Insurgency in Punjab, India
Insurgency in Punjab, India | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Affected areas are coloured in Red | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
India |
Supported by: Pakistan[4][5] | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
S.V.M. Tripathi |
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale † Shabeg Singh † Amrik Singh † Manbir Singh Chaheru Labh Singh † Kanwaljit Singh Sultanwind †[9] Paramjit Singh Panjwar Jagjit Singh Chohan Ranjit Singh Neeta Aroor Singh Avtar Singh Brahma † Gurjant Singh † Navroop Singh † Navneet Singh Khadian † Pritam Singh Sekhon † Gurbachan Singh † Balwinder Singh Talwinder Singh Parmar † Sukhdev Singh Babbar † Wadhawa Singh Babbar | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
|
Bhindranwale Tigers Force of Khalistan Supported by:
| ||||||
Strength | |||||||
150,000-500,000[11][12][10]: 405
| 6,000 at peak[12] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,768 police officers (per K.P.S Gill)[13]: 134 [14] 1,700 soldiers (per Inderjit Singh Jaijee citing K.P.S Gill)[13]: 134 | 7,946 insurgents[14][15][16] | ||||||
11,690 non-combatants deaths (according to the government) Independent estimates vary (See End of violence section)[14][15][17][18]35,000 civilians and militants arrested/detained under TADA. (223 were convicted) 27,000 others arrested/detained.[13]: 288–292 |
The Insurgency in Punjab, India was an armed campaign by the militants of the Khalistan movement from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.[19] Economic and social pressures driven by the Green Revolution prompted calls for Sikh autonomy and separatism. This movement was initially peaceful, but foreign involvement and political pressures drove a heavy handed response from Indian authorities. The demand for a separate Sikh state gained momentum after the Indian Army's Operation Blue Star in 1984 aimed to flush out militants residing in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a holy site for Sikhs.[20] Terrorism, police brutality and corruption of the authorities greatly exacerbated a tense situation. By the mid-1980s, the movement had evolved into a militant secessionist crisis due to the perceived indifference of the Indian state in regards to mutual negotiations.[21] Eventually, more effective police and military operations, combined with a policy of rapprochement by the Indian government and the election loss of separatist sympathizers in the 1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, largely quelled the rebellion by the mid-1990s.[22]
The Sikh separatist leader
Bhindranwale was credited by the government with launching Sikh militancy in Punjab.[28] Under Bhindranwale, the number of people initiating into the Khalsa increased. He also increased the awareness amongst the populace about the ongoing assault on Sikh values by politicians, alleging their intentions to influence Sikhism and eradicate its individuality by conflating it with Pan-Indian Hinduism.[28] Bhindranwale and his followers started carrying firearms at all times for self defense.[28] In 1983, he along with his militant followers occupied and fortified Akal Takht.[29] While critics claimed that he entered it to escape arrest in 1983, there was no arrest warrant issued in his name, and he was regularly found giving interviews to the press in and outside the Akal Takht. He made the Sikh religious building his headquarters and led a campaign for autonomy in Punjab with the strong backing of Major General Shabeg Singh. They then took refuge in the Akal Takht as the extrajudicial violence against Sikhs increased in the months before Operation Bluestar.[30]
On 1 June 1984, Operation Blue Star was launched to remove him and the armed militants from the Golden Temple complex. On 6 June, on Guru Arjan Dev Martyrdom Day, Bhindranwale was killed by the Indian military in the operation.[31] The operation carried out in the Gurudwara caused outrage among the Sikhs and increased the support for Khalistan Movement.[19] Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in vengeance by her two bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh.[32] Public outcry over Gandhi's death led to the slaughter of Sikhs in the ensuing 1984 Sikh Massacre.[33] These events played a major role in the violence by Sikh militant groups supported by Pakistan and consumed Punjab until the early 1990s when the Khalistan movement was eventually crushed in Punjab.[34]
Background
In the 1950s the Punjabi Suba movement for linguistic reorganisation of the state of Punjab and status for the Punjabi language took place, which the government finally agreed to in 1966 after protests and recommendation of the States Reorganisation commission.[19] The state of East Punjab was later split into the states of Himachal Pradesh, the new state Haryana and current day Punjab.[35]
