biography


Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Khalsa
BornJarnail Singh Brar
12 February 1947
Rode, Faridkot District, Punjab (British India)
Died6 June 1984 (aged 37)
Akal Takht Complex, Amritsar, Punjab (India)
NationalityIndian
EthnicityPunjabi
OccupationHead of Damdami Taksal
ReligionSikhism
SpouseBibi Pritam Kaur
ChildrenIshar Singh and Inderjit Singh[1]
ParentsJoginder Singh and Nihal Kaur



Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (Punjabi: ਜਰਨੈਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਭਿੰਡਰਾਂਵਾਲ਼ੇ [dʒəɾnɛl sɪ́ŋɡ pɪ̀ɳɖɾɑ̃ʋɑɭe], born Jarnail Singh Brar[2] (Punjabi: ਜਰਨੈਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਰਾੜ)) (12 February 1947 − 6 June 1984) was the leader of the Damdami Taksal, a Sikh religious group based in India,[3] who supported implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.[4][5][6][7] In 1981, Bhindranwale was arrested for his suspected involvement in the murder ofJagat Narain, the proprietor of the Hind Samachar Group. He surrendered to police and was later released due to lack of evidence. Bhindranwale was also, however, kept on close watch by Indian police officials. Bhindranwale is more notable for his involvement in Operation Blue Star in which he and his supporters who believed in Bhindranwale's objectives, occupied the Akal Takht complex, including the Golden Temple, inAmritsar.[8][9] He was killed by the Indian Army, who had orders from Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove all armed militants inside the temple. Since his death, Bhindranwale has remained a controversial figure in Indian history. While the Sikhs' highest authority Akal Takhtdescribes him as a great martyr of the Sikh community, who made a supreme sacrifice for the sake of righteous faith, others, such as the Indian government, view him as a misguided militant.

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[edit]Early life

Bhindranwale was born in the village of Rode, in the Faridkot District located in the region of Malwa (Punjab). The Grandson of Sardar Harnam Singh, His father, Joginder Singh, was a farmer and a local Sikh leader and his mother was Nihal kaur.[1] Jarnail Singh was the seventh of seven brothers and one sister. He was brought up as a strict vegetarian.[10] In 1965, he was enrolled by his father at the Damdami Taksal, a religious school, near Amritsar, Punjab, then headed by Gurbachan Singh Khalsa.[1] After a one year course in Sikh studies he returned to farming again. He continued his studies under Kartar Singh, who was the new head of the Taksal. He quickly became the favourite student of Kartar Singh.[11] Kartar Singh was fatally injured in a car accident and nominated Bhindranwale as his successor, in preference to his son Amrik Singh. Amrik Singh later became close associate of Bhindranwale.[12]
He married Pritam Kaur, daughter of Sucha Singh of Bilaspur.[1] His wife bore him two sons, Ishar and Inderjit Singh, in 1971 and 1975, respectively.[1] Pritam Kaur died of heart ailment at age 60, on 15 September 2007 in Jalandhar.[13]

