Truth of so-called Damdami
Taksaal (Jatha
Bhindran-Mehta)
by Dr.
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer
The Bhindranwalas have
their origin in Giani Sunder Singh (1883-1930) of Bhinder Kalan village (in
Firozpur district). Sunder Singh was known as ‘Sri
Maan 108 Giani Sunder Singh Nirmala’; he
was a student of Pandit Jawala Das Udasi;[1] Giani Sunder Singh’s mission
was a combination of Udasi andNirmala activities
and they used the weapon of khanday-di-pahul and
series of akhand
path to
attract crowds of people; and they achieved tremendous success. Giani Sunder
Singh was succeeded by Giani Gurbachan Singh (1902-1961); now the jatha (which
had come to be known as ‘Jatha Bhindran’ because Giani Sunder Singh belonged
to Bhinder Kalan village) was divided into two factions: one headed by Giani
Kartar Singh and the other by Giani Mohan Singh;[2] Giani Kartar Singh
(1932-1977) died in 1977 and was succeeded by Giani Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwala[3] of Rode village (in Moga district).
Clashes
between the Nirankaris and the Bhindran-Jatha
The clashes between Nirankaris and
the Jatha Bhindran-Mehta began when (on the 13th of September 1973) the
former began holding functions in the village of Chowk Mehta and the other
areas which the Jatha Bhindran regarded its exclusive monopoly zone; hence
the Jatha Bhindran considered the entry of the Nirankaris in that area as
‘pouncing upon its market’ which would have meant losing some, if not
several, followers and the Jatha declared it as an invasion. The Jatha
Bhindran-Mehta is an extension of the Udasi-Nirmala ideology which is a
semi-Hindu Movement but as the field of functioning of this Jatha was the
Sikh Homeland, like other Udasi-Nirmala deras they
too used akhand
paths of
Guru Granth Sahib and amrit
parchars (giving
initiation) to attract people. They regarded Guru Granth Sahib as their
Scripture but also gave equal, if not more, respect to the Hindu
mythological books like Ramayana, Mahabharata and the so-called dasamgranth (90%
of which is translation of Hindu fictional and mythological writings). The
preachers of this Jatha, in their exegesis and discourses, use more from the
Hindu fictional works than even Guru Granth Sahib; and, their religious,
ritual and social practices are almost wholly Hindu in nature.
Professional
and business interests, zonal monopoly and cult interests were the root
cause of clashes between these two groups. Between 1973 and 1978 these
clashes remained on very low scale; Giani Kartar Singh succeeded in using
the SGPC to pass (on the 18th of November 1973) a resolution against the
Nirankaris.[4]This resolution remained buried in the achieves of the SGPC
and there was no follow up; but on the 13th of April 1978, when the
Nirankaris held a function at Amritsar in the religious capital of the Sikh
Homeland and it resulted into killing of 13 Sikhs by the Nirankari
‘army’,[5] the Jatha Bhindran - Nirankari dispute became a Sikh - Nirankari
dispute. At that time the Punjab was being ruled by the Akali Party under
the chief minister ship of Parkash Singh Badal; the Congress Party cells
among the Sikhs and the pro-Congress Indian Intelligence Agencies manoeuvred
to provoke common Sikhs to create a Movement against the Nirankaris; they
also began patting and promoting Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala though different
sources. These Agencies had no grudge against the Nirankaris (rather they
had been collaborating with them and had a soft corner for them) but their
target was the Akali Government; neither Bhindranwala nor the Sikh elite
could understand the game of the Intelligence Agencies.
The acquittal of the Nirankari
chief and all the 60 accused persons (in 1980), in the April 1978 murder
case, became the starting point of the chapter of neo phase of militancy;
now Bhindranwala and some other groups of Sikh radicals began thinking of
planning to kill the Nirankari chief; though he could not achieve it but two
individuals (Ranjit Singh and Kabal Singh) did accomplish it; Bhindranwala
too had contributed to this militant action by providing Ranjit Singh a
carbine to kill the Nirankari. Murder of Nirankari boosted the morale of the
Sikhs, especially the Sikh youth and the Sikh elite, and with this began the
militant movement (which engulfed the Sikh Homeland for the next fifteen
years) and Bhindranwala had become the leader of this Movement. Once the
Sikh youth and the Sikh elite accepted Bhindranwala as their leader he
became emotionally involved in the Sikh national movement; now he was not a
cult leader but a Lok
Nayak (hero
of the masses) of the Sikh mainstream; and, due to the manoeuvrings of the
Intelligence Agencies the Movement went on turning more and more serious as
well as complicated; and in this scenario Bhindranwala resolved to fight for
the Sikhs’ rights; he swore not to backtrack or run away from the field.