The process of Sikh alienation from the national mainstream was set in motion shortly after Independence due to the communalism of national and regional parties and organization including the
While the Green Revolution in Punjab had several positive impacts, the introduction of the mechanised agricultural techniques led to uneven distribution of wealth. The industrial development was not done at the same pace of agricultural development, the Indian government had been reluctant to set up heavy industries in Punjab due to its status as a high-risk border state with Pakistan.[37] The rapid increase in the higher education opportunities without adequate rise in the jobs resulted in the increase in the unemployment of educated youth.[19] The resulting unemployed rural Sikh youth were drawn to the militant groups, and formed the backbone of the militancy.[38]
After being routed in
The
Dharam Yudh Morcha
Bhindranwale had risen to prominence in the Sikh political circle with his policy of getting the Anandpur Sahib Resolution passed.[27] Indira Gandhi, the leader of the Akali Dal's rival Congress, considered the Anandpur Sahib Resolution as a secessionist document although it was purely humanitarian and according to earlier promises by the government but rejected.[26] The Government was of the view that passing of the resolution would have allowed Punjab to be autonomous.
As high-handed police methods normally used on common criminals were used on protesters during the Dharam Yudh Morcha, creating state repression affecting a very large segment of Punjab's population, retaliatory violence came from a section of the Sikh population, widening the scope of the conflict by the use of violence of the state on its own people, creating fresh motives for Sikh youth to turn to insurgency.[41] The concept of Khalistan was still vague even while the complex was fortified under the influence of former Sikh army officials alienated by government actions who now advised Bhindranwale, Major General Shabeg Singh and retired Major General and Brigadier Mohinder Singh, and at that point the concept was still not directly connected with the movement he headed.[41] In other parts of Punjab, a "state of chaos and repressive police methods" combined to create "a mood of overwhelming anger and resentment in the Sikh masses against the authorities", making Bhindranwale even more popular, and demands of independence gain currency, even amongst moderates and Sikh intellectuals.[41] Extrajudicial killings by the police of orthodox Sikh youth in rural areas in Punjab during the summer and winter of 1982 and early 1983, provoking reprisals.[42] Over 190 Sikhs had been killed in the first 19 months of the protest movement.[43]
Operation Blue Star
Counterintelligence reports of the Indian agencies had reported that three prominent figures in the operation, Shabeg Singh, Balbir Singh and Amrik Singh had made at least six trips each to Pakistan between the years 1981 and 1983.[4] The Intelligence Bureau reported that weapons training was being provided at gurdwaras in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The KGB had reportedly tipped off the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) about the CIA and the ISI working together on a plan for Punjab, codenamed "Gibraltar". The RAW, from its interrogation of a Pakistan Army officer, received information that over a thousand trained Special Service Group commandos of the Pakistan Army had been dispatched into the Indian Punjab to assist Bhindranwale in his fight against the government. A large number of Pakistani agents also travelled through smuggling routes in Kashmir and Kutch for three days ending on 8 June. The Indian government initiated a clean-up operation throughout Punjab, codenamed Operation Woodrose.[4]
The army had underestimated the firepower possessed by the militants. Militants had Chinese made
Assassination of Indira Gandhi and anti-Sikh riots
Operation Bluestar was criticized by many Sikhs bodies who interpreted the military action as an assault on Sikh religion.[53] Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in vengeance by her two Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh.[32]
Public outcry and instigation of the public by several high-profile politicians and actors
Militancy
Since the November 1984 pogrom, the Sikhs considered themselves a besieged community.[60] The majority of Sikhs in Punjab would come to support the insurgents as harsh police measures, harassment of innocent Sikh families, and fake encounters from the state had progressively increased support, and provided fresh motives for angry youth to join the insurgents, who were extolled by the community as martyrs as they were killed by police.[60] Police activity discriminatory towards Sikhs increased alienation greatly, triggering indiscriminate militant incidents.[60] However, the insurgent groups were also highly vulnerable to infiltration by security forces, providing possible motive as to frequent assassination of those suspected of being informants.[60]
