Many
leftist activists who died opposing religious fanaticism and terrorism in
Punjab remain forgotten. Gurpreet Singh writing in Straight, remembers them as he talks to
relatives of some of these who have made their homes in capitalist
countries like Canada and U.S. to earn better livelihoods.
As
the Sikh community across Canada and elsewhere was observed the 29th
anniversary of Operation Bluestar, the name of the controversial attack by Indian
troops against the Golden Temple in Amritsar, secular and leftist activists who
died opposing religious fanaticism and terrorism in Punjab remain
forgotten.
The
Indian army stormed the holiest shrine of the Sikhs in the first week of
June 1984 to flush out militants who had brought arms into the place of
worship. Operation Bluestar left many dead and parts of the temple complex
destroyed, causing great resentment among even moderate Sikhs.
There
were angry protests in Vancouver. And in India, this sacrilegious act
culminated in the assassination of the prime minister, Indira Gandhi by her
Sikh bodyguards.
This,
in turn, was followed by an anti-Sikh pogrom across India and later, the Air
India bombings that left 331 people dead.
Critics
argue that this was all a result of the cocktail of religion and politics
within both the ruling Congress party of India and the Akali Dal, a regional
party of Punjab struggling to achieve benefits for the state.
Some
believe the operation was calculated to teach Sikhs a lesson and to garner
votes from the Hindu majority. Others blame the Akali Dal for letting
militants fortify the Golden Temple with weaponry.
A
memorial for the militants who died fighting he army during Operation Bluestar
has been established inside the Golden Temple complex. Now, Hindu fanatics plan
a parallel memorial for slain army soldiers. The fiery debate over these
memorials overlooks the real secular heroes who've died fighting against this
war on terror—back when this terminology had not even entered western
consciousness.
A
decade-long armed struggle in the name of Khalistan—an imaginary Sikh
homeland—left over 25,000 people dead, most before the terrorist attacks of
9/11 shook the world.
Among
those killed for opposing religious extremism were over 300 Communist
activists, including prominent progressive poets like Paash and Jaimal
Singh Padha. Their 25th anniversary of martyrdom falls this year.
Most
of them became soft targets for militants for opposing religious fundamentalism
and social codes imposed by separatists on the media and civilians. Some of
these secularists were at the leadership level, while others were much more
vulnerable grassroot level supporters.
Whereas
a few took up arms to fight militants, others died without any police
protection. Ironically, relatives of some of these "Communist
martyrs'' have made their homes in capitalist countries like Canada and U.S. to
earn better livelihoods.
Paash's
widow Rajwinder Kaur has recalled that as soon as there was news of
Comrade Jaimal Singh Padha’s murder, Paash knew that he might be next to fall
to the terrorists' bullets.
Twenty-five
years after her husband was murdered, Kaur lives in California. She maintains
that Paash anticipated his death. After all, both Paash and Padha had
invited this by challenging religious fanaticism and terrorism when the
movement for the theocratic country of Khalistan was at its peak.
Padha
was a leader of the Kirti Kisan Union, a Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist) front. He was assassinated on March 17, 1988, by the
Khalistan Commando Force.
Paash's
premonition turned out to be true when he was murdered along with his friend
Hans Raj by the same group almost a week later. It came on the martyrdom day of
revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Hari Rajguru,
who were hanged by the British Empire on March 23, 1931.
An
internationally acclaimed radical poet, Paash had gained popularity as the Naxalite
movement grew among India's most dispossessed rural residents. He evoked angry
reaction from Sikh militants for writing a provocative essay against religious
communalism.
After
it was published by the California-based Anti 47 Front—a group of activists who
opposed repetition of 1947-like India-Pakistan partition on religious
lines—Paash was one of the most sought-after targets when pro-Khalistan
militants were systematically killing Communists during the insurgency in
the border state of Punjab. It began in the early 1980s and continued until
early 1990s.