During this
period Indira Gandhi decided to attack Darbar Sahib in order to get lion’s
share of Hindu votes and under this planning she operated a movement of
terror in the Punjab; Giani Jarnail Singh had nothing to do with the
terrorist actions which were in fact were acts committed by the Third Agency
of the Indira Gandhi; however, when he and General Subeg Singh got
information about Indira Gandhi’s planning they decided to create history by
giving an unforgettable reply to the intentions of Indira Gandhi; Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwala and Subeg Singh accomplished what he had proclaimed; and,
this battle exalted them (Bhindranwala and Subeg Singh) to the status of the
greatest war heroes of the past two centuries of the Sikhs’ history.
The third role of Jatha Bhindran-Mehta
began after 1985 when it, with the help of Sikh youth, led a militant
campaign; in the struggle for Khalistan, major role was played by the
activists of this Jatha, Babar Khalsa (established by Jathedar Talwinder
Singh) and its second faction (under the command of Sukhdev Singh Babar,
which became much more powerful after 1986). At that time Thakar Singh was
the caretaker of the Chowk Mehta Dera; he was an illiterate and simple man
whom any one could lead and mislead; he was, however, a show-piece and the
major role was played by Mohkam Singh, Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, Manbir
Singh Chaheru, Gurnam Singh Bundala etc; these people knew that Thakar Singh
was a simple person so they did not declare him as chief of the Jatha; at
first they presented him as the caretaker of the Dera but later they
declared him as Acting Chief of Jatha Bhindran-Mehta. During all this time
all of them continued asserting that Giani Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala did
not die during the attack by Indian Army in June 1984; even in the presence
of Guru Granth Sahib they would declare that they were in touch with Giani
Jarnail Singh; this was sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. So much so that when
one very active Sikh youth, a valuable asset of their group asserted that
Bhindranwala embraced martyrdom, he was killed by Gurnam Singh Bundala in
cold blood; this killing gave him a new name ‘Jallad’ (literally:
executioner). By the September 1992 most of the militant leaders of the
Khalistan Movement had been killed by the police in fake encounters.
The fourth
role of this Jatha began in 1992. On the 14th of October 1992, K.P. Gill the
police chief visited Chowk Mehta Dera and held secret meeting with Thakar
Singh, Mohkam Singh and Harnam Singh Dhumma etc. Sarup Singh, a lecturer in
the Evening College of the Panjab University Chandigarh, who was one of the
closest friends of K.P. Gill, mediated friendship between the police chief
and the Chowk Mehta Dera officials. After this Harnam Singh Dhumma became
friendly first with K.P. Gill and through him he made understanding with the
Indian Intelligence Agency and finally the RSS. Thakar Singh died in 2004
and the Indian Intelligence brought Harnam Singh Dhumma (who had become a
citizen of the USA by that time) to India[6] and on the 2nd of January 2005
he was installed as the chief of the Jatha through Jasbir Singh Rode (an
agent of the central agencies).[7] Those who were present at Chowk Mehta to
attend the ceremony of installation of Harnam Singh Dhumma included Sarbjot
Singh Bedi (President, Sant Samaj), Simranjit Singh Mann (President SAD
Amritsar), Mohkam Singh, Sucha Singh Chhotepur MLA, Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan,
Harcharan Singh Dhami (President Dal Khalsa), Bhai Ranjit Singh (former
caretaker of Akal Takht), Karnail Singh Panjauli, Wassan Singh Zafarwal.[8]
On the other hand, on the same
day, Ram Singh, a nephew of Giani Kartar Singh (predecessor of Giani Jarnail
Singh), declared himself as the new chief of Bhindran-Mehta Jatha (earlier
he had served asgranthi in
Darbar Sahib but has resigned when he was transferred to Jind); all the five
major priests, Awtar Singh Makkar (president SGPC) and other senior leaders
of Badal Akali Dal attended his installation ceremony in Gurdwara Gurshabad
Parkash at village Sangrai (near Batala).[9]
As the chief of this Jatha, Harnam
Singh Dhumma first exhibited himself as an anti-Badal person, developed
relations with radical Akalis but soon, under instructions from the
Intelligence Agencies he began changing his stance; and, within just 13
months he had secretly shook hands with Badal;[10] the first revelation of
this new relationship came to surface on the 26th of February 2006 when he
chaired ‘Virsa
Sambhal Sammelan’;[11]
this gathering had been arranged in collaboration with Ravi Inder Singh,
Surjit Barnala’s supporters, Parmjit Singh Sarna, Ranjit Singh Dhadarianwala
and other anti-Badal Akalis, but, in this function Lakhbir did not say even
a single word against Badal; in fact they (the organisers) did not know that
he (Harnam Singh) had already established secret liaison with Badal. In the
middle of this function Ravi Inder Singh and Surjit Barnala group smelt the
conspiracy and left the stage before the passing of the resolutions;[12]
open declaration of union between Badal and Harnam Dhumma was announced in
August 2011 when both joined hands to contest the SGPC as one group.
