History, Status and Sanctity of Golden Temple
The world famous Golden Temple of the Sikhs, situated at Amritsar in
India, bears Harmandir, the Temple of God, as its original name, and
it forms an island in a lake to which the name of Amritsar (pool of
ambrosia) was given by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjun Dev (1563-1609)
in 1589. The town, which grew around this Harmandir subsequently,
also acquired the same name.
In this Temple, the proposed centre of a world religion and culture,
Guru Arjun Dev installed the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, in 1604,
and ever since, the presiding place, even when the Sikh Gurus were
resent, has remained reserved for the Holy Word.
In 1609, Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) created the Akal Takht (the
Immortals Throne) edifice facing the Harmandir at the entrance
bridgehead of the sacred lake, upon which the Guru sat in state wearing
two swords representing both the spiritual (piri) and the temporal
(miri) life of a man. The essence of this Sikh doctrine is that a man of
religion must always owe his primary allegiance to Truth, i.e., God and
morality. Man is a complete personality a single unit, which is not
divisible to act differently in different circumstances. His religion,
politics, socio-economics and conduct are hinged on unity of God,
oneness of humanity, truths love and compassion.
This doctrine also envisages that when all means of peaceful persuasion
fail, it is legitimate to move his hand to the hilt of the sword. This
assertion is contained in Guru Gobind Singh's (1666-1708) communication,
the Zafarnama, addressed to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Amritsar is the holiest of the holy places. Indeed, a Sikh prays
everyday for a look at the Harmandir Sahib and a dip in the sacred
sarovar, the pool of immortality The preservation of sanctity of this
place is a matter of prestige and self-respect, a life and death
struggle for the Sikhs.
Tradition has it that the site on which the Golden Temple stands
was sanctified by the visit to it by Guru Nanak (1569-1539) the first
Sikh Guru. He had then asked the succeeding Gurus to develop the
area into a great spiritual centre radiating the message of
love and peace to the entire mankind. This place had also been
sanctified by the presence and visit of seven of the ten Sikh Gurus.
What the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht mean to Sikhs
cannot be fully described. To comprehend its sanctity, one
requires the hearts of martyrs like Baba Deep Singh Shaheed and
Bhai Sukha Singh and Bhai Mehtah Singh, heroes of the 18th century,
who fought for the liberation of the Golden Temple from the
overwhelming hordes of Afghans. Baba Deep Singh fought the
enemy with a "practically" severed head for several miles
till he reached the Golden Temple. The other two Bhais,
despite heavy guards, beheaded the government official,
Massa Ranghar, for converting the holy premises to profane
use. The head of this arrogant official was carried
by them all the way to Bikaner, defying troop concentrations
in and around Amritsar. The late mystic poet, Bhai Vir Singh,
said that the battles the Sikhs fought to protect and reoccupy
the Golden Temple were so many and so furious in the 18th century
alone that if the martyrs' heads were collected and paved
together in the periphery of the Temple, these could not
all be accommodated.
A good description of its significance appeared in The
Indian Express, dated July 3, 1984, soon after the ill-fated
Operation Blue Star, in an article by Sardar Jaswant Singh
entitled The Temple Revisited:
"The Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) is entirely unique in the
Sikh psyche. It is a part of the struggle of a section of
the Indian people to evolve a dynamic and assertive identity
of their own. It is not only a place of worship, it symbolizes
Sikh history and is also the seat of temporal authority.
More than that, it is a living symbol of struggle against
all kinds of oppression. It is part of the very central
core of the Sikh being. It is not just an edifice or a
collection of buildings. Every stone there is thc brickwork
of history itself."
The Golden Temple complex, right from its inception has been the
hub of' the Sikhs and commanded the respect and unflinching
faith of the Sikhs irrespective Of their position and
status. The Sikh independent states, the twelve misls of the
18th century, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh had been humbly
submitting and complying with the religious and temporal
edicts issued by the Akal Takht. It is so, because of its
highest theo-political status and spiritual potency.
The history of hostility towards Sikhism by rulers,
priests, brahmins, and kazis, can be traced right from its
inception in the 15th century. It was openly voiced by Emperor
Jahangir in his autobiography, Tuzke-Jahangiri, when he
ordered execution of Guru Arjun Dev in 1606 by torture.
This was followed by the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur
in 1675, the two sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh at Sirhind
in 1704, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in l719 and numerous other
Sikhs who refused to abjure their faith. Ahmad Shah
Abdali also saw a threat to his possessions and designs of
loot and plunder of India from the Sikhs. During his seven
incursions into India, he desecrated the Golden Temple three
times. In his last invasion in 1762, he blew it up with gun-powder
and filled the holy tank after desecrating it with cows blood.
