CHAPTER NINE
CONCLUSION
From what has been stated in the foregoing chapters, one fact has
been established beyond doubt that there is some basic mistake in
understanding the genesis of Punjab problem. The politician-police
nexus played a wicked game and made the situation turn worse. Instead
of viewing the problem in the right perspective, they mishandled
the situation as a mere "Law and order problem" and deliberately
did not go to the roots of the problem, which lie in the anarchic
and anti-public policies of the rulers. Even if the leaders like
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale were instrumental in getting the
situation going out of control, it cannot escape our mind that the
attack on Golden Temple by the Indian Army and the mass genocide
of Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of the country in November, 1984,
played more dangerous role in aggravating the situation. It could
be understood from few instances in hand. Firstly, the then Prime
Minister, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own security guards
who were incidently Sikhs. They had no personal grudge or enmity
to settle against her. As a matter of fact, they were known as most
trusted security guards and what they did was simply an outburst
of the hatred against the Prime Minister for ordering the attack
on their highest religious shrine and killing thousands of innocent
pilgrims and destroying rare and valuable Sikh scriptures. Secondly,
Sukhdev Singh alias "Sukha" and Harjinder Singh alias
"Jinda" killed General A.S.Vaidya in Pune only to take
revenge for ordering the Indian Army to attack Golden Temple, which
they respected the most. None of the assassins had any personal
grudge or enmity against their prey, nor the act was intended to
create terror in the minds of the general public. It was thought
to be an act for restoring the glory of the Sikh religion, because
it is a historical fact that nobody can live long after attacking
the Golden Temple of the Sikhs. The Sikh consider it a martyrdom
to prefer death after eliminating every person responsible for the
dastardly act of attacking their highest religious shrine, the Golden
Temple, Amritsar. Thirdly, hundreds of Sikh army men deserted from
their duty and marched towards the Golden Temple to protect the
shrine and the religion. It is altogether a different story that
whether they were killed or arrested and tried for court martial,
but all these incidents were the outcome of a religious fervor and
extreme annoyance at the discriminatory policies of the government.
So, it was essentially a political rather than a "Law and order"
problem. And the most tragic part of it is that nobody tried to
solve it and instead tried to add fuel to the fire by either rewarding
those who committed atrocities on Sikhs or by giving them cabinet
berths in the Central government. These acts certainly aroused hatred
in the minds of people which fueled them to take the gun which culminated
in the turmoil of an unprecented magnitude. The discussion in earlier
chapters is only an indication of the sordid situation. No one,
except the victim, could imagine the pain and agony which the people
of the state suffered for over a decade.
Different organs of justice system, instead of performing their
task showed no or very little concern at the increasing incidents
of police atrocities. The political scenario of the State was allowed
to degenerate to fulfill the wicked policies of the vested interests.
Human rights were placed at the backseat and a life had no value
in this sordid situation. The misery of the people is still the
same as was in the past i.e. an animal waiting for his turn to be
butchered after the other. Every evil of the system has undermined
the authority of the law in such a manner that there is no way out
for the people to even expect a minimum of fair and impartial trial
from the Court. The situation has become so disturbing that nobody
is even allowed to raise his voice against this atrocious attitude
of the government. It is considered an offence to speak against
the police highhandedness and whosoever dares to speak against it,
becomes a soft target for the police and booked under NSA or NDPS
Act etc.
The memories of those days still create panic in the villages of
Punjab and haunt the people at night. Only in the hope of getting
relief from those dark days, the people had voted for Shromani Akali
Dal which has failed to fulfill even a single promise made with
the people. The people are engulfed in a dilemma and fear of revival
of terrorism in the State is gaining ground, only because justice
has been consistently denied to the people and no attempt has been
made to heal their wounds and. Political participation of the people
in the administration has remained abysmal low even after restoration
of popular rule in the State. Similar is the position of police
highhandedness, corrupt and non-transparent policies at the administrative
level. Wails of People in rural areas is a cry in the wilderness
for getting even the minimum of basic living amenities. Funds are
being mis-used for personal gains and grants reach the wrong hands,
stalling the development work. The most piquant question of unemployment
has remained unaddressed all these years. Another problem is assuming
proportion because flocks of migrant labourers have descended and
permanently settled here and the original habitants have been reduced
to minority. These migrants forcibly occupy government land and
after few years when they become a strong vote bank for the politicians,
they are given alternative site on private land acquired by the
government from the rural belt of the State. This menace is also
affecting the social life of the common citizen.
Every concerned citizen is worried and looks out for a permanent
solution to the Punjab problem and gives different arguments in
this direction. In our considered view, the Punjab problem is a
religio-political problem and has to be solved through a political
initiative and with serious efforts. The first thing, the State
government must do is, to bring a complete re-shuffling in the police
administration. Police personnel who were given out of turn promotions
for their acts of "bravery" in fighting terrorism should
be brought back to their own rank and those facing court cases or
CBI inquiries or even departmental proceedings should be suspended,
pending trial or inquiry. The secret funding to aid the police officials
in court cases should be stopped forthwith and complete data with
regard to the properties and income of each police official should
be maintained and strict action should be taken against evrey public
servant found possessing property disproportionate to his known
sources of income. This would go a long way in bringing transparency
in the police force and restoring their battered image in the eyes
of common man. Further, there should be an agency within the force
to ensure accountability in the force. Un-necessary police districts
created during the militancy period should be disbanded and those
police officers who are posted at a single station for the last
many years should be shifted in order to curb malpractice and corruption.
