Quiet flows the Satluj in turbulent Punjab

 

Quiet flows the Satluj in turbulent Punjab

 

Punjab was widely perceived to have returned to "normalcy" after a prolonged phase of violence during which the blood of more than 30,000 people was shed. Through it all, the mighty Satluj continued its timeless journey, flowing silently as it had since the dawn of civilization, altering its course only marginally over the centuries. Long before this region came to be known as Punjab, and long before India emerged as the name of a nation-state, the Satluj had borne witness to successive waves of conquest, conflict, migration, and resistance. As a silent spectator to history, the river has come to symbolize not merely continuity, but also the recurring turbulence that has shaped the destiny of this land. In that sense, the name Satluj itself has acquired a powerful metaphorical association with the cycles of upheaval and resilience that have defined Punjab across the ages. 

For the last about a week, ‘Satluj’ has been dominating the headlines  and the film  released under this name has been perceived as a threat to national security, a film that can trigger seismic eruption in this historically volatile region. This volatility is rooted in its geographical location and religio-cultural dynamics that makes Punjab’s political dynamics different from all other regions in the country.

Film ‘Satluj’ had first surfaced three years back under the title of Punjab 95 that had replaced the original title of Ghallughara (Holocaust) and censor board recommended more than 100 cuts to clear it. Its director Honey Trehan was neither new to this region that forms the backdrop of this film nor the life during that period as he happens to be son of the soil. He made this film as an episode from the long chain of events from the period 1978 to 1995. It is not a film on militant struggle itself whose face is Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who has been immortalised not only in Sikh collective consciousness but also by a memorial in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex.

It is a film on Jaswant Singh Khalra, the human rights activist who was tabulating the dead bodies cremated by the police by labelling them as ‘unidentified’ and the number of large. Many of these bodies were not even cremated but thrown in Satluj at Harike from where several of these bodies reached Rajasthan through the Rajasthan Feeder that takes off from Harike. This dimension must be kept in view while evaluating this film. These dead bodies exposed the dark underbelly of the state while confronting militancy.

Anyone can make film on any other episode from that period. Why not make an independent film on the first bus killing of six Hindu passengers on the night of October 5, 1983 near Dhilwan? One of the members of the group that carried out that macabre action died a few years back and lived quietly at his Kakkar village on the Pakistan border in Lopoke section of Amritsar. None approached him to document him for history till this writer met him to record first-hand account of Dhilwan killings. He was Sukhdev Singh Kakkar, also known as Sukha Kakkar. (This account is part of my book Rivers on Fire: Khalistan Struggle, Aakar, Delhi, 2020).

There is one riddle about its telecast for just two days by ZEE5, the channel known for its political leanings, that too when assembly elections in Punjab are only a few months away. Suddenly, there is talk of killings of Hindus and the Khalistani terror. These issues had gone out of Punjab’s socio-political discourse. Its release in cinemas has been waiting for the last three years. And of course, at the higher level, government is perceiving it as a security threat. This film has sparked fractured debate.

A PTI report stated, “A committee set up by the centre to examine the content of Diljit Dosanjh-starrer ‘Satluj’ is learnt to have recommended that the ban on its public access through online screaming platforms should remain as the film allegedly goes against India’s sovereignty and integrity, government officials privy to the development said on Saturday”.

It means it is only surface normalcy in Punjab and the security environment in this border state continues to be fragile. If that is so, why the roots of this socio-political environments have been ignored all these years by the governments both at the centre and in the state? The last major violent action was the assassination of chief minister Beant Singh by a human bomb Dilawar Singh on August 31, 1995.

More than 30,000 people have been killed from 1980 to 1999 including the Sikhs killed in Delhi and other places in November, 1984. Capt. Amarinder Singh as the chief minister would refer to 35,000 deaths. The problem is that that the government has refused to provide certain types of information on deaths, though the figure on killing by the militant is officially available and this includes both the Hindus and the Sikhs. Even the Punjab government refused  under the RTI information on the number of cremations and post-mortems in Amritsar between June 3 and June 12, 1984. This figure included killings during Operation Bluestar, the army attack on the Golden Temple complex. The reply under letter NO. MRC/RTI/12/3129  dated October  31, 2012 said the record was stolen in 2004 and FIR No. 121 dated May 7, 2004 was lodged with Civil Lines police station, Amritsar. This is the level of secrecy.

Of course, the union home ministry released year-wise figures of killings by terrorists from  1981-1991:

Here are the figures:

Hindus: 1981 (10), 1982 (8), 1983 (35), 1984 (237), 1985 (45), 1986 (324), 1987 (425), 1988 (858), 1989 (442), 1990 (743), 1991 (744)

Total: 3871

Sikhs: 1981 (3), 1982 (5), 1983 (40), 1984 (122), 1985 (17), 1986 (193), 1987 (478), 1988 (1044), 1989 (734), 1990 (1694), 1991 (1847)

Total: 6177

The fire that engulfed Punjab consumed chief minister Beant Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal president Harchand Singh Longowal.  Many of the Akali leaders came under attack, including Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra and senior leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi.

There are figures released by the Punjab government. In a reply to an unstarred question by Tarlochan Singh (Congress) in the Punjab Assembly on October 14, 2005, the  written reply stated that 11,336 persons were killed by the militants from 1982-95. The reply to unstarred question is not discussed.

The perception of this struggle being anti- Hindu is not reinforced by this data. That this struggle was against the state is evident from the killing of about 1700 police personnel, the figure that is often quoted in the media. It is for this reason that Satluj might be being perceived as threat to sovereignty of India by the government.

This film is being shown not only publicly but also by the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee in the national capital, turning ‘ban’ on its telecast redundant. Even political parties are competing to play this film in the countryside. This film is a lived experience. The truth, of course, is very bitter many a times.

Punjab in general and the Sikhs in particular have a different kind of collective conscious under which the memories just don’t fade and rather can’t fade away.

The Sikh Ardas (prayer) plays a very important role in keeping the collective memories of brutal state repression alive.

A part in Ardas states: “Jihna Singhan Singhanian Ne Dharam Het Sis Dite, Band Band Katae, Khoprian Luhaian, Charkhian Te Charhe, Ariaan Naal Chirae Gae, Gurdwarian De Sewa Layee Qurbaniyan Keetian, Dharan Nahin Hariya, Sikhee Kesaan Swaasaan Naal Nibahee, Tihnaan Dee Kamayee Da Dhian Dharke, Khalsajee!, Bolo Jee Waheguru!”

(Rougly it refers to the sacrifices of Sikh women and men who were brutally tortured and martyred. There are paintings of this brutality by the state.)

One has to listen to Kirtan from the Golden Temple in the morning during Operation Bluestar week every year.

And lastly, absence of violence alone is not peace and an idea can’t be killed by AK-47. The state seems to be worried by the idea that survived AK-47 and  can be reignited by ‘Satluj’.

But then it is not a Sikh-Hindu issue. It never was. Of course, Hindus were killed in buses and trains. They might have been targeted as representatives of the government at the centre going by speeches of the leaders from that era.

Punjab and the Sikhs dynamics have yet another dimension and this is in the context of India-Pakistan relations. Another Punjab is in Pakistan and that Punjab happens to be the place of birth of Sikh religion. The relationship of the Sikhs with Pakistan just can’t be wished away.