliament and the daughter of a former chief minister filed a similar plea (Writ Petition Number 8817 of 1982). She also attached an affidavit by an Akali leader, Parkash Singh Majithia MLA, that the Akali Dal had no plans to disrupt the games. They sought “directions to remove all obstructions to – use of highways –without making any discrimination against the Akali Sikhs on the ground of religion.” The Games were to begin on November 19, 1982. Everyday the newspapers were full of news about the barricades, the humiliating searches being conducted by the Haryana police. K. G. Bhagat appearing for Haryana argued that the agitators were trying to malign the image of the country by trying to draw attention to their demands during the prestigious Asiad. The court’s verdict came on November 18, 1982. It was delivered by the chief justice Y. V. Chandrachud and justice Amarendra Nath Sen. News reporting the judgment was circulated by the United News of India and the Press Trust of India. It was used by almost all the daily papers. To the Supreme Court, “there did not appear to be any executive order in writing for barricading highways leading to Delhi for subjecting every Sikh in motion to search. It also expressed the hope that “the Sikhs as a body will not be subjected to harsh, uncivilised and discriminatory treatment.”
Referring to the chief minister’s statement that, “police officers who deal harshly with the Akalis [Sikhs] will be dealt with lightly,” the court said, they could not believe that a highly placed person “in his senses” would make such a public statement, “especially with the kind of pressure of the public opinion and the Press we fortunately have in our country today.”
The hope that piously inspired the sanctimonious tone of the judges did not materialise and the audacious behaviour of the state of Haryana continued bringing misery to the whole Sikh people by making them feel that they were second class citizens in their own country. The press that “we fortunately have in our country” continued to report a substantial part of what it witnessed without moving a soul or changing a thing.
The words used in the judgment “duty of the police is to maintain law and order – to protect public property” etcetera were interpreted by the Haryana government to confer a licence to go on administering the despicable treatment to the Sikhs. It continued in its macabre pursuit with a vengeance.
The description of the violence as it occurred on the ground has not been given, as history repeated itself just a year later. Precisely on February 14, 1984, Hindu Sauraksha Samiti lead by one Pawan Kumar of Patiala, staged a shutdown. Whatever had happened earlier in 1982 was repeated on that day in the region. It was large-scale hooliganismagainst the Sikhs in the Punjab and in other states, particularly in Haryana. Hindu politicians and the administration supported this lawlessness. Reports regarding it appeared in the papers for several days. Sant Sipahi, a Punjabi monthly magazine published by Rajinder Kaur, a Member of Parliament, published some factual reports in the March 1984 issue of the magazine. The following report appeared on pages 29 and 30 under the heading of `Communal riots in Haryana:’
`Complete information about what befell the innocent Sikhs of Haryana cannot be given as no Akali leader of the Punjab is allowed to go into Haryana. The Shiromani Akali Dal had asked five senior Akali leaders to visit Haryana and to report back an eyewitness account of what they saw there. But these leaders were not allowed to go beyond Ambala. For this reason the report concerning these riots has been constructed from the letters received by the Shiromani Akali Dal from Haryana. These letters are written either by the prominent Akali leaders of Haryana and by those Singhs who were passing through Haryana during the disturbances and became victims of the fury of the inflamed mobs.
Four Singhs had gone from Karnal to Panipat to assess the conditions. According to a letter received from one of them, Sardar Harbans Singh Mukhi of Karnal, 25 Sikhs have been killed in Panipat and six Gurdwaras have been burnt to ashes. Eight Sikhs have been killed in Azadnagar Colony, five in Gurdwara Singh Sabha and the remaining six have been killed on the road. A three storey Gurdwara on the Grand Trunk road has been burnt to ashes. Volumes of the revered Guru Granth Sahib have been burnt in the Model Town Gurdwara and the marauders have carried off the golden canopy.
Apart from Mr. Mukhi, those Sikhs who were travelling through Panipat on that day, have also described heartrending incidents. Because of the commotion, the government buses plying through Panipat were taken to police station and parked there. After some time, the police told themthat there was no danger and that they should proceed. Hardly had these buses travelled one kilo meter when they were surrounded by a mob.Sikhs were taken off these buses. They were very badly beaten and the crowd dragged them on the road by their hair. Hair of many of them was tonsured. Almost all were robbed. Those passengers who had the customary kirpans on their person, unsheathed them intending to use them and no marauder picked up the courage to come near them.
