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Darshan Singh Canadian's daughter Amardeep still mourns the loss of
her dad.
Gupreet Singh
This weekend, the Sikh community across Canada and elsewhere is
observing the 29th anniversary of Operation Bluestar. This was the
name of the controversial attack by Indian troops against the Golden
Temple in Amritsar.
Photos
However, 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.
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.
Sohan Singh Sidhu says his son, the famed poet Paash, was killed for
questioning the ideology behind the movement for a Sikh homeland.
Gurpreet Singh
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.
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.
Murder victim Arjan Singh Mastana's sister Veeran lives near
Vancouver.
Gurpreet Singh
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, 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.’’
Gurpreet Singh is a Georgia Straight contributor, and the host of a
program on Radio India. He's working on a book tentatively titled
Canada's 9/11: Lessons from the Air India Bombings.
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