(This is a three part series. Part-I can be read here)
The Shiromani Akali Dal, established in 1920 to wrest gurdwara control from hereditary priests, became the primary Sikh political voice. During partition negotiations, leaders like Nehru, Jinnah, and Liaquat Ali Khan proposed various arrangements for Sikhs, including a separate homeland in Eastern Punjab within Pakistan. However, partition led to massive riots and migration, scattering Sikhs globally.
Post-partition, Sikhs initially controlled a large territory including today's Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh until trifurcation in 1966, carving out Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, left them without a clear majority anywhere. Master Tara Singh championed Sikh rights before his death in Chandigarh. The Akalis later challenged the Indian Constitution's Article 25(2)b, arguing it incorrectly classified Sikhs as Hindus.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) promotes the ideology that Sikhs are part of the broader Hindu fold rather than a distinct religion. RSS ideologue Ram Swarup authored "Hindu Sikh Relationship" arguing that Guru Nanak's teachings were merely a Hindu reform movement with anti-Islamic elements, despite historical evidence that Nanak's close companion Mardana was Muslim and that Sikhism emerged as a syncretic tradition.
To advance this narrative, the RSS created the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat as a parallel organization aimed at "uniting" Sikhs under Hindu identity. This approach has consistently faced rejection from mainstream Sikh institutions and communities who maintain their distinct religious identity.
The complexity and dangers of this ideological project continued over the decades and were evident in the murder of Rulda Singh, an RSS-affiliated Sikh activist, in Patiala's grain market in 2009. Singh had reportedly been working to rehabilitate overseas Khalistan supporters by offering to clear their cases and facilitate their return to mainstream Indian politics.
His missions to the UK, USA, and Canada were apparently part of this reconciliation effort. However, his assassination by unknown assailants highlighted the deep mistrust and violent opposition such initiatives faced from radical Sikh separatist elements abroad, who viewed any RSS-connected outreach as a betrayal of Sikh independence aspirations.
In 1947, the year India gained independence and Pakistan was created, Jarnail Singh Brar was born in the small village of Rode in Punjab's Moga district to a Jat family. He would later become known as Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, revered as a ‘godman’ by many Sikhs worldwide and central to the Khalistan movement.
Neither he nor his village could have predicted he would eventually control Punjab and die as a martyr for a cause many Sikhs consider sacred. The question remains: was it a genuine religious cause or political ambition that created this phenomenon?
By the early 1980s, R&AW's Kao and Raman, operating from room 7 at Bikaner House, were attempting to negotiate with overseas Khalistan supporters in Canada, UK, and USA while engaging with Bhindranwale, who had by then armed his followers and established parallel governance with kangaroo courts in Punjab.
In 1977, Bhindranwale became head of the Dam Dami Taksal at Chowk Mehta Gurudwara, 40 kilometers from Amritsar's Golden Temple. As 'Sant' (Saint), his orthodox Sikh teachings and charismatic leadership allowed him to baptise and motivate followers. Punjab's politics were dominated by the Akali Dal, led by heavyweights G.S. Tohra, H.S. Longwal, and Prakash Singh Badal (who later formed SAD). At the centre, Indira Gandhi's Congress had Home Minister Zail Singh, himself from a Gurdwara background, who would later become India's President.
Since Punjabis despised Congress politics under Gandhi, Zail Singh strategically propped up Bhindranwale in state politics to break Akali dominance, inadvertently creating a new force that would spiral beyond control.
The Congress government, through Zail Singh, initially propped up Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to counter the Akali Dal's political influence. The turning point came on Baisakhi 1978 when the Akali government permitted Nirankaris (considered non-orthodox by mainstream Sikhs) to meet near the Golden Temple.
Violent clashes erupted, killing Nirankari leader Baba Gurbachan Singh and 14 others. This polarised situation forced the Akali Dal to support Bhindranwale to maintain credibility with their Sikh base.
As India prepared for the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi, Akali leader H.S. Longowal threatened disruptions to protest unresolved issues like the Punjab-Haryana water dispute. Bhindranwale dismissed negotiations with Indira Gandhi, mockingly calling her "the Brahmin lady and Pandit's daughter."
The Congress response was severe harassment of Sikhs. Haryana CM Bhajan Lal ordered ruthless police action against Sikh travelers crossing through Haryana to reach Delhi. The persecution was so extensive that even Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh was questioned about his credentials. This further alienated the community, inadvertently strengthening Bhindranwale's radical appeal over moderate Akali politics.
As Bhindranwale’s supporters began targeting every dissenter, it not only spread panic and fear, it also sowed seeds of communal disharmony as many of the targets included Hindus like Lala Jagat Narain of Hind Samachar, who was gunned down in 1981, and intellectuals like Avtar Singh Pash.
While Kao negotiated with hardliners in North America and UK, Dal Khalsa hijacked IC-423 (Delhi-Srinagar via Amritsar) to Lahore in 1981, demanding Bhindranwale's release. Indian High Commissioner Natwar Singh secured President Zia's cooperation, and Pakistan's SSG stormed the plane, releasing passengers and neutralizing hijackers.
Bhindranwale's influence surged as Punjab descended into violence with murders and kidnappings. Anyone opposing the Khalsa faced death. With ammunition and sympathy flowing from USA and Europe, Bhindranwale occupied Akal Takht within Golden Temple. Indian Army deserters joined him, including Major General Shabeg Singh, a 1971 war veteran who had treated Pakistani POWs humanely under Lt. General Niazi but became discontented and fortified the complex for Khalistan fighters.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the military assault on Golden Temple using armoured tanks and infantry on June 1, 1984. COAS General Vaidya and Western Command chief Lt. General Sundarji (architect of Operation Brasstacks and Cold Start Doctrine) led the operation. Military-grade equipment destroyed Akal Takht, killing Bhindranwale.
The operation scarred the Sikh community, which was viewed as a religious assault and military action against own citizens. Gandhi had used similar tactics in Mizoram (1966), where future Congressmen Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Kalmadi bombed Mizo National Army. Pilot had also bombed East Pakistan in 1971.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, following which the worst-ever pogrom against Sikhs was unleashed. Estimated 8,000 Sikhs were killed pan-India, more than 2,000 in Delhi alone. The then prime minister and Indira’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, justified the massacre by saying, “When a big tree falls, earth shakes,” epitomizing the state’s complicity.
Thirty-three years later, justice for the Sikhs remains elusive, the perpetrators like politicians Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler remain free. Children orphaned in 1984 are now middle-aged, passing traumatic stories to their own children while justice remains elusive.
Some victims live to tell their tales. Bhagi Kaur, who lost her husband and seven relatives on November 1, 1984, narrated her horrifying story to me. Surviving on a meager Rs 10,000 pension in Tilak Vihar, she says: "To everyone else, the riots took place 33 years ago, but for me, it feels like yesterday. Almost my entire family was wiped out... The culprits are still roaming free."
Laxmi Kaur, who lost her husband, five brothers and several relatives in that carnage, witnessed her husband killed with a kerosene-filled tire around his neck. After resisting sexual assault, mobs killed eight men hiding in her house and threw her infant son into flames. Though he survived, he remains paraplegic.
These victims knew nothing of Khalistan nor were engaged in separatist activities. For them, Operation Blue Star was simply an assault on their faith, the religion Guru Nanak created to transcend Hindu-Muslim divisions through universal spirituality. The pogrom transformed ordinary citizens into lifelong sufferers of state-sanctioned violence.
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