A section of Sikhs turned to militancy in Punjab; some Sikh militant groups aimed to create an independent state called
An anthropological study by Puri et al. had posited fun, excitement and expressions of masculinity, as explanations for the young men to join militants and other religious nationalist groups. Puri et al. stated that undereducated and illiterate young men, and with few job prospects had joined pro-Khalistan militant groups with "fun" as one of the primary reasons, asserting that the pursuit of Khalistan was the motivation for only 5% of "militants".[62][63] Among the arrested militants were Harjinder Singh Jinda, who was a convicted bank robber and had escaped from prison, Devinder Singh Bai, a suspect in murder case and was Bhindranwale's close associate, and two drug smugglers, Upkar Singh and Bakshish Singh.[64] However, retired Indian Army general Afsir Karim had described "myths" that had become part of the conventional wisdom of the establishment, including that of "Sikhs have no cause to be dissatisfied or disgruntled" or "have no grievances", or that "terrorism and violence is the work of a handful of misguided youth and criminals and can be curbed by strong measures taken by the state law and order apparatus", stating that the terrorism was a preliminary stage of insurgency in Punjab, that it was well organized, and that the militants were highly motivated and that crime was not their motive.[65] Army leaders during the earlier operation had noted that "it was now evident that this was no rabble army, but a determined insurgent army fired up with religious fervour."[47] The movement would only begin to attract lumpen elements in the late 1980s, joining for the allure of money rather than the long cherished cause of a separate homeland for the Sikhs,[66] as well as by entryists like Naxalites who "took advantage of the situation for their own ends."[61]
According to Human Rights Watch in the beginning, on the 1980s, militants committed indiscriminate bombings in crowded places, as Indian security forces killed, disappeared, and tortured thousands of innocent Sikhs extrajudicially during its counterinsurgency campaign.[67] On the same day, in another location, a group of militants killed two officials during an attack on a train.[30]: 174 Trains were attacked and people were shot after being pulled from buses.
The Congress(I)-led Central Government dismissed its own Punjab's government, declaring a state of emergency, and imposed the President's Rule in the state.[30]: 175
The Operation Blue Star and Anti-Sikh riots across Northern India were crucial events in the evolution of the Khalistan movement. The nationalist groups grew in numbers and strength.
The opportunity that the government had after 1984 was lost and by March 1986, the Golden Temple was back in control of Sikh institution Damdami Taksal.[4] By 1985, the situation in Punjab had become highly volatile. In December 1986, a bus was attacked by Sikh militants in which 24 Hindus were shot dead and 7 were injured and shot near Khuda in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.[69][70] By the beginning of 1990, the Sikh militancy had begun to kill proportionately more Sikhs than Hindus. In the period of 1981–1989, 5,521 people, including 451 police personnel had been killed by terrorists. In the period 1990–1991, 6,000 people, including 973 police officers, paramilitary, home guards and special police personnel had been murdered.[71] Militant organizations such as Babbar Khalsa began issuing edicts in an attempt to restore ideological justification for the millitancy which had now acquired significant criminalization in its praxis. Schools were ordered to mandate religious uniforms and ban skirts for girls, other demands included the promotion of the Punjabi language, a proscription on alcohol, cigarettes, meat and certain wedding conduct. Militants set fire to various bank branches to enforce their promotion of Punjabi, journalists and newspaper deliverymen were gunned down to coerce the media into portraying the militants in a more favorable light and to append honorific titles before certain militants' names.[72]
1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | Total | Source | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Innocents killed | 339 | 55 | 478 | 815 | 1839 | 1800 | 1800 | 7126 | [73] |
Police or security personnel killed | 20 | 8 | 42 | 95 | 42 | 428 | 440 | 1075 |
Alleged Pakistan involvement
According to Indian general Afsir Karim, there was "nothing to suggest that the initial break between Sikhs and the national mainstream was engineered by outside agencies."
In 1964, Pakistani state-owned
Since the early 1980s, for the fulfillment of these motives, the spy agency Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan became involved with the Khalistan movement.
