Punjab Insurgency

Punjab Insurgency

The insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab originated in the late 1970s, as Sikh revolutionaries alongside Khalistan proponents turned to militancy. The roots of the insurgency were very complex with the main factors being inadequate recognition of Sikhism and the Punjabi language and extensive mistreatment from the Indian Congress Government since its formation 1947. With all schools in Punjab teaching Punjabi children Hindi, parents and community leaders started to become concerned.

The Punjabi Suba civil movement was started to address the language issue and restore Punjabi as the official language of Punjab. The Punjabi Suba movement was banned by the government on April 14, 1955. During this time the Sikhs were faced with much humiliation and difficulties including peaceful protesters and innocent pilgrims being beaten, hit with bricks, arrested, and temple raids. Following the Indo-Pak war of 1965 Punjabi was finally recognized as the official language of Punjab in 1966 when the Punjab land was further split into the states of Himachal Pradesh, the new state Haryana and Current Day Punjab

However this did not solve all problems, the Sikh community still feeling alienated within India, put forward a resolution to address all grievances they had with the nation state of India. In 1973, the Sikhs put forward the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. Within this resolution were issues included both religious and political concerns. From easy issues of recognizing Sikhism as a religion to allowing all states within India to set local state level policies and not be forced to get permission from the central government. The Anandpur Resolution was rejected by the government but the religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale joined the Akali Dal to launch the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982, a peaceful march, in order to implement Anandpur Sahib resolution. Thousands of people joined the movement, feeling that it represented a real solution to demands such as a larger share of water for irrigation and the return of Chandigarh to Punjab. The Congress government decided to repress the mass agitation with a heavy hand; over a hundred people were killed in the police firings. The security forces arrested over 30,000 Sikhs in two-and-a-half months. After this Bhindranwale suggested it was time for a militant approach with the help of arms and weapons to solve the problems of majority Punjab population leading to the beginning of the insurgency.

On June 6, 1984 Bhindranwale was shot dead in Operation Blue Star and on October 31, 1984 Indira Gandhi was murdered by her Sikh bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. These two events played a major role to the Sikh and Anti-Sikh violence that would consume Punjab till the early 1990s.