[edit]Rise to popularity

In Punjab, Bhindranwale went from village to village as a missionary and asked people to live according to the rules and tenets of Sikhism. He preached to disaffected young Sikhs, encouraging them to return to the path of Khalsa by giving up vices like drugs, alcohol and tobacco.[14]His focus on fighting for the Sikh cause made appealed to many young Sikhs. Due to his religious background as a preacher and head of the most prestigious Sikh school of learning (Damdami Taksal), his followers formally called him Bhindranwale Mahapurkh, which meant "The Great Spritual Man from Bhindran". Bhindranwale became the new leader of the Damdami Taksal when Kartar Singh Khalsa, the successor to Gurbachan Singh Khalsa, who died in a road accident on 16 August 1977, nominated Bhindranwale.[1] Bhindranwale was formally elected at a bhog ceremony at Mehta Chowk on 25 August 1977.[1]
Bhindranwale participated in some behind-the-scenes political work. In 1979, when Bhindranwale put up forty candidates in the SGPC elections for a total of 140 seats, he won only four of the seats.[15]A year later, Bhindranwale campaigned actively for Congress in three constituencies' during the general elections.[16] Due to his lack of success in election politics, he later claimed he did not personally seek any political office. According to a 1984 Time Magazine article, Bhindranwale's popularity reached such a peak that he overthrew the authority of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a Punjab-based Sikh political party.[17] In any event, Bhindranwale did wield a great deal of power, and the political factions within Punjab could not commit any major action without considering Bhindranwale's reaction.[18]
Bhindranwale was widely perceived to be a supporter of the creation of a Sikh majority state of Khalistan. In a BBC interview, he stated that if the government agreed to the creation of such a state, he would not refuse. Other quotes attributed to Bhindranwale on Khalistan include "we are not in favour of Khalistan nor are we against it". Responding to the formation of Khalistan he is quoted as saying, "I don't oppose it nor do I support it. We are silent. However, one thing is definite that if this time the Queen of India does give it to us, we shall certainly take it. We won't reject it. We shall not repeat the mistake of 1947. As yet, we do not ask for it. It is Indira Gandhi's business and not mine, nor Longowal's, nor of any other of our leaders. It is Indira's business. Indira should tell us whether she wants to keep us in Hindostan or not. We like to live together, we like to live in India."[19] To which he added, "if the Indian Government invaded the Darbar Sahib complex, the foundation for an independent Sikh state will have been laid."[20] The BBC reported that he was daring law enforcement to react to his actions of fortifying the Golden Temple in order to bolster support.[21]

[edit]Role in the militancy

On 13 April 1978, a group of Amritdhari Sikhs of Akhand Kirtani Jatha went to protest against Nirankaris. The confrontation led to the murder of thirteen of demonstrators. The killing of the protesters disturbed many Sikhs. The Nirankari leader, Gurbachan Singh was even escorted to the safety of his home in Delhi by the Punjab police. When a criminal case was filed against him, the Baba had his case transferred to neighboring Haryana state, where he was acquitted the following year. The Punjab government Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal decided not to appeal the decision.[22] Among Sikhs there was a great frustration at this perceived sacrilege and the legal immunity of the perpetrators. This gave rise to new organizational expressions of Sikh aspirations outside the Akali party. It also created an unfortunate sentiment amongst some that if the government and judiciary would not prosecute perceived enemies of Sikhism, taking extrajudical measures could be justified.[23] The chief proponents of this attitude were the Babbar Khalsa founded by the widow, Bibi Amarjit Kaur of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, whose husband Fauja Singh had been at the head of the march in Amritsar; the Damdami Taksal led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who had also been in Amritsar on the day of the outrage; the Dal Khalsa, formed with the object of demanding a sovereign Sikh state; and the All India Sikh Students Federation, which was banned by the government.
When the Nirankari Baba who was allegedly responsible for the thirteen deaths in Amritsar was himself shot to death on 24 April 1980, Bhindranwale openly celebrated the development, which put him under suspicion. The FIR named nearly twenty people involved in the murder, most of whom had ties to Bhindranwale.[24] A member of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Ranjit Singh, surrendered and admitted to the assassination three years later, and was sentenced to serve thirteen years at the Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Lala Jagat Narain, the editor of a widely circulated paper in which he had campaigned against Punjabi being adopted as a medium of instruction in Hindu schools, urged Hindus of Punjab to reply to government census that Hindi and not Punjabi was their mother tongue and decried the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. He had also been present at the clash between the Nirankaris and the Akhand Kirtani Jatha.[25] Jarnail Singh had often spoken against him, so when the well-known editor was found killed on 9 September 1981, once again, his involvement was suspected. Two days after the assassination, police issued warrants for the arrest of Bhindranwale. A police search in Chando Kalan, a Haryana village, failed to produce an arrest. Upon seeing this, Bhidranwale publicly announced that he would surrender on 20 September.[26] On 20 September 1981, Bhindranwale surrendered to the police at a function held in a Gurudwara Gurdarshan Parkash.[27] Over the next twenty-five days while Bhindranwale was held in custody, sporadic fights erupted in areas where Bhindranwale's accomplices had gathered. Bhindranwale was released on bail on 15 October as India's Home Minister,Giani Zail Singh announced in the Parliament that there was no evidence against Bhindrawale.[28] He left the Ferozepur jail a hero.[29]