A three-phase plan was followed by the Punjab cell of ISI.[4]
- Phase 1 had the objective to initiate alienation of the Sikh people from rest of the people in India.
- Phase 2 worked to subvert government organisation and organize mass agitations opposing the government.
- Phase 3 marked the beginning of a reign of terror in Punjab where the civilians became victims of violence by the militants and counter-violence by the government, due to which a vicious cycle of terrorism would be induced and utter chaos would ensue.[4]
The ISI also attempted to make appeals to the five-member Panthic Committee, elected from among the religious leaders of the Panth at the Panj Takhts as the upholders of the Sikh religion, as well as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee due to its substantial financial resources,[4] and as both Sikh committees had major political influence over Punjab and New Delhi.[4]
ISI used Pakistani Sikhs as partners for its operation in the Indian Punjab. The militant training program was spread over and the Sikh gurdwaras on both sides of International border were used as place for residence and
The direct impact of these activities was felt during the Operation Blue Star where the Sikh insurgents fighting against the army were found to be well trained in warfare and had enough supply of ammunitions.[4] After the Operation Blue Star several modern weapons found inside the temple complex with the Pakistan or Chinese markings on them.[76]
Training and infrastructure
Pakistan had been involved in training, guiding, and arming Sikh militants.[4] Interrogation reports of Sikh militants arrested in India gave details of the training of Sikh youth in Pakistan including arms training in the use of rifles, sniper rifle, light machine gun, grenade, automatic weapons, chemical weapons, demolition of buildings and bridges, sabotage and causing explosions using gunpowder by the Pak-based Sikh militant leaders and Pakistani army officers. A dozen militant training camps had been set up in Pakistan along the International border. These camps housed 1500 to 2000 Sikh militants who were imparted guerrilla warfare training.[64] Reports also suggested plans of ISI to cause explosions in big cities like Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Delhi and targeting politicians.[77][78] According to KPS Gill, militants had been mainly using crude bombs but since 1990s more modern explosives supplied by Pakistan had become widespread in usage among them. The number of casualties also increased with more explosives usage by the militants.[4]
Weapons
By providing modern sophisticated weapons to the Sikh extremists, the Pakistani ISI was efficacious in producing an environment which conducted guerrilla warfare.[4]
A militant from
End of violence
Between 1987 and 1991,
Under his command, police had launched multiple intelligence-based operations like Operation Black Thunder to neutralise Sikh militants. Police were also successful in killing multiple high-value militants thus suppressing the violence and putting an end to mass killings.[79]
By 1993, the Punjab insurgency had petered out, with the last major incident being the assassination of Chief Minister Beant Singh occurring in 1995.[4]
1,714 security personnel, 1,700 soldiers, 7,946 militants, and 11,690 non-combatants were killed throughout the conflict. Some sources have stated higher figures for non-combatant deaths.[17][18][14][80]
Timeline
Date | Event | Source |
---|---|---|
March 1967 | Akali Dal heavily defeats INC Indian Congress Party in successive elections after 1967 Punjab Legislative Assembly election . |
|
March 1972 | Akali Dal loses in Punjab elections , Congress wins. |
|
17 October 1973 | Akalis ask for their rights through Anandpur Sahib Resolution |
|
25 April 1980 | Gurbachan Singh of Sant Nirankari sect shot dead. | |
2 June 1980 | Akalis lose suspect election in Punjab | [81] |
16 Aug 1981 | Sikhs in Golden Temple meet foreign correspondent about their views on Khalistan |
[82] |