Hair of three Singhs of Karnal, who were coming towards Panipat, was cut. Their names are:
1. Sardar Nidhan Singh of the Punjab & Sind Bank, Karnal.
2. Sardar Pal Singh, Diamond Icecream Factory, Karnal.
3. Sardar Balwinder Singh, Veeran di Hatti, Karnal.
Fifteen shops belonging to the Sikhs were looted and burnt. Their description is:
1. One Matador vehicle, one scooter and a godown full of tyres belonging to Sardar Amarjit Singh tyre dealer was burnt.
2. Diamond Soda Water Factory and Dry Cleaners shop was looted and burnt.
3. Guru Nanak Book Store.
4. Harbans Singh Jaswant Singh provision store.
5. Piara Singh Dalip Singh provision store.
6. Jagir Singh Joginder Singh snacks (pappar warrian) store.
7. Pritam Singh and Sons - provision store.
8. Harnam Singh Kartar Singh saw mill.
9. Sardar Kirpal Singh and Sons music and swords shop.
10. Sardar Ujjal Singh fruit seller’s shop.
11. Uris Studio.
12. Jasbir Studio.
13. Prem Sweets.
14. Inder Palace cinema.
14. Jaswant Singh Kirpal Singh Petrol Pump.
The shops with the names given above have been burnt. Locks of 16 to 17 other shops were broken and contents were looted.
The turbans of forty to fifty Sikhs were taken off and burnt.
Two trucks were burnt, details of which are as follows:
1. Truck number PBP 8973 owner Hardyal Singh son of Prem Singh of village Nariangarh of district Patiala.
2. Truck number PUV 3737 owner Sardar Sher Singh, Amarjit Singh sons of Sardaar Sadhu Singh of village Jaipur Durga, tehsil Payal, district Ludhiana.
Property of hundreds of Sikhs was looted.
According to Sardar Desa Singh president of the Local Management Committee Manji Sahib Gurdwara Kaithal , the cenotaph of Bhai Udai Singh the erstwhile king of Kaithal was attacked. The Nihang Singhs fought with courage. One Singh died and three others were badly injured. The following persons were at the root of the trouble in Kaithal:
1. Lala Gian Chand Shoria.
2. Amar Singh Chorewala
3. Charandas Chorewala
4. Amarnath Commission Agent.
5. Raghu Nath ex-MLA.
6. Kundan Pehalwan.
The Gurdwara at Jind was also attacked. The Gurdwara employees present inside fired shots. The police also fired here causing the death of one Hindu attacker.
The Punjab Mail train coming from Bombay was stopped at Ghanaur, the station next to Panipat. Sikhs were singled out and beaten and hair of several Sikhs was cut. All were robbed of their belongings. This mob consisted of about two thousand people. Police was present at the railway station but did nothing to stop the trouble makers. The hair of the following named persons was cut at this place:
1. Sardar Bakshish Singh Taran Taran.
2. Sardar Jarnail Singh of village Jandiala of Sangrur.
3. Sardar Baljinder Singh village Rajgarh district Ludhiana.
4. Sardar Malkit Singh of village Bange district Jallandhar.
5. Sardar Pavitar Singh Jeet Singh of Doraha Township district Ludhiana.
This incident happened on February 20, 1984. According to the driver of the train, the signal light was red. So he stopped the train. The signal continued to emit red light for twenty minutes. He drove off the train when it started emitting yellow light. He was stoned as soon as the train reached the platform. Search was conducted to locate the Sikhs, when located they were beaten. Police was present there but made no effort to save the Sikhs. The driver saved his life by hiding in the engine. According to the driver, it appeared as if this incident happened with the connivance of the police, other government employees (of the railway department) and according to a pre thought out plan. It is worth mentioning that on February 14, 1984, before the Panipat massacre, I (Rajinder Kaur) received a phone call from Panipat telling me that many lives were in danger. I had conveyed this message to the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The police too must have known this danger. This crowd of ten thousand people went about beating people and looting the Sikh shops but the police did nothing. All this appears to have happened with the connivance of the police and the government. [This article is complete with four photographs of three victims.]