[edit]Sanctuary in the Golden Temple


Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal, a prominent Sikh politician, and Sant Bhindranwale worked together for the implementation of Anandpur Sahib Resolution
The law and order situation started to deteriorate. While the Akalis pressed on with their two-pronged strategy of negotiations and massive campaigns of civil disobedience directed at the Central Government, others were not so enamoured of nonviolence. Communists known as “Naxalites”, armed Sikh groups – the “Babbar Khalsa” and “Dal Khalsa (International)”, criminal gangs and the police clashed, and sometimes worked hand in hand. A covert government group known as the Third Agency was also engaged in dividing and destabilizing the Sikh movement through the use of undercover officers, paid informants and agents provocateurs.[30] Bhindranwale himself always wore a pistol belt and encouraged his followers to be armed.[31]
In July 1982, Sant Longowal invited Sant Jarnail Singh Bindranwale to take up residence at the Golden Temple compound. He called the tough-minded Sant “our stave to beat the government.” [32] Bhindranwale subsequently took shelter with a large group of his armed followers, in the Guru Nanak Niwas (Guest house), in the precincts of the Golden Temple.[10]
In late July 1983, finding an increasing number of his followers arrested day by day, Bhindranwale left his base in Chowk Mehta to start a peaceful campaign for their release from the Golden Temple complex. From there, he joined his campaign to the Akali campaign for their political, economic, cultural, and religious demands.[33] In the chaos of Punjab, Bhindranwale developed a reputation as a man of principle who could settle people's problems about land, property or any other matter without needless formality or delay. The judgement would be accepted by both parties and carried out. This added to his popularity.[34]
On 15 December 1983, finding himself in danger of being arrested for threats he had made against some nationalist organizations, Sant Jarnail Singh and his entourage moved to the holy Akal Takhat over the objections of Giani Kirpal Singh, the head priest of the place. Bhindranwale used his political connection with Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president of the Gurdwara committee and the man responsible for keeping the peace in the Golden Temple complex, to overrule the head priest.[35] He fortified the temple with light machine-guns and sophisticated self-loading rifles were brought in.[24] Mark Tully and Satish Jacob wrote, "All terrorists were known by name to the shopkeepers and the householders who live in the narrow alleys surrounding the Golden Temple. ...The Punjab police must have known who they were also, but they made no attempt to arrest them. By this time Bhindranwale and his men were above the law."[36]

[edit]Death

On 3 June 1984 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi initiated Operation Blue Star and ordered the Indian Army to surround the Golden Temple complex to remove armed militants from the complex. Bhindranwale did not survive the operation.[37][38]
According to Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh Brar, who commanded the operation, the body of Bhindranwale was identified by a number of agencies, including the police, the Intelligence Bureau and militants in the Army's custody.[37] Bhindranwale's brother is also reported to have identified Bhindranwale's body.[39] Pictures of what appear to be Bhindranwale's body have been published in at least two widely circulated books, Tragedy of Punjab: Operation Bluestar and After and Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle. BBC correspondent Mark Tully also reported seeing Bhindranwale's body during his funeral.
People who maintain that he survived the operation include Dilbir Singh, the Public Relations Advisor at Guru Nanak Dev University.[38] He stated that Bhindranwale was injured on the right side of his temple. He stated, "a government doctor verified he was captured alive. He was tortured to death."[40][41] R.K. Bajaj, a correspondent for Surya magazine, claimed to have seen a photograph of Bhindranwale in custody.[42] This claim is strongly contested, especially by Bhindranwale's son who has now become a prominent figure within Sikh politics. Some within the Damdami Taksal claimed he is still alive and well. Thus he is suppose to come back and reactivate the fight for freedom from indian opression and finish the Dharam Yudh Morcha.[3][38]