9 Sep 1981 | Jagat Narain , Editor, Hind Samachar group murdered. |
[83] |
29 Sep 1981 | Sikh Separatists hijack aircraft to Pakistan. | [84] |
11 Feb 1982 | US gives Visa to Jagjit Singh Chauhan . |
[85] |
11 Apr 1982 | US Khalistani G.S. Dhillon Barred From India | [86] |
July 1982 | Sikh militants storm the parliament in a protest related to the deaths of 34 Sikhs who were tortured in police custody. | [87] |
4 Aug 1982 | Akalis demand autonomy and civil rights for Punjab | [88] |
11 Oct 1982 | Sikh stage protests at the Indian Parliament which is violently broken up | [87] |
Nov 1982 | Longowal threatens to disrupt Asian Games but Sikhs are mass arrested and abducted before reaching the games,protests disrupted | [89] |
27 Feb 1983 | Sikhs permitted to carry daggers in domestic flights | [90] |
23 April 1983 | Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Harmandir Sahib compound by an unknown gunman, widely believed to be anti-Damdami Taksal and anti-brindranwale Sikh group AKJ, who had also occupied the Darbar Sahib Complex with firearms |
[91] |
3 May 1983 | Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, talks of violence being perpetuated against Sikhs without being reported since 1977 in Haryana, Rajasthan and some villages of South Punjab and for India to act | [92] |
18 June 1983 | A detective inspector from Punjab police killed by Sikh militants. | [93] |
14 July 1983 | Four policemen killed by Sikh militants. | [93] |
21 September 1983 | Senior superintendent of Punjab Police wounded and his guard killed by Sikh militants. | [93] |
29 September 1983 | 5 Punjab Police constables killed by Sikh militants in a week. | [93] |
14 Oct 1983 | 3 people killed at a Hindu festival in Chandigarh | [94] |
5 Oct 1983 | 6 Hindu passengers dragged off bus and shot dead in 1983 Dhilwan bus massacre. | [95][93] |
6 Oct 1983 | President's rule imposed in Punjab | [93] |
Oct 1983 | 3 Hindus pulled off a train and killed. | [96] |
21 Oct 1983 | A passenger train was derailed and 19 agricultural labourers from Bihar were killed by Sikh militants along with 2 other passengers. | [93] |
18 Nov 1983 | A bus was hijacked and 4 Hindu passengers were killed by Sikh militants. | [93] |
9 Feb 1984 | A Hindu wedding procession in Hambran of Ludhiana district bombed by Sikh militants. 14 reported dead. | [97] |
14 Feb 1984 | Six policemen abducted from a post in Amritsar and one of them killed in captivity. | [91] |
14 Feb 1984 | More than 12 people killed in Sikh-Hindu riots in Punjab and Haryana. | [93] |
19 Feb 1984 | Sikh-Hindu clashes spread in North India. | [98] |
23 Feb 1984 | 11 Hindus killed and 24 injured by Sikh militants. | [99] |
25 Feb 1984 | 6 Hindus killed in a bus by Sikh militants, total 68 people killed over last 11 days. | [100] |
29 Feb 1984 | Bhindranwale still openely speaks of first seeking civil rights for Sikhs and Punjab before seeking Khalistan, as opposed to the AKJ group. | [101] |
28 March 1984 | Harbans Singh Manchanda, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president murdered. | [102] |
3 April 1984 | Militants popularity grows and so does instability in Punjab. | [103] |
8 April 1984 | Longowal writes – he cannot control Bhindranwale anymore |
[104] |
14 April 1984 | Surinder Singh Sodhi, a follower of Bhindranwale, shot dead at a temple by a man and a woman. | [105] |
17 April 1984 | Deaths of 3 Sikh Activists in factional fighting. | [106] |
27 May 1984 | Ferozepur politician killed by Sikh militants after confessing to fake police encounters with "terrorist" killings. | [107] |
1 June 1984 | Total media and the press black out in Punjab, the rail, road and air services in Punjab suspended. Foreigners' and NRIs' entry was also banned and water and electricity supply cut off. | [108][109][110] |
1 June 1984 | Operation Blue Star to remove militants from Harmandir Sahib commences, Punjab shut-down from outside world. | [111] |
3 June 1984 | Army takes control of Punjab's security. | [112] |
