In securing the surrender of the terrorists in the Golden Temple, the Indian state has won a major victory in the cause of the country’s unity and integrity. Those who have made this victory possible deserve the nation’s gratitude. The foremost among them are the men and officers of the security forces. The National Security Guard has of course, been in the lead. But behind them have stood the BSF, CRPF and the Punjab police. Their role has been equally valiant. It will also be in the fitness of things to pay a tribute to the leadership provided in the field by the director-general of Punjab police, Mr KPS Gill, and by the governor, Mr SS Ray, and his security affairs adviser, Mr Ribeiro, in Chandigarh. And it goes without saying that the men in Chandigarh and Amritsar could not have delivered if they had not been backed to the hilt by the Centre which in substance means the Prune Minister. Since Mr Rajiv Gandhi has had to shoulder the responsibility for all that has gone wrong in Punjab in the last two years, that is, since April 30, 1986, when the Akali legislature party split on the issue of police entry into the Golden Temple, it is only appropriate that he should share the credit for the present triumph.
The removal of the terrorists from the Golden Temple is significant in both strategic and symbolic terms. The symbolic importance of the event is obvious enough. The Golden Temple is, as it were, the heart of the Panth; its occupation gave the terrorists a status they could never have otherwise acquired; indeed, it is precisely for this reason that they risked being trapped in it for the second time. The strategic importance of the event should also be equally obvious. The temple complex has provided the terrorists a unique sanctuary because, out of regard for the susceptibilities of the Sikh community, the authorities have been reluctant to go into it. The terrorists have, of course, used other gurdwaras as well for their nefarious activities but no other gurdwara can match the Golden Temple in terms of either the facilities it offers or the reverence it commands. The temple complex is in itself a kind of fortress even without fortification. Its loss to the terrorists must place them at a disadvantage. This is not to claim that the back of the terrorists has finally been broken. We have to wait and watch, especially in view of Pakistan’s support for the terrorists. But the surrender could prove to be a turning point if only because the police should be able to secure enough information from those who have surrendered and press home the battle against those who still remain out of their clutches.
It is doubtless a matter of great satisfaction that the security forces have been able to secure the surrender of the terrorists without having had to enter the Harminder Sahib (the temple proper). Even so it is necessary to emphasize the point once again that the state is within its rights to enter any place of worship if it is abused for subversive purposes and that this principle applies as much to the Golden Temple as to any other religious place. Indeed, the point needs to be underscored that, if necessary, the authorities should amend the Gurdwara Act to make it incumbent on the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee to ensure that no gurdwara is used ever again for non-religious purposes. And if the SGPC is not able to discharge this obligation, it can have no raison d’etre. We say this as much in the interest of India’s unity as in that of the Sikh community itself. If anything, the terrorists have played greater havoc with its destiny than they have played with the future of India. Most Sikhs are disgusted with them and their ways even if they are still reluctant to speak out.
Finally, it is necessary to say once again that those who have talked endlessly and senselessly of the hurt Sikh psyche, have done enormous damage both to the nation and the Sikhs. For in the final analysis they have weakened the resolve of the government, provided encouragement to the terrorists in their belief that they were as safe in the Golden Temple as in Pakistan and thereby prolonged the agony of Punjab. These pseudo-liberals can be depended upon to ‘emerge’ out of the woodwork again and to insist on a so-called political solution. Mr Rajiv Gandhi will be well advised to disregard them. The fight against terrorism must succeed before it can become meaningful for the Union government to address itself to the long-term problems of Punjab.