Unrest in States

Political and communal tensions rose in many parts of India during the second term of Indira Gandhi as prime minister. Naxalites were once again active in the tribal areas of

Andhra Pradesh.

There was a movement for separate statehood in Jharkhand region which was then a part of Bihar. Less intense but very much present were movements for separate states in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

In Nagaland, militancy reared its head again with Muivah setting up the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) with ideas of separating from India and to that end working with sparatists from Kashmir and Sikh militants.

There were also movements for greater autonomy for states even if these states did not desire to leave the Union of India. The most serious disturbance was in Assam with the growth of the All-Assam Students Union which wanted the Bengalis out of the state in fear of being culturally dominated.

In Andhra Pradesh a new political party under the aegis of N.T. Rama Rao, a very popular film star, was formed in 1982. The Telugu Desam party spoke for the self-respect of the Telugu speaking people. And his party came to power in the state elections at the end of the year.

Punjab Turmoil and Operation Blue Star The political turmoil was greatest in Punjab with strong communal overtones to it. In fact, there were many strands in the turmoil. There was the strident demand for greater autonomy. Many Sikhs increasingly saw themselves in terms of their separate religion and resented that a Sikh political party (the Akalis) could not rule the state on its own free on central interference; they had waited for a long time to get a state of their own but Chandigarh was still a shared territory with Haryana. There was trouble over sharing of

river water as well. In 1973, the Akalis had brought out the Anandpur Resolution that on one level just demanded greater autonomy – as did all states. On another level, by using the term ‘Sikh nation’, it lent itself to the interpretation of separation from the Indian Union.

The Akalis opposed the Nirankari Sikhs whom they called heretics. It was in this context that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale rose to prominence. As a priest and head of the Damdami Taksal, he spoke vehemently against the Nirankaris. But he also orated against being slaves in independent India, andmocked at Hindus as well as the ‘modern’ Sikh. It has been said that Bhindranwale had been encouraged and built up by the Congress as a counterpoise to the Akalis. If so, he became a Frankenstein’s monster, and very soon broke free to create an independent image of himself. He attracted a large number of followers.

In 1980, the Akalis suffered a blow when they were dismissed from power in the state and the Congress came to power.

The impetus to form a state free of India was given mainly by Sikhs in England, US and Canada. In June 1980, a group of students meeting at the Golden Temple in Amritsar declared the formation of an independent Sikh republic – Khalistan; its president was to be Jagjit Singh Chauhan from London.

The situation became worse and worse with Bhindranwale gaining greater power and suspected to be behind several assassinations of prominent men, including the Nirankari leaders. The government proved ineffective in bringing him to book.

In an effort to up the ante against Bhindranwale, the Akalis became more extreme in their views. Their legislators resigned en masse from the state assembly on Republic Day of 1983. It seemed to indicate that their commitment to the Indian Constitution was not firm.

Bhindranwale, in the meantime, was becoming more virulent towards the Hindus in his speeches and instigating Sikhs to violence against the Hindus in order to drive them out. Conflict between Hindus and Sikhs seemed impossible in light of the origin of the Sikhs, but it had now come about.

The central government sent a team led by Narasimha Rao to try to convince Bhindranwale to make peace the negotiations failed and the law and order situation in Punjab continued to deteriorate.

Khalistani terrorists, reported to be encouraged by Pakistan, were slowly entrenching themselves in Punjab and killings took place to eliminate prominent Hindus and Sikh officials. In October 1983, a bus was stopped and the Hindu passengers on it shot. The Centre imposed President’s Rule on the state. Bhindranwale moved without facing any hindrance into the Akal Takht, the seat of temporal authority for the Sikhs near the Golden Temple which was the seat of spiritual authority. By 1984 beginning, Bhindranwale and his associates had begun to fortify the Golden Temple complex and arms and ammunition as well as food stocked. It was all under the command of Shubeg Singh, once a major general and hero of the Indian Army but later dismissed from it.

Clearly strong action needed to be taken. Indira Gandhi gave her permission to initiate Operation Blue Star on the recommendation of Army Chief A.S. Vaidya. By the night of June 2, 1984 and June 3, curfew had been imposed on the state of Punjab, all means of communication and public travel suspended, and electricity supply interrupted. Media was strictly censored. It was on the night of June 5 that the actual army action began with the army storming Harmandir Sahib under the command of Major General K.S. Brar who acted under the direction of General K Sundarji. The militants were not easy to subdue as they had sophisticated weaponry. In the end tanks had to be used against the Akal Takht before the army had full control of Harmandir Sahib by the morning of June 7. Bhindranwale was found dead as was Shubeg Singh. While many militants were killed, there were also many casualties among the army personnel as well as civilians.

Aftermath The operation caused great disturbance to the Sikhs all round the world. Many Sikhs left the Indian Army. Even mutinies by Sikh soldiers were reported. But it did put an end to militancy in the state and cleared the Golden Temple complex of arms and ammunitions, at least for the present.

But the assassination of a prime minister is also to be seen as the result of Operation Blue Star. On the morning of October 31, 1984, while walking over from her house to her office she was shot by her Sikh security guards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. She was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, but she did not survive. Though it was generally known that Indira Gandhi had died, All India Radio and Doordarshan made the official announcement only in the evening.

The Indira Gandhi era was over. Her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as prime minister by President Zail Singh that very evening after Congress leaders unanimously decided that he should take the post.