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ROOTS OF INSURGENCY Punjabi Suba Movement Punjab, after Indian independence, had large Hindi speaking areas in the south and the west. In the 1960's many Akali leaders started agitating for a Punjabi speaking state. When the census was done to decide the division of Punjab, many Punjabi speaking Hindus decided to put Hindi as their native language instead of Punjabi. Many Sikhs viewed Punjabi Hindus as traitors for abandoning the cause of Punjab and Punjabi language. After the division of Punjab on linguistic purpose, Punjab received a Sikh majority for the first time. Waters of Punjab Rivers The center government gave the waters of rivers passing through Punjab to neighboring states such as Haryana and Rajasthan. Many Sikhs saw this as an effort to disenfranchise Sikh farmers in Punjab and give the water to Hindu farmers in neighboring states. Most Sikhs were farmers so the issue of river water was more important to Sikhs than Hindus. Most Punjabi Hindus were involved in non-farming occupations such as retail trade and manufacturing so the Hindus did not see particular importance in river waters issue. Many Sikhs saw this as an another indications that the Hindus were traitors to the Punjab cause. History of independence cause Many Sikhs were proud of their involvement in the Indian independence struggle against Britain. About 80% of the people sentenced to death or life imprisonment under the British for challenging them were Sikhs. This was despite the fact that Sikhs were less than 1.50 % of the total population in British IndiaSikhs were also highly represented in Indian military before and after independence of India. Many Sikhs viewed the Indian government as treating them as second class citizens even though they made so many sacrifices for Indian independence. Economic Issues When the Green Revolution came to Punjab, it transformed the landscape of the state. Punjab saw increase on prosperity because of the Green Revolution. Punjab had occupational differences between Hindus and Sikhs. Most Sikhs were farmers and lived in the rural areas of Punjab. Most Hindus, were urban based and were involved in retail trade and manufacturing. Many Sikhs were still struggling despite the green revolution because the average farm size decrease after every generation. These economic causes also contributed a lot to the Punjab insurgency. Bhindranwale and undermining the Akalis The second reason was attempts made by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi to use Bhindranwale to undermine the Akali Dal (Eternal Party), a religious party. The strategy backfired because Bhindranwale started challenging Indira Gandhi and the Indian government. Bhindranwale and his followers became a source of disruption and mayhem. Bhindranwale gained a lot of support from the rural Sikhs because they felt alienated from the Indian government.Their disruptions became so bad that in 1984 , Indira Gandhi had to order the Indian Army to flush out Bhindranwale and his followers who were holed up in the Golden Temple complex, Sikhism's most holy shrine, in Amritsar. The operation undertaken by the army was codenamed Operation Bluestar . Many Sikhs viewed Operation Bluestar as a poltical tool used by Indira Gandhi to win the elections that were to be held in few months after Operation Bluestar. OPERATION BLUESTAR Operation Bluestar was a mixed success. Negotiations were held with Bhindranwale and his supporters who were holed up in the Golden Temple Complex. After all negotiations failed, Indira Gandhi ordered the army to storm the temple complex. A variety of army units along with paramilitary forces surrounded the temple complex on June 3 , 1984 . But their calls for peaceful surrender were met with gunfire from within the complex and the army was then given the order to take the complex forcefully. The army had grossly underestimated the firepower possessed by the militants and they had to bring in Tanks and Heavy Artillery to suppress the anti-tank and machine-gun fire. After a 24 hour firefight, the army finally wrested control of the temple complex. According to Indian Government sources 83 army personnel were killed and 249 injured while insurgent casualties were 493 killed and 86 injured. Along with insurgents, many innocent worshippers were caught in the middle. The estimates of innocent people killed in the operation range from a few hundred to thousands of people. EFFECT OF OPERATION BLUESTAR The attack on the Golden Temple inflamed the sikh community. Many saw it as an attack on their Religion and beliefs. Operation Bluestar, instead of decreasing militancy, give rise it. It is widely believed that the two Sikh bodyguards who assassinated Indira Gandhi on October 31 , 1984 , were driven by their anger over the Golden Temple episode. In the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination, mobs rampaged through the streets of Delhi and other parts of India over the next few days, killing several thousand Sikhs. The New Delhi Police did little to stop the rioters and order was restored only when the army had been called in, three days after rioting had begun. {Link without Title} REPERCUSSIONS OF THE RIOTS The Anti-Sikh Riots across Northern India had repercussions in Punjab. Thousands of innocent Hindus and Sikhs were killed by sikh extremists; trains were attacked and people were shot after being pulled from buses. Indira Gandhi's son and political successor, Rajiv Gandhi , tried, unsuccessfully, to bring peace to Punjab. Successive governments, like the Janata Dal government, also tried to bring peace to Punjab but failed. Between 1987 and 1991 , Punjab was placed under President's rule and was governed from Delhi . Elections were eventually held in 1992 but the voter turnout at 24% was poor. A new Congress(I) government was formed and it gave the Police chief of the state K.P.S. Gill a free hand. Gill was ruthless against the insurgents and his methods severely weakened the insurgency movement. However, Gill's reign is also regarded as one of the bloodiest in the history of the country, thousands of innocents were killed in fake encounters and countless disappeared from their homes in the dark. His police force was also accused of crimes such as Rape and Torture of women and children. The insurgency all but disappeared during the early 1990's because of the crackdown by the police and the general abadonment of the insurgent's cause by the Punjab populace. Many people have said that the causes of Punjab insurgency are still there even though the insurgency was put down. REFERENCES SEE ALSO |
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