6 June 1984 | 5 day-long battle over control of the Golden Temple concludes. | [113][114] |
6 June 1984 | Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale shot dead by military. | [115] |
7 June 1984 | Indian military finally take full control of Harmandir Sahib after 8 days. Operation Bluestar concludes. |
[116] |
8 June 1984 | 27 Sikhs killed in protests in Srinagar, Ludhiana, Amritsar after Government forces indiscriminately fired on protesters. | [117] |
9 June 1984 | Weapons and Ammunition of Sikh militants inside the Golden Temple seized by Indian troops. 2 Indian troops and 4 militants killed in shootout on the outskirts of Amritsar. | [118][check quotation syntax] |
10 June 1984 | Reports of Anti-Sikh riots and killings in Delhi. | [119] |
11 June 1984 | Negotiators close to a settlement on waters. | [120] |
24 August 1984 | 7 Sikh militants abduct 100 passengers in 1984 Indian Airlines Airbus A300 hijacking . |
[121] |
31 October 1984 | Indira Gandhi assassinated by her 2 Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in retaliation for Operation Bluestar. | [122] |
1 November 1984 | In the retaliation of Indira Gandhi's assassination, 1984 anti-Sikh riots begin in Delhi. | [56] |
3 November 1984 | Anti-Sikh violence concludes. A total of 2,733 Sikhs were killed in the violence. | [56] |
23 June 1985 | Air India Flight 182 was bombed by Sikh terrorists killing 329 passengers (including 22 crew members); almost all of them Hindus | |
20 August 1985 | Harcharan Singh Longowal assassinated by Sikh militants. |
[123] |
29 September 1985 | 60% vote, Akali Dal won 73 of 115 seats, Barnala CM | [124] |
26 January 1986 | Sikhs have a global meeting and the rebuilding of Akal Takht declared as well as the five member Panthic Committee selected and have draft of the Constitution of Khalistan written. | [125] |
29 April 1986 | Resolution of Khalistan passed by Sarbat Khalsa and Khalistan Commando Force also formed at Akal Takht with more than 80,000 Sikhs present. | [126] |
25 July 1986 | 14 Hindus and one Sikh passenger killed in the 1986 Muktsar Bus massacre by Sikh militants. |
[127] |
30 November 1986 | 24 Hindu passengers killed in the 1986 Hoshiarpur Bus massacre by Sikh militants. |
[128] |
19 May 1987 | State Committee Member CPI(M) Comrade Deepak Dhawan was murdered at Village Sangha, Tarn Taran. | [129] |
7 July 1987 | Sikh militants from 1987 Lalru Bus massacre . |
[130] |
12 May 1988 | Operation Black Thunder II initiated to remove militants from Harmandir Sahib. |
[131] |
10 January 1990 | Senior Superintendent of Batala Police, Gobind Ram, killed in bomb blast in retaliation for him and his Hindu police officers along with the BSF gang-raping Sikh women during a search on Gora Choor village. | [132][133] |
15 June 1991 | 80 people killed on two trains by Sikh militants in 1991 Punjab killings. | [134] |
17 October 1991 | 40 people killed and 197 injured in 1991 Rudrapur bombings by Sikh militants in Uttarakhand. All of the victims were Hindu civilians. | |
25 February 1992 | Congress achieves a major victory in Punjab Assembly elections. | [135] |
7 January 1993 | Punjab's biggest police encounter done in village of Chhichhrewal Tehsil Batala; 11 Khalistani militants were successfully eliminated. | [135] |
31 August 1995 | CM of Punjab Beant Singh killed in bomb blast by Sikh militants. |
[136] |
See also
- List of terrorist incidents in Punjab, India
- 1984 Anti-Sikh riots
- 1987 Punjab killings
- 1991 Punjab killings
- Khalistan
- Operation Blue Star
References
- ^ Other parts of India on a smaller scale
- ISBN 978-81-85944-29-6.
- ^ Dogra, Cander Suta. "Operation Blue Star – the Untold Story". The Hindu, 10 June 2013. 9 Aug 2013.
- ^ Mahmood 1996, pp. Title, 91, 21, 200, 77, 19.
- ^ ISBN 978-1849048637. Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ a b Martin 2013, p. 190.
- ^ Mahmood 1996, p. 83: "Here, I concentrate on the epochal battle at the Golden Temple between the militants and the Indian Army that has spawned what we now know as the Khalistan movement."