His object in doing so was to liquidate the Sikhs and their source
of strength and inspiration. He also wanted to teach them a
lesson for their audacity to rescue from him over two
thousand young Indian women being carried away to his
home as war booty.
In 1764, Abdali made a military visit to the Golden Temple
to satisfy himself that the Sikhs no longer used it for political
activities. He found it zealously guarded by 30 diehard Sikhs
under the command of Baba Gurbakhsh Singh. Kazi Nur Mohammad
in his Jangnameh of 1766, p. 100, writes as an eyewitness that
though the Sikhs were thirty in number yet they had not a grain
of fear about them, they fought tenaciously and sacrificed
their lives for the Guru. Baba Gurbakhsh Singh's mausoleum
still stands behind the Akal Takht.
A Punjabi saying current in the 18th century explains the high
morale of the Sikhs in relation to their persecution:
"Manu saddi datri, asin Manu de soe. Jion,jion Manu wadhda
asin doon swaye hoe. Manu, (The most atrocious ruler of that time)
is our sickle and we are his fodder, the more he mows us, the
higher we grow. Instead of being crushed, the Sikhs flourished
both in number and power. The Sikh wrath did not abate till the
invaders were thrown out of India and the tide of invasions
across the north-west frontier of undivided India was
stemmed for all times to come. Soon after, the Sikhs extended
their empire to the gates of Kabul.
Realising the theo-political status of the Golden Temple,
the British Government retained its control through appointing
a Sikh manager of their choice directly under the Deputy
Commissioner of Amritsar. This arrangement broke down, when
they prevailed upon the Sikh manager, known as sarbrah, to honour
General Dyer, the perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre,
at the Akal Takht. The Sikhs resented it as a body, leading to
Akali agitation which eventually succeeded in wresting the
control of the Golden Temple and other historic gurdwaras
from the corrupt mahants in Punjab. The control of the Golden
Temple together with the Akal Takht and other specified gurdwaras
was handed over to the Sikhs through the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925.
Punjab Problem Discrimination Galore
The Indian National Congress in one of its manifestoes before
independence had committed itself to the creation of states in
independent India on a linguistic basis. Soon after 1950, when
the new constitution of India was approved by Parliament,
linguistic states were created except in Punjab. In the census
of 1951 and 1961, the majority community in Punjab, in
order to thwart a Punjabi-speaking state coming up, falsely
declared their mother-tongue to be Hindi. They even went
to the extent of declaring that Punjabi is not a language
but a dialect of Hindi. Earlier on, in the constitution of
India, the Sikh religion was treated as a sect of Hinduism
and was not given a separate status like Christianity and
Islam. The Sikh representatives on the drafting committee
had raised objection to this and refused to sign the document.
The Sikhs had to agitate for nearly 15 years until
their demand was conceded in 1966. Its implementation was,
however, made more on communal basis. Its capital, Chandigarh,
was taken away and made into a Union Territory. Many Punjabi-speaking
areas were ceded to the newly created states of Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh. The right to use its river water was curtailed
and brought under central control and the major share of the
electricity generated was diverted to other states. All
norms and international laws had been violated in its half-hearted
creation. The Punjab state, as of today, is truncated and economically weak.
The main political party of the Sikhs, the Akali Dal,
submitted to the government a memorandum in 1980 to undo the
injustice pointed out above along with some other minor demands
such as grant of holy status to the city of Amritsar and installation
of a transmitter for the relay of Shabad-kirtan from the Golden Temple.
The Government dubbed these legitimate, linguistic and territorial
demands as anti-national and secessionist. Several parleys were
held and whenever any reasonable solution to the problem was in
sight, the government backed out of it on one pretext or another.
This forced the Akalis (followers of One Timeless God) to start
a non-violent struggle called Dharam Yuddh—religious struggle
on the same pattern as the Akali movement of 1920-25 to
liberate their gurdwaras. As has been the custom in Sikh history,
the centre of activity was the Akal Takht. During the 18th century
misl period, the foreign invaders were also thrown out of India by
sending out contingents from the Akal Takht. Not only this, on a
complaint made by the Brahmins of Kasur, now in Pakistan, that
one of their wives was abducted by the Muslim ruler of that town
and forcibly converted to Islam, a strong Sikh contingent was sent
from the Akal Takht on April 10, 1763, to attack the town and retrieve
the lady. The Muslim ruler, Uthman Khan, was killed along with
his five hundred followers. The Sikhs also suffered heavy casualties
(Ghulam Mohiud-Din: Twarikh-e-Punjab—Persian Ms. 1848).
In 1975, when Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India,
declared emergency and curtailed political rights of the people,
it was only the Sikhs who opposed it by sending unarmed contingents
from the Akal Takht. It proves that the Akal Takht has been the
centre of Sikh activity for all purposes, including that of
humanitarian missions to fight tyranny and oppression.
