CHANDIGARH: Tensions are rising in Punjab following the election victories of Khalistani sympathisers. Moreover, recently, on the 40th anniversary of Operation Blue Star pro-Khalistan slogans were raised at the Golden Temple. On Thursday, some people gathered at the Golden Temple, carrying posters of the slain separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and shouted ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann was among those leading the slogans and displaying Bhindranwale’s posters within the temple premises.
Security has been heightened around the Golden Temple after the incident in anticipation of such gatherings. “Security arrangements have been made here. Forces have been deployed and barricading has been done. Any untoward incident will be monitored,” stated Senior Superintendent of Police SS Randhawa Singh. On the other hand, Amritpal Singh, a Khalistani Sikh separatist won the Khadoor Sahib seat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election with 4,04,430 votes. Amritpal Singh is known for leading a violent mob attack on the Ajnala Police Station on February 23, 2023. Following a 25-km police chase in Punjab’s Jalandhar district on March 18, part of which was live-streamed on Facebook from his SUV, he was in hiding after that and then caught by the police from Rode village in Punjab’s Moga district a few days later. Uttarakhand Police have labelled Amritpal one of the most wanted criminals in the country, issuing public alerts in Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
Punjab police have also arrested Amritpal Singh’s alleged financier Daljeet Singh Kalsi, a Punjabi film actor, in Gurugram.
The crackdown on Amritpal and his supporters continues, with Punjab Police claiming he is establishing a nascent militia called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) to pursue the creation of Khalistan, a sovereign Sikh state. The arrest of Tejinder Gill, alias Gorkha Baba, a close associate of Amritpal, provided further evidence. Khanna SSP Amneet Kondal revealed that Gill’s phone contained images of the proposed Khalistan state’s emblem, logo, and currency bills, as well as a hologram logo of AKF and its armed members.
“The members comprised youngsters who came for de-addiction (like Tejinder) and were later indoctrinated and given weapons training,” said Kondal. Videos from a makeshift firing range in Amritpal’s native village of Jallupur Khera were also discovered. The police have seized several firearms, including 12-bore double-barrel guns, 0.315-bore rifles, and 0.32-bore revolvers, along with ammunition and vehicles. Regular firing practice and military drills were conducted at this range, with trained youths subsequently recruited into the AKF and paid salaries.
Bhindranwale was the head of the radical Sikh outfit Damdami Taksal. He and his armed followers were killed during Operation Blue Star, launched by the Indian Army to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex in June 1984. On June 6, 1984, the Indian Army, under orders from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, stormed into the Golden Temple to contain Sikh militancy led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in Punjab. It was reported that Bhindranwale had stashed large quantities of arms on the Golden Temple premises. The operation was heavily criticised, and months later, on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, at her New Delhi residence.
Talking to The Sunday Guardian, Sikandar Singh, Professor of History from a private university in Chandigarh stated that Operation Blue Star remains a contentious and emotional event in Indian history. The election of Khalistani supporters and the renewed pro-Khalistan agitation have heightened tensions in the region, underscoring the enduring impact of the operation and the ongoing struggle over Sikh separatist sentiments.