[edit]Legacy

Cynthia Keppley Mahmood wrote in Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues With Sikh Militants that Bhindranwale never learned English but mastered Punjabi. He was adept at television, radio and press interviews.[43] Keppley further stated that "those who knew him personal he is a great person \
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was praised by many Sikhs as a martyr of our times,[44] but by others he was considered a militant.[3] Though journalist Khushwant Singh believed himself to be on Bhindranwale's hit list (although there is not any evidence Sant Bhindranwale kept a hitlist, let alone really knew who Khushwant Singh was[45]), he allowed that the Sikh preacher-become-activist genuinely made no distinction between higher and lower castes, and that he had a restored thousands of drunken or doped Sikh men, innured to porno films, to their families,[46] and that Operation Blue Star had given the movement for Khalistan its first martyr in Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.[47] In 2003, at a function arranged by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Joginder Singh Vedanti, former jathedar of the Akal Takht made a formal declaration that Bhindranwale was a "martyr" and awarded his son, Ishar Singh, a robe of honor.[48] Harbans Singh's The Encyclopedia of Sikhism describes Bhindranwale as "a phenomenal figure of modern Sikhism."[49]
Vir Sanghvi, one of India's leading political commentators said, "Bhindranwale remains a martyr in the eyes of many Sikhs."[50] Bhindranwale is also criticised as being directly responsible for the instigation of Operation Blue Star after he intentionally turned the Akal Takht into a fortress, but the question unanswered by the government of India is why 38 other gurdwaras in Amritsar were also desecrated on the same day.[51]
According to Joyce Pettigrew, in her 1995 book, The Sikhs of the Punjab: Unheard Voices of State and Guerrilla Violence:
“The army went into the Darbar Sahib not to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to suppress the culture of a people, to attack their heart, to strike a blow at their spirit and self-confidence.”

