Punjab political killings Part 2: Fuelled by murders of non-Sikh leaders, religious fault lines re-emerge in state

Editor’s note: The state of Punjab has been plagued by a series of political killings in recent times — many of which remain unexplained and unsolved. The latest of these was the  murder of Hindu Sangarsh Sena leader Vipan Sharma , who was shot dead in Amritsar last week. This is the first in a three-part series that seeks to shed some light on these mysterious killings that appear to share a very similar modus operandi.

Chandigarh: Much like the turbulent time of the 1980s, the fault line of religion is re-emerging in Punjab, anger on one side and fear on another. The spate of murders of non-Sikh religious leaders in the state since last year has established undercurrents of hostility in the region.

In Punjab, the 1980s was a chaotic decade. Miffed with the Centre over a host of issues, thousands of Sikhs took to arms to press for their demands. Gradually, militancy began to spiral out of the government’s control and a major armed uprising was imminent. To quell the rebellion, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered Operation Blue Star in 1984, which saw the Indian armed forces entering the Golden Temple – the holiest pilgrimage site of the Sikhs – and engaging with the militants hiding there in a six-day-long gun battle.

This was widely viewed as a desecration of Sikhism. About five months later, two Sikh bodyguards of Gandhi gunned her down. The resultant anti-Sikh sentiment snowballed into riots and massacres across north India. Revenge attacks on Hindus in Punjab followed.

Three decades after that stormy phase, 65-year-old Braj Bhushan Bedi feels that the vitiated atmosphere is returning. A prominent leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he said non-Sikhs in Punjab are a frightened lot today, much like they were back then. Noting that all the victims of last two years’ murders were people associated with promoting non-Sikh faiths, he likened it to the milieu of the 1980s and dubbed it the doctrine of extremism.

Recalling the intolerance towards other religions in those days, he said followers of other faiths could not take out religious processions and were compelled to follow certain protocols of Sikhism, such as having to cover their head and growing a beard. He said attempts to instil a similar sense of fear and subordination are underway. He said the similar modus operandi of the recent murders suggests they are a part of a common strategy.

Harpal Singh, 43, a member of five districts’ managing committee of Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS), said the memories of the militancy days have come back to haunt them. Commenting that the situation is similar, he said the Hindus are afraid because of the murders. He believes these attacks are being orchestrated to put Hindus in their place, to deter them from publicising their religion and celebrating their festivals. He blamed religious extremism for this situation.

Ludhiana-based journalist Sukhbir Singh Bajwa, 46, begs to differ. He said it is Sikhism that has been under attack for the past decade, adding that the Hindus or the DSS must be behind it. He said while there’s nothing wrong with promoting one’s religion, dissing another is pushing it too far.

He remarked that Sikh youth are fiercely protective of and sensitive about their religion and won’t put up with any unsavoury treatment directed at it. He said radical outfits talk such youth into joining their ranks, which is one of the reasons behind increasing communal incidents in the state.

The Dera factor

Journalist Rajkumar Sharma, 48, who has been doing a research on the relation between Deras and Punjab politics, described how the emergence and evolution of Deras changed the socio-political equation in the state. He said a few places in the state do not allow Dalits to enter Gurudwaras, inadvertently driving them to join the Deras. He said the state has 1,255 Deras at present, of which 119 boast of lakhs of followers. About 10 have crores of followers.

He said about 46 percent of Punjab’s population hails from Scheduled Castes and Backward Castes – the highest in the country – and about 80 percent of them are associated with Deras, which is why their voice holds sway.

Sharma explained that as Dalit votes got organised under these Deras and they began enjoying political patronage, they began to push back against Sikh hardliners. And this led to friction between the two groups. As it is, the Sikhs were miffed over the desecration of their holy text Guru Granth Sahib during the tenure of the Akali Dal government, causing simmering anger, which reached a boiling point with Deras’ newfound boldness.

Making martyrs of militants

Mahender Singh Kaka, 55, a resident of Sangrur district who works as a truck driver in Canada, revealed how Sikh militants are hailed as heroes there. Currently in his native village Saifipur Kalan, he told Firstpost some Gurudwaras in Canada tell that their religion is facing a constant threat from non-Sikh and Hindutva outfits and how the governments too back home are subjugating them. This propaganda is shared on social media to attract youth and alarmist speeches are followed by a collection of donations.

It is believed that the latest victim of these killings, Hindu Sangharsh Samiti’s Amritsar district president Vipan Sharma, was on the hitlist of Sikh hardliners owing to his vocal disapproval of 1980s militancy. On the anniversary of Operation Blue Star last year, he was a part of the group that burnt an effigy of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Sikh leader who spearheaded militancy. And Sharma got murdered just a day before the 33rd anniversary of Indira Gandhi’s assassination for ordering Operation Blue Star.

Hotbed for trouble

Social activist and president of the civic group Youth for Justice, Virender Singh, 29, said recruiting youth is easy for radical groups owing to the extent of unemployment and drug addiction in the state. Further, he pointed out that Punjab shares its western border with Pakistan, which is believed to be supplying arms and ammunition for militancy in the state. He said many farmlands in Punjab extend till the border and the Border Security Force often stumbles upon a cache of arms.

The impact of militancy in the state is evident. Now, RSS activities happen under police security as a pre-emptive measure to avoid attacks. Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said the police are committed to preventing the situation from deteriorating. He said if any Hindu leader perceives a threat, he can ask for police protection. Further, he said Special Investigation Teams are striving to get to the bottom of recent murders.

He said it’s too early to conclude that religious fundamentalism is behind these incidents since the investigating agencies don’t have any evidence in this regard. However, he said all possible angles are being explored. Ludhiana police commissioner RN Dhoke said they were examining how active the terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International is in Punjab. He said the seven youth associated with the group who were arrested in Ludhiana in September-end will be interrogated again to find out about the involvement of foreign-based radical Sikh organisations in these murders.

(Sat Singh and Manoj Kumar are freelance writers based in Rohtak and Chandigarh respectively. Both are members of  101Reporters.com , a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)

Read Part 1:  Too many agencies, too little progress; probe into 15 murders headed nowhere