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Operation Bluestar- UK link

Was Britain playing double game with Indira Gandhi ?

UK link to Operation Bluestar

By : Baljit Balli

First Published : Thursday, Jan 16, 2014 12:00 AM

Updated : Thursday, Jan 16, 2014 12:00 AM
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  Chandigarh, January : It is perhaps the surfacing of the documents indicating the back up support of the British government to the Indian government in executing Operation Bluestar, the army action in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar in June, 1984 that is more important than the revelation as thesame had earlier been hinted by ex-RAW officer B Raman in his memoirs. Ironically, the demand for Khalistan was also first raised from the British soil by Dr. Jagjit Singh Chohan in 1971 and it was some days later that he had inserted an advertisement in an American paper to that effect. The then Soviet Unionâ€™s spy agency KGB had openly come out in 1981 alleging CIA was active in Punjab to foment trouble. India at that time was in the Soviet block. Was there a design to encourage separatist tendencies to create a Buffer State the way Pakistan had been carved out to serve strategic designs of England. The Azad Kashmir is also stated to be part of that British design as revealed in his book by N S Sarila on the basis of secret documents in the British archives in his book â€˜The Untold Story of Indiaâ€™s Partitionâ€™. This author has linked the movement in Punjab to the strategic interests of USA in the book â€˜Khalistan Struggle: A Non-movementâ€™. The ground in Punjab had already become fertile by that time for this movement due to domestic factors. Here are some excerpts: Significantly, the rise of the militant movement in Punjab also coincided with the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, which was against the interests of United States and Pakistan. India was an ally of the Soviet Union. In view of the developments taking place in the Sikh religio-political matrix, the situation was becoming fertile in Punjab for the CIA and the ISI, which had joined hands to launch counter operations in Afghanistan against the Russian occupation. With the Sikhs feeling persecuted and discriminated against over the years, Punjab was the potential fault line. Punjab could be another buffer state in this strategic game to check the expansionist designs of the Soviet Union in case Pakistan became its next target. The logic extended by the Sikh radicals subsequently was different as the argument was that Khalistan would be a buffer state between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. The creation of Pakistan, apart from other factors, is also considered to be part of the strategic designs of the British to check the Soviet expansion. It was not without reason that during the pre-Bluestar period, the communists were listed as enemies by the AISSF. The activities of the Sikh secessionist organizations intensified after 1980. The supply of weapons to Sant Bhindranwale was initially arranged by Chohan from Pakistan, as claimed by him. These were mainly small weapons like pistols and revolvers. It was an open border with virtually free movement on both the sides. The farmers on the two the sides would even share lunch as fields touched the borderline and in some areas in Amritsar district, even the demarcation pillars were missing. Border villages thrived on smuggling. One of the conduits was Balbir Singh Sandhu, general secretary of the National Council of Khalistan headed by Chohan. Sandhu escaped to Pakistan during Operation Bluestar and died there years later. However, sophisticated weapons like the rapid fire Kalashnikovs appeared on the Punjab scene during the second phase, though some weapons of this category were spotted during the pre-Bluestar period also. Parts of consignments arranged through Sandhu also went to the Babbars. Chohan would later claim that Sant Bhindranwale would have been a sitting duck for the Indian army but for these weapons. He used to make much bigger claims. Sant Bhindranwaleâ€™s associates had earlier been provided licensed weapons by the government and it was these weapons that they would flaunt. Soviets expose of CIA design on Operation Khalistan The situation in Punjab was being closely monitored by international intelligence agencies. By the end of 1981, the Soviets had come out openly to expose what was described as the designs of the CIA in Punjab and the North-Eastern states. A UNI report from Moscow on December 30 said: â€œThe Soviet Union has accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of fomenting trouble in Punjab and the North-Eastern states. The official Soviet news agency Tass said in a communication today that although there was a distance of more than 2,000 kms between Punjab and the north-eastern region, reports from these two areas were alike.â€ â€œThe similarity of these crimes is not surprising. All of them have an anti-India slant and endanger the countryâ€™s security and territorial integrity. These were directed from one place â€“ the headquarters of the CIA at Langley, near Washington. It is there that all kinds of subversive operations, including the one code named â€˜Gibraltorâ€™ and â€˜Khalistanâ€™ are reportedly planned with the aim of separating from India some of its territory. The methods, directions and code names of the conspiracies against India have been changing over the years. However, their anti- India slant remains unchanged. The CIA also tried to overthrow the government of Jawahar Lal Nehru. The CIA seems to have shifted the emphasis of its subversive work to the northern regions of India and it is supporting the separatist elements in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir,â€ The Tribune reported on December 31, 1981. The two main radical organizations active at that time were Chohanâ€™s National Council of Khalistan and Dal Khalsa, though without any effective support base. It was Sant Bhindranwale who was creating base for the radical thought and support for militant outfits. The followers of Yogi Harbhajan Singh in US were frequent visitors to Punjab during that period interacting with the followers of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha. Whatever might be the designs of such forces, Punjab was fertile for radical thought that supported militancy and this was all the more important. What the Soviet Union had said at that time was a warning to the government in Delhi. Keeping in view Indiaâ€™s relations with that country, the KGB might have alerted New Delhi much earlier before going to the press. Subsequent events indicated that the policy adopted by the ruling Congress at the Centre also encouraged the forces of destabilization. Rather than opting for a political settlement with the Akalis to isolate the radicals and the militants, it went in for confrontation with the Akali Dal that provided these forces the space to function. Despite the Darbar Sahib complex having been put under constant watch, weapons were being smuggled in. This was not possible against the connivance of intelligence agencies. The Congress Party, which was described as the â€˜Hindu Congressâ€™ in the pre-Partition era, was using the Hindu card for short-term gains to retain power in the next Parliamentary elections. Mercurial Sikh leader Simranjit Singh Mann had vociferously raised the demand for Punjab as a buffer state between â€œHindu India and Muslim Pakistanâ€. The Indian government has all along maintained a studied silence on Operation Bluestar except coming out with a White paper which was nothing more than a propaganda against the militant movement. The government must come out with the truth. The Akali Dal in its manifesto for the 1997 Assembly elections had promised to order judicial inquiry into that period but after taking over as the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal backtracked. Perhaps truth is unpalatable to the Akali leaders also. Jagtar singh - jagtarsingh201@gmail.com - Mobile :91-9779711201
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