Paash
was murdered while visiting his native village of Talwandi Salem. By that time,
he had immigrated to the U.S. due to economic hardship back home.
|
Sohan Singh Sandhu |
Sitting
at his California home, Sohan Singh Sandhu, the ailing father of Paash, talked
about the essay. He thinks it provoked the Khalistan Commando Force to
assassinate his son.
A
close reading of the essay suggests that Paash was not only condemning the
ideology of the Sikh homeland, but also the communal politics of Congress and
Hindu right-wing groups, such as the Shiv Sena. Interestingly, Paash quoted
from Sikh scriptures to denounce the militants' philosophy. He understood
Sikhism as a modern and liberal religion, which has no room for sectarianism.
Paash
also penned a poem condemning killings of innocent Sikhs during the 1984
attacks on Sikhs following the assassination of Gandhi. It is pertinent to
mention that back then, the Communist government in West Bengal protected Sikhs
during violence engineered by Gandhi’s Congress party across India. Yet
Khalistani militants accused Paash and other Communists of working against
their interest.
Armed
with all the old news clippings, Sandhu told the Straight that he has
no doubt in his mind that it was a political murder. "My son understood
Sikhism better than his killers," he said.
Meanwhile,
Padha's brother-in-law, Surrey resident Sukhdev Kandola, feels the same.
"Those
who killed people like Padha or Paash were the enemies of the Sikh faith,"
he told the Straight.
Kandola
remembered Padha as a grassroots level worker who stood for the rights of the
oppressed people and poor. Like Paash, Padha had also tried to challenge
extremist ideology by promoting liberal brand of Sikhism through his songs. He
and his comrades used the slogan: "Na Hindu Raaj, Na Khalistan, Raaj
Karega Mazdoor Kissan!" ("Neither Hindu state, nor Khalistan, only
the working class shall rule.")
Whereas,
Paash and Padha were ultra-leftists, even moderate Communist activists and
leaders weren’t spared. Among them was Darshan Singh Canadian.
Although
his real name was Darshan Singh Sangha, he came to be known as Comrade Canadian
for having spent 10 years in Canada from 1937 to 1947. He was in the forefront
of the labour movement within the South Asian community in Canada, and had
returned to India after it gained independence.
There
he joined the Communist Party of India and was first elected as CPI MLA from
Garhshankar, Punjab, in 1972. In 1985, he was murdered for his opposition to
Khalistan.
Much
like others, he too tried to challenge the philosophy of Khalistan through his
writings and by quoting from Sikh scriptures. His most provocative essay,
"Are Terrorists Gursikhs?’’, attracted threats and intimidation. But he
continued to attend public meetings in troubled areas.
|
Darshan Singh Canadian's daughter Amardeep |
His
daughter Amardeep, who lives in Vancouver, remembers how he remained steadfast
in his fight against militancy.
"He
was aware of potential threats to his life, but he did not compromise on his
principles," she told the Straight. "So much so he did not take
police protection. I am proud to be his daughter.’’
Canadian
was visiting her when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. "He was quite
concerned about developments in Punjab.," she added.
Canadian’s
granddaughter, Navjot Dosanjh, who also lives near Vancouver, said that her
grandfather often brought her fruits when she was a small child.
"Witnesses noticed fruits scattered all over the place where he was shot
to death," she stated. "Apparently, he was bringing them for me when
the terrorists murdered him mercilessly."
Indo
Canadian Workers’ Association (ICWA) president Surinder Sangha, whose group
issued a calendar dedicated to 25th martyrdom day of Canadian, says that
Communists have a moral responsibility to stand up against subversive forces
bent upon dividing people on communal lines. Although Sangha’s organization is
affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), it buried all political
and ideological differences to recognize the sacrifice of Canadian.
"I
salute all the Communist activists who died fighting for the sake of unity and
integrity of India," Sangha said.
He
has a CPI (M) booklet that carries small biographies of over 20 Marxists who
were gunned down by Sikh extremists. It was also published in Lokta, a
secular Vancouver-based news magazine, when Sikh militants were virtually
controlling other Punjabi-language media in Canada.
