Veteran CPI(M) leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet had pointed out in the 1980s that “too many (Sikh) extremist leaders found shelter and support” in Canada, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat has said in her memoir An Education For Rita, on her experiences between 1975 and 1985. “From the early eighties, there were regular reports of the growth of extremist elements with foreign support, mobilising in the name of a separate Sikh state, which developed into the movement for Khalistan. The party in Punjab, with the help of the CPI, was politically fighting this trend, and our comrades were often targeted by the extremists… In particular, the party warned against the politically questionable role of the Congress party and its government towards the separatist leaders. The Congress was attempting to use these elements in the fight against the main political force in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal. Comrade Surjeet and the party argued for the need to find political solutions to some of the genuine demands of the people linked to the autonomy of the state, the status of Chandigarh, the border disputes with neighbouring states, and the sharing of river waters. We stressed on the importance of politically isolating the extremists instead of only resorting to repressive actions by the security forces,” Karat writes in her book. “A look at the numerous interventions made by Comrade Surjeet on the ground… demonstrate his prescience in understanding that India was heading towards a catastrophe. He was sharply critical of the role of the US administration and pointed out how, in Canada, too many extremist leaders found shelter and support.” Karat adds that Surjeet also warned of the “whipping up of communal sentiments by an RSS-backed platform called Hindu Suraksha Samiti”. Highlighting the “efforts” of the CPI(M) to foster peace and harmony in troubled times, she says that Operation Bluestar — when the Army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar and killed Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale and other militants — changed things dramatically, and a large number of Hindus were pulled out of a bus and killed in Gurdaspur as “retribution”. She adds that the BJP, RSS and sections of the Congress began to organise marches where “provocative slogans” were raised. Karat then recounts the violence that began after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, and says that the CPI(M) tried its best to intervene and stop the violence. “I will always remember the scene we encountered in the main market in Manakpura. There was Nathu Parshad, with a small group of comrades standing on the road confronting a baying crowd that wanted to burn a shop owned by a Sikh. A woman with a Congress flag in her hand was screaming at Nathu. ‘My mother has been killed (she meant Indira Gandhi), step aside, we want to teach the killers a lesson’, she said. She was supported by a slogan-shouting crowd. We stood with Nathu and did not budge. The crowd turned away. A little while later, Nathu was called to a meeting by local Congress leaders. They told him to stay away from the area from 2 to 6 pm that day so that they could avenge ‘their mother’s killing’. For three days and nights, under Nathu’s leadership, a group of communists and local residents stood guard in the area, preventing violence against Sikh families and their homes,” writes the CPI(M) leader. She adds that the violence taught its lessons to her. “It was a hard lesson we all learnt. To witness at such close quarters the extent of inhumanity that can be aroused on communal lines was staggering. To be anguished about the heinous killing of a leader, no matter how beloved, is one thing, but to use that to fuel hatred and spread poison against an entire community is altogether different.”