Then there is great need to heal the wounds of the people. The Shromani
Akali Dal has to ultimately address this demand, if it has to retain
its vote bank and regain lost glory among the people. The Punjab
problem is undisputedly two dimensional: Post Blue Star and the
Pre-Blue Star phase. The attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest
Sikh shrine, was taken as an attack on the Sikh religion itself
and the Sikh conscience. The question in the mind of every right
thinking person in and outside Punjab has been that when Jallianwala
Bagh massacre, a tragedy of much smaller magnitude was perpetrated
by General Dyer, even an alien government was forced to appoint
an inquiry commission that put Dyer in the dock. Whereas the Indian
Army assault resulted in wanton destruction and loss of life many
times more than at Jallianwala Bagh, no impartial inquiry has been
instituted by the so-called Panthik Government. This contrast is
too disturbing, glaring and humiliating to be forgotten by the Sikhs.
Therefore a judicial commission should be constituted to find out
the persons responsible for desecration of the holiest Sikh shrine
Golden Temple and other 40 Sikh shrines in Punjab in June 1984 and
guilty must be punished . The scope of inquiry of the Commission
should be widened to pin-point the persons responsible for the mass
genocide of Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of the country in November,
1984 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31st October, 1984
and recommend penal action against them. The redressal of excesses
committed by Punjab police during 1984-95 is also an important task
of the Commission. It must inquire into the causes and effects of
the killings of hundred and thousands of people in the State and
should trace the role of Police, civil and Judicial administration
in failing to check State repression, its abetment and prolongation.
The Commission whose members should be persons of unimpeachable
integrity, must also go into the following questions and give their
detailed finding on each issue:
(a) Whether from 1979 to 1997 the Punjab police carried out directly
or indirectly any fake encounter, summary execution, forced disappearance,
illegal detention, torture and other kinds of atrocities resulting
in the violation of human rights as guaranteed under the Constitution
of India;
(b) Whether the State agencies/individuals have prima facie committed
any offence under the law of the land.
(c) To suggest the remedies available to the victims of the aforementioned
atrocities including their entitlement to compensation from the
State and its agencies.
(d) Whether the State judiciary committed any irregularity or failed
in its duty to do justice or favored any particular person or agency
while discharging its function.
Nobody would have any objection if the scope of inquiry is even
extended to include the examination of the records of judicial processes
and judgments during the years of terrorism; to identify the judicial
officers who failed to discharge their constitutional obligations
and to honor their oath to dispense justice without fear or favour;
and to take suitable action to ensure that the judicial and criminal
justice does not collapse or fail.
There cannot be two opinions that situation in Punjab requires a
sound, long term political solution. There is the spectre of armed
revolution by the militants seeking an independent Sikh homeland.
This extreme step is clearly the result of betrayal, gross injustice
and brutality of the Congress government against the Sikhs. Even
those Sikhs who are against the formation of Khalistan are increasingly
getting disillusioned by the policies and actions of the present
rulers. No Sikh can be a passive on-looker when he sees his community
being humiliated, its places of worship destroyed and desecrated,
its traditional institutions decimated and its youth killed or jailed.
There is virtually no law to protect the innocent against the cruelty
perpetrated by the massive deployment of police, para-military and
other agencies who seem not to be accountable for their actions.
It is thus imperative to find a long lasting solution to the Punjab
problem. Few suggestions could prove helpful in this direction,
if serious efforts are made by the concerned parties.
Firstly, the solemn commitment made before Independence for creation
of an autonomous Sikh State within India should be honoured. It
will result in India emerging a stronger rather than a weaker country.
If Jammu & Kashmir demand similar autonomy, there's no harm
in granting it without any bloodshed.
Secondly, general amnesties for all detainees held under TADA or
political charges, should be given.
Another step for the restoration of permanent peace in the State
would be to extend the limitation period from one year to ten years,
for filing complaints before the Punjab State Human Rights Commission
by way of State notification and give it more teeth by making the
compliance of its orders compulsory, otherwise there is no fun in
wasting huge amount of Rs.3 crore annually from the State exchequer
on a defunct body with no teeth and authority over police force.
By extending the limitation period from one year to ten years, many
victims of the yesteryears would be able to approach the Commission
for redressal of their grievances. The argument against this relaxation
that it would open floodgates of litigation, is absurd and to be
outrightly rejected, because justice can not be denied to anybody
simply because it would increase the workload of the commission.
Moreover, when there is no limitation in the Code of Criminal Procedure,
then why the Commission has been handcuffed with only a period of
one year for hearing a complaint of human right violations.
If the State government does not behave sensibly and respond positively,
they would be digging their grave for all times to come.
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