Former Punjab Chief Minister warns against using the past to polarise the present

Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh has warned against using the past to polarise people in the present, asserting that there can be no escape from history.

Speaking on the  political fallout of the film ‘Satluj’, Amarinder, in an exclusive interview with The Tribune, said Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu was “unnecessarily raising the issue”. 

The senior BJP leader was reacting to posts on Bittu’s social media feed about ‘Satluj,’ including video clips of deceased and clean-shaven men, and persistent statements that the BJP did not ban the film and should not be held responsible for it.

Instead of piecemeal efforts like the movie, the former Chief Minister said, the entire gamut of incidents should be brought out. “If 25,000 were killed, there were 1,800 policemen who also died fighting these terrorists, as did thousands of other innocent persons. The names of all those who committed excesses on both sides should come out,” he said.

Asked what he thought about public screenings of the movie across Punjab, he said he didn’t know who was behind the movie being pulled down.

“But let me tell you that the BJP or the Congress will not gain from this. Only the Shiromani Akali Dal, Waris Punjab De and the Akali Dal (Punar Surjit) can probably foresee political gain. That is why these parties are encouraging public screenings,” he said. He pointed out that only after the movie was pulled down had it aroused massive public interest. “Had it remained on the platform, it would probably not have garnered such public interest,” he said.

The former Chief Minister also said there was “no point in running away from history, but that didn’t mean history should end up polarising the present”. “Jaswant Singh Khalra was collecting evidence of those who went missing. He was not doing anything wrong. Six policemen were also convicted later. How can this be denied? We need to own our past and remember it to the extent where we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. One does not want to carry these things to the future and get the younger generation worked up for past incidents,” he said, warning that it was a “very tricky business”.

Amarinder, who had resigned as an MP in 1984 to protest the Army entering the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar, said that even during the worst phase of militancy in Punjab, the Hindus and the Sikhs remained united.

Recalling how the Hindus had always held the Darbar Sahib in the highest reverence, he said, “In days preceding Operation Bluestar when I was trying to facilitate dialogue between the Centre and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, I would go to meet him at Guru Nanak Niwas at 1 am and come out at 3 am. About 80 per cent of those cleaning the Darbar Sahib parikarma were Hindus. If Hindus were killed by militants, the Sikhs always sympathised with them. Be it the incident at Dhilwan where people were pulled out of a bus and killed or such targeted killings in Dera Bassi, Lalru or my own constituency, the common Sikh was totally against it. Back then, all were Punjabis–not Hindus or Sikhs,” he said.

The former Chief Minister also came out in support of the late KPS Gill, a former Punjab DGP. “He was brought to Punjab and assigned a specific task. He delegated work to his junior officers posted in different districts and police stations. If some of his juniors did things that were uncalled for, he cannot be blamed for it. His role in eliminating terrorism should not be undermined,” he added.