- ISBN 978-8170621270. Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
Previously the conflict had been limited to a few radical groups, after [Operation Blue Star], it touched the whole of Punjab, with organized insurgency not taking root in Punjab until after the operation.
- ISBN 978-1317005414. Retrieved 10 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0-520-24011-7.
- ^ OCLC 42752917.
- ^ "Punjab Military Conflict" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 12 December 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ a b Telford, Hamish (1 August 2001). "Counter-Insurgency in India: Observations from Punjab and Kashmir". Journals of Conflict Studies. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ OCLC 42752917.
1,769 policemen and (according to Gill) an equal number of soldiers -say roughly 1,700- who were killed...In the same speech Gill also said "only 0.07 per cent of the 16,000 to 17,000 people held for militancy in Punjab were convicted as people were afraid to give evidence." He added that at present there were 700 militants under detention in Punjab and 1,700 policemen and an equal number of army men had lost their lives in tackling terrorism
- ^ a b c d Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015, 4th edition Archived 27 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Micheal Clodfelter, p. 608, McFarland
- ^ a b "Punjab Militant attacks". One India. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 August 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ "Operation Bluestar". DNA. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9781506385839, archivedfrom the original on 5 April 2023, retrieved 19 March 2023,
Casualty estimates vary widely, from 25,000 Sikhs and Hindus killed in the fighting to claims of an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 deaths, although these latter (higher) claims are disputed.
- ^ a b Sharma, Divya. Ethics, Ethnocentrism and Social Science Research. Routledge. p. 10. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
Martin does not cite any source for this information. In their work, Singh and Kim (2018) note that the official number of deaths during the insurgency was 30,000. Martin's estimates are closest to the estimates given by the Council of Khalistan.
- ^ ISBN 978-8131708347. Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ "How the Akalis let Bhindranwale take over the Golden Temple". Scroll.in.
The SGPC president, Mr Tohra and the moderate leadership of the Akalis helped Bhindranwale; otherwise nobody can live in the premises of the Golden Temple without the permission of the SGPC president. After all, Bhindranwale did not just walk in.
- ^ The Punjab Crisis: A disastrous case of failed negotiations (Report). South Asia Institute Department of Political Science University of Heidelberg. June 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ISSN 0971-5223. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Gupta, Shekhar (15 December 1993). "You can't get Khalistan through military movement: Jagat Singh Chouhan". India Today.
- ISBN 978-8131708347. Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-908059-5. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2013.)
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help - ^ ISBN 978-0-415-42190-4.
- ^ a b Joshi, Chand, Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1984), p. 129.
- ^ a b c Mahmood 1996, p. 77.
- ISBN 978-8173046711. Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-495-00749-4. Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
- ^ Asit Jolly (25 June 2012). "The Man Who Saw Bhindranwale Dead: Col Gurinder Singh Ghuman". India Today. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "Operation Blue Star: India's first tryst with militant extremism". Dnaindia.com. 5 November 2016. Archived from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-45666-1. Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ^ Documentation, Information and Research Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board, DIRB-IRB. India: Information from four specialists on the Punjab, Response to Information Request #IND26376.EX, 17 February 1997 (Ottawa, Canada).
- ^ Singh, Atamjit. "The Language Divide in Punjab". South Asian Graduate Research Journal. 4 (1, Spring 1997). Apna. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ a b c Karim 1991, p. 29.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-8791-8. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-8203-1765-6. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ a b Karim 1991, p. 30.
- ISBN 978-81-7154-529-2.
- ^ a b c Karim 1991, pp. 32–33.
- JSTOR 2758827.
- ISBN 978-0836456547.
- ^ Swami, Praveen (16 January 2014). "RAW chief consulted MI6 in build-up to Operation Bluestar". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 337.
- ^ a b "Sikh Leader in Punjab Accord Assassinated". LA Times. Times Wire Services. 21 August 1985. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ a b Operation Bluestar, 5 June 1984 Archived 8 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-0224023283. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2020.)
{{cite book}}
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Bibliography
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External links
- Times of India article on riots. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
- Amnesty International on Punjab lack of Justice and Impunity (archived 3 December 2006)