Another major dera had
been established by Giani Amir
Singh (1870-1954)
at Gali
Sattowali Amritsar;
Amir Singh was succeeded by Giani Kirpal Singh (1918-1993); the latter had
also served as caretaker of Akal Takht; he was detested by the Sikhs for his
collaboration with the Indian regime after the latter’s attack on Darbar
Sahib and destruction of the building of Akal Takht in June 1984.Sucha
Singh (1948-2002),
another student of this dera,
also established a dera at Jawaddi (near
Ludhiana).
[1] www.sarbloh.info, Dr Sher
Singh Giani, Amrit
Jeewan,
p. 37.
[2] When Giani Kartar Singh
was installed as the chief of this Jatha, the family of Giani Gurbachan Singh
rejected him; so much so that that Giani Kartar Singh was not allowed even to
sit on the dais during the ceremony of final prayers of Giani Gurbachan Singh;
people were so angry with Giani Kartar Singh that he had to flee the village
to save his life on that day. The family installed Mohan Singh as Giani
Gubachan Singh’s successor. According to Hardeep Singh Dibdiba (forner PA to
Jasbir Singh Rode), Jathedar Jagedev Singh Talwandi was so aggressive that he
declared ‘How can we bestowMalwa’s honour
on a man from Majha’ (Giani
Gurbachan Singh and Giani Mohan Singh belonged toMalwa and
Giani Kartar Singh belonged to Majha region
of the Punjab); Giani Kartar Singh could not visit Bhinder Kalan again and he
established his dera at
Chowk Mehta and also renamed the jatha as
Bhindran-Mehta Jatha; later, in 1977 this group began calling itself Damdami
Taksal. (Hardeep Singh Dibdiba: Saka
Neela Tara ton baad Tabahee ki Twareekh,
pages 58-60).
[3]
Giani Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala headed a great militant movement against the
Indian regime and fought one of the greatest battles of the history of the
world; among the leaders of the Sikh nation he is considered as the greatest
hero since Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716).
[4] For details see: volume 7
of this Sikh
History,
pp 16-29
[5] Ibid
[6]
For more information: Hardip Singh Dibdiba, op.
cit., pp
129-134.
[7]
On this day the Chowk Mehta Dera and Jatha Bhindran Mehta acknowledged the
martyrdom of Giani Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala (in order to establish Harnam
Dhumma as full-fledged chief of the Jatha); this also implied that they had
accepted that Thakar Singh and other persons associated with the Jatha and the
Dera had been telling lies for 21 years and had been committing sacrilege of
Guru Granth Sahib by saying so.
[8]
He had returned to India on the 11th of April 2001; his relative Sucha Singh
Langah had managed his return with the help of Badal.
[9] The
Tribune,
dated 3.1.2005
[10]
Rajinder Singh Mehta too played a
mediator Badal and Harnam Dhumma (The
Tribune,
dated 3.1.2005).
[11]
Most of the Sikh organisations boycotted or ignored this function; prominent
Sikh leaders and organizations, including Bhai Ranjit Singh, Simranjeet Singh
Mann, Jathedar Ram Singh (chief of the other faction of Jatha Bhindran-Mehta),
Dal Khalsa, Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Khalra Mission Committee, International
Human Rights Organization (IHRO) and several others boycotted it. Many of the
critics billed it to be nothing more than “a meaningless show and gathering of
(so-called) Babas of variousderaas and maryadas”;
Bhai Ranjit Singh (former caretaker Akal Takht) called it “a conclave of “Saadhsand
police cats”, while others have labelled it “an orchestration of the Indian
intelligence agencies.”
[12]
For more information: Hardip Singh Dibdiba, op.
cit., pp
135-143.
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From the book “Sikh
History in 10 volumes”,
vol 9, pp. 165-71 |