Why bhindranwale killed

No Sikh in history had ever sullied the Golden Temple complex by spilling blood in its sacred precincts, before Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale turned the Akal Takht and the Gurdwara into a place of torture, of murder, and of daily sacrilege. The temple had been desecrated in the past, indeed, repeatedly, by the enemies of Sikhism, who sought to destroy it or, as did Ahmad Shah Abdali. In , Abdali actually razed it to the ground and filled up the sacred Sarovar with blood and entrails of animals.

Scores of Sikhs laid down their lives, first to defend it and later, to restore it to greater glory. Despite the long history of Sikh warfare, however, no Sikh ever sought to occupy the Temple, to establish temporal legitimacy, or to exploit its sanctuary for the projection of armed power.

Only once before had a group of Nihangs occupied the burjis towers of the temple complex in , after some dispute over the administration of the Temple. When Maharaja Dalip Singh sent an armed contingent to expel them, they immediately abandoned the sanctuary, declaring that they would not spill blood on the holy ground. But no principles, no rules, no scruples and no morality bound Bhindranwale. For him, any Sikh who criticised him became an immediate target of his lethal violence.

He simply branded such dissidents patit deviant or 'fallen' Sikhs and sent out his hit squads to silence them. When Bhindranwale was forced out of the Guru Nanak Niwas of the Golden Temple Complex by rival Babbar Khalsa terrorists in December , he fled to the Akal Takht, and established his 'darbar' and housed his armed gangs on its upper floors.

No religious leader, not even the Gurus, had ever been allowed to live in the Akal Takht. To make matters worse, the Guru Granth Sahib was placed in the main hall on the ground floor and every evening the most sacred copy of Granth, the Bir from the main temple, Harmandir Sahib, was placed in a room there. For any man to stand above the Guru Granth Sahib was an act of absolute sacrilege. To turn the upper floors into living quarters, to engage in profane activities, was an act of utter contempt for the hallowed symbols of the faith.

Negotiators failed to convince Bhindranwale to abandon the hideout. Then PM Indira Gandhi ordered a military operation to evacuate the militants holed up inside the temple. Beginning June 1, the army extensively moved into Punjab. After cutting off the media telecasts, water and electricity, and bringing the state to a halt, the army fought pitched battles with Sikh extremists in several parts of Punjab.

Finally, it attacked the Harmandir Sahib Complex on June 5. Between 42 to 74 other locations, most of them gurudwaras, were also attacked. By June 7, the army had defeated the militants and gained control of the temple complex. By June 10, the operation was over. Bhindranwale was killed in the operation. The assassination of Indira Gandhi in turn led to an anti-Sikh pogrom, where around Sikhs were killed. In there was another operation at the Golden Temple complex, but most of the militants managed to escape.

While Operation Blue Star brought condemnation for Ms Gandhi, it elevated Bhindranwale to the status of a martyr in the eyes of many Sikh bodies. However, the Khalistan movement subsided over the next two decades.

But over last few years, isolated voices have again started to surface demanding the formation of separate Khalistan. The clashes in Jammu and some sporadic violence in the Golden Temple shows even after two decades Bhindranwale remains an emotional figure for the Sikh people at large. While Punjab is firmly rooted in the Indian mainstream and a full blown secessionist movement is highly unlikely, latent strains of Sikh nationalism cascading into such sporadic violence in the future also cannot be ruled out.

Latest News. T20 World Cup. I grabbed Behr by the waist and dragged him out, and myself, to safety. By May , it was evident that something catastrophic was going to happen at the temple. Intrigue hung heavy in the air as everybody, even Bhindranwale, felt insecure.

Several mutilated bodies then appeared in gunny bags here and there and the local police had a rough time dealing with them, fishing them out of the gutters. One of these, evidently, was that of Baljit Kaur, the Dalit woman who had shot Sodhi because she believed he had killed her husband.

Policemen who put together that body said they had not seen such brutal torture before. It was in this atmosphere of rising blood-letting, revenge killings and suspicion that Bhindranwale raised the pitch, and Indira Gandhi decided to strike.

He posed for pictures under a portrait of Bhindranwale, steel arrow and all, and argued passionately that his sant was not a separatist.

He only demanded autonomy for states, which is the norm now. He was deliberately misunderstood, he said. That is why, because of their belief in decentralisation, the rag-tag group of Bhindranwale supporters that he leads had extended support to the Aam Aadmi Party.

But then, as the conversation went on, he relaxed. He was no ordinary human. But in Punjab of , so many were not willing to believe what they could see, hear and comprehend. They simply believed what they wanted to believe. India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own.

There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism. Baljeet kaur herself admitted that she was contracted to kill Sodhi and Bhindrawale by Akali Leaders. Her partner was Surinder Shinda who killed Sodhi and later Sikhs took revenge within 24 hours.

Stop spreading lies. Your information is wrong. Indian politicians and media made him cruel but he was very nice ,friendly. I know that media is sold to govenment. Saint jernail Singh Bhinderwale was a living Tiger. He said that Sikhs are not Hindu. His Dare devilness will always remember.

His open support to Khalistan movement lead him to death. A great voice of our college days. Sant Bhindernwale a true Sikh. Hindus were chauvinist and insecure about his strength. Hate mongers can keep on hating. Sikh community has already recognized him the greatest. Moreoever, Bhinderawnwale stood on actual core values of the land. You hindus have become like goras with no faith moral-less attitude. Nobody is going to give shit to Indira Gandhi, a demagogue leader, who once was ditched by her own lovers after emergency.

Self styled patriots who are in power and talking nonsense. When Bhinderanwale was alive, nobody dared to say anything. Mr Shekhar Gupta and alike were like ducks who shamelessly go to him and listen to him.