‘As per
Indian government (READ Indira Gandhi) Operation BLUE STAR had a mission, a
mission to eliminate a deadly terrorist who with his sub-ordinates took shelter
and had control of the Golden Temple in Amritsar’.
Sant
Bhindrawale as he was popularly known used to preach about the Sikh religion
basically to the youth of Punjab. The immense popularity in Punjab made him the
Saint as he was religious preacher and asked the Sikh people to abandon bad
habits like consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. He used to teach the
youth about the essence of pure Sikhism and asked them not to trim their beard
and study the holy scriptures of their religion.
Bhindrawale
became the head of the Damdami Taksal, a religious school in Moga,Punjab after
Kartar Singh Khalsa died in a road accident in 1977. According to a 1984 TIME magazine article, Bhindranwale's
popularity, power and presence reached such a peak that he overthrew the
authority of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a Punajb based Sikh political party.
The extreme
amount of power that he had lead to the violent incidents in Punjab with the
killings of Hindus and the killing of many leaders of whom Bhindrawale opposed.
Bhindrawale was arrested following the death of Lala Jagat Narain, the editor
of Punjab Kesri. The event saw violent outburst from the followers of
Bhindrawale and after a 25 days in the custody he was released and became a
hero for his supporters.
He shifted
his base to Akal Takth and made it his fortress with armed men all around.
After
numerous violent episodes, Bhindrawale posed a threat to all the political
parties of Punjab and the country which baffled the then Prime Minister of
India, Indira Gandhi. She ordered Operation BLUE STAR which had a mission, a
mission to eliminate a deadly terrorist who with his sub-ordinates took shelter
and had control of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
June 6,1984
was the day when Jairnal Singh Brar or Sant Bhindrawale was killed in Operation
BLUE STAR and with him died hundreds of
pilgrims who
were present
at Golden Temple. With this died a man who was a Saint for the Sikh people of
Punjab and a terrorist as per the Indian government.
There is
still a myth about his death, some say he is still alive and as per Lt.Gen.Kuldeep
Singh Brar, head of Blue Star, the dead body of Bhindrawale was identified by
police, several agencies and even by his brother and some other accomplices.
Some people
consider him as a Saint and regard him as a Martyr and some believe he was a
terrorist.
2 comments:
karl marx said "we should see a person in the context of the contemporary political, social and economic situation".. thats one reason why we can never hate any historical/political figure. Hitler also did it for his people..or atleast claimed so. so did Jarnail singh. For us, he may be a terrorist. but for his people, he was a semi-divine person.. a saint.
the ideology of marx can never be accepted in a country like India which is democratic.
and yes there have been leaders who worked for their people and for their rights but if he indulges in practices which results in murders and atrocities on others then he should not be treated as a saint. i am not saying that Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale was a terrorist, but he definitely was an extremist to the government and a saint to his people and followers.
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