On November of the same year another repetition of the same took place all over the country and particularly in Delhi under the very nose of the Supreme Court and the government of the country. Press from all over the world was there to cover the funeral of Indira Gandhi but presspersons with very few exceptions obeyed the unwritten diktat of the new Rajiv Gandhi government and took no notice of the massacres taking place on the streets of Delhi for four days. To be a minority in a country eternally overflowing with hatred of a section of the people is a terrible fate. To all democrats worth their salt it is also a perfect justification for self-determination of the beleaguered minority.
It can hardly be denied that such events also confirm the nexus between the political leaders of the persecutors and those of the persecuted.
The judgment of the Supreme Court dated November 18, 1982 is reproduced below:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
ORIGINAL JURISDICTI ON
WRIT PETITI ON NOS. 8816 & 8817 OF 1982.
Rupinder Singh Sodhi & Anr.
Versus
Union of India & Ors.
By these writ petitions, the petitioners, some of whom are practising lawyers and some Members of the parliament, ask for an appropriate writ directing the State of Haryana and the State of Uttar Pradesh to remove all obstructions on the highways and to allow unhindered and unintercepted the use of highways, railways and airways without making any discrimination against the Akali Sikhs on the ground of religion. Stated briefly, the Case of the petitioners is that in the recent past, a movement was set afoot in the State of Punjab consequent upon certain demands made by the members of the Akali Party and as a result of that movement, large scale arrests of Sikhs were effected, bordering on harassment and persecution. It would appear that a declaration was made by certain Akali leaders that a Morcha would be taken to Delhi on November 19, 1982 which coincides with the inauguration of the Asiad games. Apprehending that the Morcha will interfere with the holding ofthe games, the border States, particularly Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, appear to have taken certain measures to intercept the movement of Akalis across the border on to Delhi, with a view to ensuring that the proposed Morcha is not staged in the manner feared and the Asiad not disrupted.
Mr. Hardev Singh who appears on behalf of the petitioners argues that highways are dedicated to the public and are meant for their use for passing and repassing. Therefore, he argues, no obstruction can be placed thereon which will impede the free flow of traffic, any such obstruction being per seunlawful. Having given our anxious consideration to the submissions made by Mr. Hardev Singh, we agree that no one is entitled to barricade a highway so as to prevent members of the public from using it while they are on their lawful business in the pursuit of normal avocations of life. But the police, whose duty it is to enforce 1aw and order in the wake of threatened mass agitations which are reasonably likely to lead to breach of public peace, are entitled in the discharge of that duty to impose reasonable restraints on the physical movement of members of the public in order to the protection of public property and the avoidance of needless inconvenience to other citizens in their lawful pursuits. But all such restraints on personal liberty, if at all, have to be commensurate with the object which furnishes
their justification. They must be minimal and cannot exceed constraints of the particular situation, either in nature or in duration. Above all, they cannot be used as engines of oppression, persecution, harassment or the like. The sanctity of person and of privacy has to be maintained at all costs and that cannot ever be violated under the guise of maintenance of law and order.
We feel uneasy and concerned to hear that policemen of certain States have violated the norms of decency in their dealing with the situation arising out of the Akali-Asiad tangle. We assume for lack of better evidence that the grievance made by the petitioners before us is more the offspring of a natural feeling of resentment at being stopped and searched than of any substantial invasion of their personal freedom. If and when there is proof of latter, Courts may have to step in and stop the excesses. But the rule of law requires that no person shall be subjected to harsh, uncivilised or discriminatory treatment even when the objective is the securing of the paramount exigencies of law and order, Therefore, no Sikh can be allowed to be so treated if our Constitution has to have any meaning and effect.
We believe it not to be true that any Chief Minister has made a public declaration that police officers who will treat the Akali Sikhs harshly will be dealt with lightly. It is incredible that any highly placed person in his senses can possibly make such a Statement, with the kind of pressure of public opinion and the press which, fortunately, we have in our country to-day.
There does not appear to be any executive order in existence, in writing at any rate, authorising the barricade on any highway or to subject every Sikh in motion to physical restraint. But in an appropriate case, apresumption may well be drawn as to the existence of such an order if it is found that the police are generally acting systematically according to a set and uniform pattern or are otherwise engaged in a large scale operation of any similar or sinster kind. For want of acceptable evidence, we hesitate to draw that presumption in this case and will leave the matter where it lies for the time being. Redress may, if so advised, be sought in individual cases by those aggrieved by the alleged acts of excesses.
This order will dispose of these writ petitions.
New Delhi
November 18, 1982.
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