The insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab originated in the late 1970s. The roots of the insurgency were very complex.
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In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in India caused civil disorder when the central government declared Hindi as the national language of India. The nationwide movement of linguistic groups seeking statehood resulted in a massive reorganisation of states according to linguistic boundaries in 1956. At that time, Indian Punjab had its capital in Shimla, and though the vast majority of the Sikhs lived in Punjab, they still did not form a majority. But if Haryana and Himachal could be separated sikhs could have a Punjab in which they could form a majority of 60 per cent against the Hindus being 40 per cent.[1] The Akali Dal, a Sikh dominated political party active mainly in Punjab, sought to create a Punjabi Suba. This case was presented to the States Reorganisation Commission established in 1953. It is generally believed that the Hindus sensed what the Sikhs had in mind. They, supported by the Hindu newspapers from Jalandhar, exhorted Punjabi Hindus to declare Hindi as their “mother tongue” instead of Punjabi in the censuses that took place, so that the Sikhs could be deprived of the argument that they were only asking for a Punjabi-speaking Suba. The demand for adoption of Punjabi for Punjabi-speaking areas first created and later intensified the rift between Hindus and Sikhs of Punjab.
When the Green Revolution came to Punjab, it transformed the landscape of the state. Punjab saw increase on prosperity because of the Green Revolution. Punjab had occupational differences between Hindus and Sikhs. Most Sikhs were farmers and lived in the rural areas of Punjab. Most Hindus, were urban based and were involved in retail trade and manufacturing.
The second reason was attempts made by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi to use Bhindranwale to undermine the Akali Dal (Eternal Party), a political party. The strategy backfired when Nirankaries killed 13 sikhs in Amritsar who were peacefully demonstrating against the Nirankaries who were openly disrespecting the holy book of sikhs and the killers were acquitted by the court. After that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale came to know about the real policy of Government and started challenging Indira Gandhi and the Indian government. According to the government, Bhindranwale and his followers became a source of disruption and mayhem, but a secret 3rd agency was also working to make Punjab situation unstable at the behest of the Government. Bhindranwale gained a lot of support from the Sikhs, rural Sikhs especially, because they felt alienated from the Indian government. Their disruptions became so bad that in 1984, Indira Gandhi had to order the Indian Army to flush out Bhindranwale and his followers who were in the Harimandir Sahib complex, Sikhism's most holy shrine, in Amritsar. The operation undertaken by the army was codenamed Operation Bluestar. Most Sikhs militants inside the complex were killed and the Akal Takht was bombed. Bullet holes are still visible in the complex.
The government seemed unable to stop the violence in Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi. Knowing her government would be voted out of power in Punjab the January 1985 elections, [2]Operation Bluestar was a mixed success. Indira Gandhi ordered the army to storm the temple complex in Punjab A variety of army units along with paramilitary forces surrounded the temple complex on 3 June 1984. The army kept asking the militants to surrender, using the public address system, but according to civilians inside the complex no announcements were made and the Army termed everyone inside the complex as enemies. The militants were asked to send the pilgrims out of the temple premises to safety, before they start fighting the army. However, nothing happened till 7 PM.[3] General Brar then asked the police if they could send emissaries inside to help get the civilians out, but the police said that anyone sent inside would be killed by the militants. They believed that the militants were keeping the pilgrims inside to stop the army from entering the temple. Finally, around a hundred sick and old people were let out. These people informed the army that the others were not being allowed to come out.[3] The army had grossly underestimated the firepower possessed by the militants. Thus, tanks and heavy artillery were used to forcefully suppress the anti-tank and machine-gun fire. After a 24 hour firefight, the army finally wrested control of the temple complex. According to Indian Government sources, 83 army personnel were killed and 249 injured. while insurgent casualties were 493 killed and 86 injured. Unofficial figures go well into the thousands. Along with insurgents, many innocent worshipers were caught in the crossfire. The estimates of innocent people killed in the operation range from a few hundred of people.
The Operation Bluestar inflamed the Sikh community. Many saw it as an attack on their religion and beliefs.
On 31 October 1984, the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her two Sikh bodyguards. In the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination, rioting mobs allegedly led by Congress leaders, who are still facing the court cases,[4] rampaged through the streets of Delhi and other parts of India over the next few days, killing several thousand Sikhs. The police "worked to destroy a lot of the evidence about who was involved with the killings by refusing to record First Information Reports" [5] Hundreds more were refused because the victims wanted to name Congress leaders like Sajjan Kumar, HKL Bhagat and Jagdish Tytler. Human Rights Watch reports "In the months following the killings, the government sought no prosecutions or indictments of any persons, including officials, accused in any case of murder, rape or arson."[6] Hundreds of murders are yet to be even registered by police.[4] The New Delhi Police was reported to be doing nothing to stop the rioting, as was the state and central government.[4] It was only after three days of rioting in the capital of the country that army was called in to restore order.[4]
The Anti-Sikh riots across Northern India had repercussions in Punjab. Hindus were killed by organised gangs of Sikh militants. Trains were attacked and people were shot after being pulled from buses. In 1987, 32 Hindus were pulled out of the bus and shot, near Lalru in Punjab by Sikh militants.[7] According to Human Rights Watch "In the beginning on the 1980s, Sikh separatists in Punjab attacked non-Sikhs in the state,.[8] Indira Gandhi's son and political successor, Rajiv Gandhi, tried, unsuccessfully, to bring peace to Punjab. Successive governments, like the Janata Dal government, also tried to bring peace to Punjab but failed. Between 1987 and 1991, Punjab was placed under President's rule and was governed from Delhi. Elections were eventually held in 1992 but the voter turnout at 24% was poor. A new Congress(I) government was formed and it gave the police chief of the state K.P.S. Gill a free hand. Gill was ruthless against the insurgents and his methods severely weakened the insurgency movement. However, Gill's reign is regarded as one of the bloodiest in the history of the country, thousands of innocent Sikhs were killed in fake encounters and countless disappeared from their homes in the dark. His police force was also accused of crimes such as rape and torture of women and children according to several reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch [1].
Almost all of the Sikh militant groups in Punjab aimed to created an independent nation called Khalistan through acts of violence directed at members of the Indian government, army or forces and a lot of innocent citizens.