Threats
and physical violence against moderates were very common then.
"These
brave comrades not only saved Hindus in Punjab, but also the Sikhs from Hindu
extremists outside Punjab," Sangha declared. "Their mission needs to
be continued as fundamentalism has not fully ended in Canada."
ICWA
organizer Kulwant Dhesi, who formerly worked with the CPI (M)–affiliated
Student Federation of India (SFI),continues to spearhead campaigns against
fundamentalists controlling local gurdwaras (Sikh temples). He remembers how
militants killed a few of his comrades in the SFI.
A
picture of Sarwan Cheema, a towering Marxist leader of Punjab who was
assassinated, greets visitors in the living room of his house in Surrey.
“The
fight has to go on as the imperial forces that supported anti-India separatists
in Punjab back then are still active in Canada, and continue to help pro
Khalistan groups who enjoy control over many gurdwaras," he said.
Dhesi
remembered how Khalistanis used to actively raise funds for their movement in
Punjab from Canada and the U.S.
Another
former CPI MLA to be assassinated during that period was Arjan Singh Mastana.
His sister, Veeran, lives near Vancouver and is struggling with Alzheimer's
disease. She vaguely remembered that he was murdered in 1985 and was a better
Sikh than the Khalistanis, who have misinterpreted the Sikh faith for ulterior
motives.
"By
doing that, they have captured local gurdwaras both in the U.S. and
Canada," she said.
Veeran
has fought against fundamentalists during gurdwara elections.
Jugraj
Dhaliwal, a Surrey resident, mentioned that his father, Randhir Singh, was a
CPI cardholder from Faridkot. He was murdered merely exercising his democratic
right to protest in 1984.
"He
took his supporters to a rally that was organized by the party to oppose
terrorist violence and that became a cause of his death," Dhaliwal
recalled. "With just one stroke they (extremists) took away the life of a
man who was a tireless social-justice activist."
|
Dr Sadhu Singh |
Dr.
Sadhu Singh, a leftist Punjabi scholar with strong affiliations with the CPI,
was forced to leave Punjab in 1991. A resident of Surrey, he received
threatening letters for not sporting a turban and long hair and for also
speaking out against Khalistan.
"Threats
started coming in after I spoke at a seminar held against communalism," he
said.
Singh
applied for a refugee status in Canada in 1992 on account of threats to his
life from the militants. He knew both Paash and Canadian personally, and also
lost another leftist friend, Ravinder Ravi, to a terrorist attack.
"Ravi
was an active CPI supporter. He was murdered despite being soft-spoken.
Ironically he used to advise me not to speak bluntly against religious
fanatics, yet it was he who got killed’’.
Toronto-based
progressive Punjabi writer and former Naxalite Waryam Singh Sandhu has authored
famous short stories on the situation in Punjab. He also remembered an attempt
to murder him.
Sandhu
understands the philosophy of Sikhism and is highly opposed to the idea of a
Sikh homeland. His opponents complained to militants that he had indulged in
blasphemy and, as a result, some militants tried to attack his house near
Amritsar but failed in their mission. He came to know about it much
later.
Years
later, some pro-Khalistan militants became introspective and regretted their
strategy of targeting Communists. Although ideological conflict between the
left and communal forces continues, the Khalistan Commando Force leader, Labh
Singh, wrote in his diary that the policy of murdering Communists—particularly
the Naxalites who were fighting against state repression—was not wise.
A
portion of the diary was published by Indo Canadian Times in 1995. It stated
that even though people like Paash and Padha were opposed to the separatist
ideology, the Khalistan leadership should have shown some tolerance for the
political criticism instead of murdering opponents. That's because this
isolated the pro-Khalistan movement from the masses.
However,
this regret is too late and too little for Winkle, Paash’s daughter, who was
only six when her father was murdered. With a choked voice she asked:
"What did they achieve by killing him? We cannot forget the struggle
through which my mother and I had to pass after his murder.’’