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Singh, Sandeep. "Saint Jarnail Singh Bhindrenwale (1947–1984)". Sikh-history.com. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  2. ^ Singh, Sandeep. "Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (1947−1984)". Sikh-history.com. http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/bhindrenwale.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-18
  3. ^ a b c Lamba, Puneet Singh (2004-06-06). "Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale: Five Myths". The Sikh Times. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  4. ^ "Bhindranwale firm on Anandpur move". The Hindustan Times. 1983-09-05.
  5. ^ "Bhindranwale, not for Khalistan". The Hindustan Times. 1982-11-13.
  6. ^ "Sikhs not for secession: Bhindranwale". The Tribune. 1984-02-28.
  7. ^ Joshi, Chand (1985). Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. p. 129. ISBN 0706926943.
  8. ^ Kaur, Naunidhi (2004-06-03). "Flashbacks: Golden Temple attack". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  9. ^ "India". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  10. ^ a b Singh, Tavleen (2002-01-14). "An India Today-100 People Who Shaped India". India Today. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  11. ^ Deol, Harnik (2000). Religion and Nationalism in India: The Case of the Punjab. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 041520108X.
  12. ^ Tully, p. 54
  13. ^ "Bhindranwale's widow dead". The Tribune. 2007-09-16. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  14. ^ Kashmeri, Zuhair; Brian McAndrew (2005). "Section 3". Soft target: the real story behind the Air India disaster. James Lorimer & Company. p. 40. ISBN 1550289047.
  15. ^ Singh, Khushwant (2005). A History of the Sikhs: Volume II: 1839–2004. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 332. ISBN 0195673093.
  16. ^ Tully, p. 177.
  17. ^ Lopez, Laura (June 1984). "India, Diamonds and the Smell of Death". Time (June 25, 1984).
  18. ^ Robin, Jeffrey (1994). What's Happening to India? (2nd ed.). New York: Holmes & Meier Publishing. pp. 146–147. ISBN 0841913501.
  19. ^ Sandhu (1999), p. LVI.
  20. ^ Sandhu (1999), p. LVII.
  21. ^ "Player – 1984: Troops raid Golden Temple". BBC News. 1984-06-06. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  22. ^ Cynthia Keppley Mahmood, Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues with Sikh Militants, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996, pp. 58–60; Gopal Singh, A History of the Sikh People, New Delhi, World Book Center, 1988, p. 739.
  23. ^ Singh (1999), pp. 365–66.
  24. ^ a b Sandhu, Ranbir S. (1997-05). "Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale – Life, Mission, and Martyrdom"(PDF). Sikh Educational and Religious Foundation. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  25. ^ Jalandhri, Surjeet (1984). Bhindranwale. Jalandhar: Punjab Pocket Books. p. 25.
  26. ^ Chowla, K.S. (2003-10-18). "Tributes to a peacemaker". The Tribune. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  27. ^ Jalandhri, Surjeet (1984). Bhindranwale Sant. Jalandhar: Punjab Pocket Books. p. 53.
  28. ^ Tully, p. 69.
  29. ^ Gopal Singh, A History of the Sikh People, New Delhi, World Book Center, 1988, pp. 742–44.
  30. ^ Gopal Singh, A History of the Sikh People, New Delhi, World Book Center, 1988, pp. 755–56; Zuhair Kashmiri and Brian McAndrew, Soft Target: How the Indian Intelligence Service Penetrated Canada, Toronto, James Lorimer and Company, 1989, pp. 93, 130; Singh (1999), p. 366-67, 373, 398.
  31. ^ Singh (1999), pp. 380–81, 387–88.
  32. ^ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 337.
  33. ^ J.S. Grewal, “The Sikhs of Punjab”, The New Cambridge History of India, Cambridge, 1998, p. 222.
  34. ^ Khushwant Singh, “The Genesis,” The Punjab Crisis: Challenge and Response, Abida Samiuddin, ed., Delhi, K.M. Mittal, 1985, p. 98; Lt. Gen. J.S. Aurora, “If Khalistan Comes – The Sikhs will be the Losers”, Punjab – The Fatal Miscalculation: Perspectives on Unprincipled Politics, eds. Patwant Singh and Harji Malik, New Delhi, Patwant Singh, 1984, p. 140.
  35. ^ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 339–40; Gopal Singh, A History of the Sikh People, New Delhi, World Book Center, 1988, p. 753.
  36. ^ Tully, p. 94.
  37. ^ a b Brar, K. S. (1993). Operation Blue Star: The True Story. New Delhi: UBS Publishers. p. 114.ISBN 8185944296.
  38. ^ a b c Kaur, Naunidhi (2001-06-23). "The enigma of Bhindranwale". Frontline. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  39. ^ Akbar, M. J. (1996). India: The Siege Within: Challenges to a Nation's Unity. New Delhi: UBS Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 8174760768.
  40. ^ Pettigrew, Joyce (1995). The Sikhs of the Punjab: Unheard Voices of State and Guerrilla Violence. London: Zed Books. pp. 34–35. ISBN 1856493555.
  41. ^ Pettigrew (1995), p. 51.
  42. ^ Jaijee, Inderjit Singh (1999). Politics of Genocide: Punjab (1984–1998). New Delhi: Ajanta Publications. p. 59. ISBN 8120204158.
  43. ^ Keppley, Cynthia (1997). Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues With Sikh Militants. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 77. ISBN 0812215923.
  44. ^ "Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale". Shaheedi Immorality. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
  45. ^ "Sant Jarnail Singh". Sikh Coalition. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
  46. ^ Khushwant Singh, “I Felt I Should Reaffirm My Identity as a Sikh,” The Punjab Crisis: Challenge and Response, Abida Samiuddin, ed., Delhi, K.M. Mittal, 1985, p. 320; Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 329–30.
  47. ^ Singh (1999), p. 378.
  48. ^ "Takht accepts Bhindranwale’s death". The Tribune. 2003-06-06. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  49. ^ Singh, Harbans, ed (1996). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Patiala, India: Punjabi University. Vol. 2, p. 352. ISBN 817380530X.
  50. ^ Sandhu (1999), p. XL.
  51. ^ Marty, Martin E. (1995). The Fundamentalism Project. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 596–597. ISBN 0-226-50878-1.

[edit]Bibliography

  • Sandhu, Ranbir Singh, "Struggle for Justice: Speeches and Conversations of Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale" (Dublin, Ohio: Sikh Educational & Religious Foundation, 1999
  • Singh, Sangat (1999) The Sikhs in History, New Delhi, Uncommon Books
  • Dilgeer, Harjinder Singh (2011) Sikh History in 10 volumes (vol. 7, 9), Waremme, Sikh University Press
  • Tully, Mark; Satish Jacob (1985). Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-02328-4.

[edit]External links

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