PUNIAB-SEPARATIST DEMANDSAND THE

CENTRE'S RESPONSE-
O8JECTIVES AND THE COURSE OF THE KHALISTAN MOVEMENT:

In Punjab, a movement known as he Khalistan movemed started in he 1970's

and its main objecive was to create gsepave stale for the Sikisg A series of
peaceful mass demonstatons were led by ihe Akali Dal to present the demands
of the people to the govenment The demands of the Akali Dal were baed on e
1he main objecives of he resoluton
Anmd Saleb resohrion were
a The federally administered city of Chandigarh should be tansferred to

Punjab.
b. The Punjabi speaking parts of Haryana should also be handed over to Punjab.
C. The centa government should have a mnimum role to play in he

d
administaton of the state
he enactment of an All ndia Gurudwara Act

Seats should be reserved for he Sikhs in he army.

ef They wanted the Sikh minorites living outside Punjab but within India to be

protected.
9 The Hindus wanted Hindi as language whereas he Sikhs wanted
he state
Punjabi in the Gurumukhi script to be used as the stale language
h. They wan ed Amri tsar to be declared as a holy city.

Inspite of the bifurcation of the state, the Sikhs believed hat they had suffered
he most after he partton The Akali Dal spearheaded the movement as it
wanted to establish its poliical hegemony over he region Thus it demanded for
he crealon of a separate state for the Sikhs. separaton was necessary as the

Sikhs spoke a differentlanguage and followed a different religion. The Congress,

however, ignored the aspiratons of the Sikhs.

to tackle the threat of he

Jarnnail Sngh Bhindramnvale was used by the Congress
Akali Dal. Buthe, soon, turned mili tant and it began to create problems for the
state. SantHaniharan Longwal along with Jarnail Singh went on to become
prominent leaders of the movement

The separatst initally went after fhe Nirmkais, Butit was no1long before the
movement turned communal as the eviremísts beRm io massecre the Hindus as well

In one of the cases a warrant was issued against Jarnail Singh where he agreed
o surrender to bearded policemen only He was released soon after due to the
lack of evidence and he returned as a hero to he common people. In the
meantme some students metat the Golden temple under the leadership of
Jagleet Singh to dermand for the creafon of Khalistan
As negotatons broke down between the state and he cente robberies, theft
and murder became common features of the state. Many Hindus fled from he
state. The ones who stayed behind formed the ndu Surkslka S h The situaton
reached a breaking point when Hindus passengers in bus were shotdown. As a
resui Presidenfs rule was declared in he state

Jarnail Singh took refuge in he Akal Takht and began to fortfy the Golden
emple. Food, arms and ammuniton was stockpiled within the golden terrple
These were indications that he mili tants were preparing for a clash with the
govermment In response the cente tackled he problem by launching Operaton
Bluestar to flush out the mili tants from the Golden temple
STATERESPONSE/CONSEQUENCESOFTHE KEHALISTAN MOVEMENT
1. Initlly, he Congress government tied to use Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale to
counter the threat of the Akali Dal but they failed.
2 ltappointed Giani Singh as the frst Sikh president of India to appease he
Sikhs. The Akali Dal, however, failed to win the over the supportof he
president Italso failed to win over he confidence of the chief minister of he
state
3 Many of the Sikhs did not support he movement
4. In he 1980s some the supporters of the
Khalis tan resorted to milltancy.
5. Presidenfs rule was also imposed in he state to bring the situaion under
contol
6. As a result he government had start counter militancy operatons using the
Indian securi ty torces.
7. n hane 1984, Operarion Bhuestar was launched under R.S.Brar to flush out Sikh
militants hiding in the Golden temple. In the first stage, Sikh soldiers were
sent inio the temple in civil unform to identfy he vantage points. The army
the
was soon called in and objecive was to fiush out the terrorists witin 49
hours On the 3d of June rail, road and telephone links to he city were cut off
The next day mild firing exchanges took place. Announcemen ts were also
made on speakers requestng he pilgrims and to evacuate he
visi tors temple
premises On the 5 of June at midnight Operaton Bluestar was launched It
 did not take long for the amy personnel to realise that they had
underesimated he stengh of he Khalistan extemists. The militants had
access to machine guns and grenades. They used he knowledge of the
temple passages to stall he advance of the army. As he army was unable to
cdose in on the Akal Takht where Jamal Singh Bhindrawale was hiding, Brar
requested the government to bring in tanks. On he 6" of June he army got
into he temple and found Jarnail Singh along with he oher leaders. Gandhi
was heavily critaised for her acions
As the Sikhs criticised he govemment
8. Gaudi ws asassinaed by wo of her
Sikh bodyguards, Satwant and Beant Singh on he 31* of October 1984.
9. Ihis was followed by large scale disturbances in Delhi and many parts of
Norh India and many innocent Sikhs were killed
10. Rajiv Gandhi became the nex1 PM and signed the
Puvabaccond/ Raji-Longral
accor After the accord was signed Longwal was assassi nated
11.After these developments the Sarkara commission decided to refer to the
Anand Saheb Resoluion.
12ltwas decided to ransfer he Hindi speaking parts of Punjab to Haryana to
enable he Sikhs to remain in majority in the state.
13. The religious, linguisic and terri torial demands of the Sikhs were finally
recognised These issues were earlier considered to be nonnegoiable under
Indira Gandhi
14.Operation Block Tiuonder was launched in 1988 to fush out the remaining
militants inamore organised manner.