The Akalis carried on their peaceful agitation for several
years. The government did not agree to refer the water dispute to
the Supreme Court.
The tribunals and commissions set up for territorial adjustment
gave discriminatory and arbitrary awards. Instead of solving the
problem, the government resorted to repressive measures and brought
into force draconian laws such as the National Security Act and
TADA. Gradually, the agitation passed into the hands of the
hawks who maintained that having failed in the peaceful
approach, time had come to achieve their legitimate objectives
by stronger means as per the doctrine explained earlier.
Operation Blue Star
By the end of May 1984, it became known that the government
had intention to enter the complex With the ostensible purpose
of "flushing out terrorists" Towards this end, they had already,
about six months earlier, secretly set up commando training camps
at far off places like Chakrata in U.P. with mock-ups of the
Golden Temple Complex. Concurrently, they were making
solemn pledges that they had no intention to do so. Indira
Gandhi said so only a few hours before the assault in a broadcast
to the nation. Meanwhile, the government and the anti-Sikh
media stepped up their campaign to malign the Sikhs as anti-national
and secessionists. It was alleged that the Sikhs were killing
innocent people. In the disturbed conditions that prevailed at
that time, anti-social elements and corrupt officials and
politicians were fishing in troubled waters. Many goondas
were at work masquerading as Sikhs. The police, in order
to avoid subsequent investigation and follow up action,
were also attributing even normal crimes to Sikhs. If statistics
of the incidents of this period are compared to that of the last
few years, it would be seen that the crime situation did not
worsen. The government was obviously waging psychological
Warfare to prepare the ground for their planned operation.
The main thrust and allegation of the government and
their controlled media was that the Sikhs were combining
religion and politics; Guru Granth Sahib does not precisely
endorse the unity of the church and the state; no Guru lad
preached the Overthrew or defiance of the established government;
Guru Granth Sahib is a spiritual master and it does not advocate
political activity; and, above all, the Sikhs are misusing the
gurdwaras for political gains. The answers to this misrepresentation
of Sikh tenets has already been covered in e first part of this
paper. The real intention of the government, as that of the Mughals
and Abdali, was to destroy the Akal Takht, which is the source
of strength and inspiration to the Sikhs.
The government and the anti-Sikh element also questioned keeping
of guns in gurdwaras intended for worship of God. The answer to this
question that it is enjoined on the Sikhs to wear and carry arms
for the protection of the weak and saints and to defend their
faith and holy places. The Sikh litany ardas, which is recounted
after each prayer meeting, cites numerous incidents where the
Sikhs have sacrificed themselves to protect their faith, identity and
holy places all through their history. The particular verses are
Dharam het sis dite —sacrificed their heads for the faith, and
Gurdaarian di rakhiya lai shaheedian ditian—suffered martyrdom to
protect the gurdwaras. It was the rightful cause for the Sikhs to
arm themselves to protect their holiest place when the government
appeared determined to attack the promises.
The Golden Temple complex was ironically attacked by the armed
forces on 3rd June, 1984, the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjun
Dev, the builder of the Golden Temple. For this occasion,
thousands of devotees had collected for the Celebration. No warning
of the impending attack was given. Had it been so, most Of the
pilgrims would have vacated the premises. Prior to the attack,
a four-day curfew was imposed in the entire area of Punjab and
the Union Territory of Chandigarh, curtailing all rail and
road movement.
A total strength of eleven infantry divisions, roughly
two lakh strength, apart from thousands of paramilitaries,
were deployed in Punjab to flush out the so-called terrorists
and to seal the Pakistan border. According to the Government
version, 38 gurdwaras including the Golden Temple complex,
were to be dealt with, but in actual fact 72 gurdwaras were attacked.
For the Amritsar operation, one division, roughly 18,000 personnel,
was earmarked to deal with 40 terrorists on the Government wanted
list a figure given out by the Home Minister, Government of India,
in the Parliament a few days prior to the attack. Even Rajiv Gandhi
had said that Sant Bhindranwale, whose name was, most probably,
included in the list of 40, was a religious leader and not a
terrorist. This appeared to be a part of the cover plan to hide
their real intention.
Apart from ground action employing machine guns, mortars and
other infantry armaments, armoured tanks and artillery guns
directed by helicopters were used from a close range of about
200 meters to blast the Akal Takht into shambles. The Darshni
Deori, containing rare and historic embellishments used for
ceremonial display, was severely damaged and its valuable
contents burnt. Even the Harmandir Sahib, which was officially
declared as unscathed, bore 300 bullet marks. Other buildings
in the complex were attacked and burnt. The worst part was that
after the action was over, the Sikh Reference Library, containing
about 600 handwritten copies of Guru Granth Sahib, rare manuscripts,
Hukamnamas bearing signatures of the Gurus and 20,000 books,
was deliberately put on fire on June 6, 1984. The sacred sarovar
was polluted by the disposal of victims' bodies into it.
The exact number of casualties in the complex is not known. The
government version was 700 dead but this number could well be over
3,000 including innocent women and children.
True to the spirit of the Khalsa, the forty defenders fought to
the last man and the last round. Only highly motivated persons
fighting for a cause could do so. It proves that the so-called
forty terrorists were not a collection of goondas, murderers or
robbers, as was made out by the government. Against the
overwhelming might of the armed forces, deployed around them,
they had no chance of survival and yet they held on to their
posts. There was no surrender. Sant Bhindranwale's body
along with the bodies of his two close followers were exhibited
outside the complex, for the others to celebrate the occasion
with distribution of laddo's(sweets).
The severity of the operation executed and the sacrilege of
the sanctum sanctorum of the Sikh faith is classic and rare
in the annals of world military operations particularly
against their own people, whose contribution towards
India's integrity and freedom surpasses all the sacrifices
made by the other communities as given in the appendix.
Even in war, thc Geneva Convention prohibits attacks on religious
places, hospitals and civil areas. An eminent retired Chief
Justice had contended that the entry of the armed forces was a
violation of Article 26 of the Indian Constitution and section 144
at the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925. The worst irony was that the
Indian Parliament did not consider it worth while to discuss
this tragic and heinous event. Whereas a hue and cry was raised
when a few persons of another community, condemnic though, were
alleged to have been killed by the so-called terrorists.
Conclusion
Had the government not been intransigent, had it accepted the
legitimate and constitutional demands of the Sikhs, the Amritsar
Tragedy could have been avoided. There were other ways to get
the promises vacated. From the way things had been allowed to
worsen and the manner in which negotiation's decisions were
stalled, it had appeared that the government had a premeditated
plan to bring the crisis to a point of no return and then assault
the Golden Temple complex to destroy Akal Takht, the symbol of the
temporal and spiritual sovereignty of the Sikhs. The Sikhs,
who had shed so much of their blood to free India from the
foreign yoke and had made tremendous sacrifices to maintain the
integrity and well-being of India, felt humiliated and alienated.
No action has been taken so tar to assuage the hurt feelings of
the Sikhs, not even an apology. Operation Blue Star was most ill
advised, suicidal and a political blunder of thc worst order The
scars and shadows cast by it would be difficult to cure and
obliterate. The destruction of the Akal Takht was a watershed
in the history of India.
APPENDIX
SIKHS' CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS INDIA'S INTEGRITY AND FREEDOM
The ten Gurus were the pioneers and crusaders to install the
spirit of freedom and Self-respect amongst the Indian demoralized masses, who
had been subdued for eight centuries by foreign tyrannical rulers. Towards
this end, Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh fought many battles
against the Mughals, not for any territorial gain or self-aggrandisement
but to fight against oppression. Guru Tegh Bahadur gave his
life for religious freedom. Maharaja Ranjit Singh stemmed foreign
invasion across North-West India for all time to come.
The Sikh sacrifices towards achieving India's independence from
the British are the greatest, quantitatively, qualitatively,
which amounted to more than 90%, although their population at
that time was not more than 1.6%. The following are the figures:
Sikhs Others Total
Hanged 93 28 121
Imprisoned for life 2,147 499 2646
Killed at Jallianwala Bagh 799 501 1300
Killed in Budge Budge Ghat 67 46 113
Killed in Kooka movement 91 - 91
Killed in Akali movement 500 - 500
Total. 3,697 1,074 4771
When the British Government handed over the
keys of the Golden Temple to the Sikhs, following the Akali
Movement in 1921, Mahatma Gandhi sent the following telegram
to Baba Kharak Singh, the veteran Akali leader, recognizing
the role of the Sikhs towards Indian independence:
"Congratulations ! The first decisive battle of Indian
freedom has been won."
The Sikhs were in the forefront in the Babar Akali agitation,
Komagata Mart episode and the Indian National Army under Mr
Subhash Chandar Bose.
Dr Hari Ram Gupta, the famous historian has rightly stated:
"Sikhs alone can boast of having erected a bulwark of
defence against foreign aggression, the tide of which had
run its prosperous course for eight hundred years and to
whom all people of Northern India in general and people of
the Punjab in particular owe a deep debt of gratitude."
REFERENCES
In this operation which was personally supervised by him, he was
wounded in the nose by a flying brick piece. This wound became a
festering incurable sore till he died of it in 1772.
These unfortunate women were subsequently returned to their
kith and kin under escort of the Sikhs.
From book "Abstracts of Sikh Studies" written by Sardar Hardit Singh
in an article "THE AMRITSAR TRAGEDY", July 1984
1380, Sector 33-C, Chandigarh 160 047
