‘On Facebook, there is a group Hate Brar-Kill Brar... radicals join it’

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Lt. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar (Retd) — Rajesh Jadhav

What have the doctors said about the wounds?

Luckily the wounds didn’t go right up to the arteries, or I would have bled to death. It was quite a deep cut. The surgery under general anaesthesia took about an hour. The hospital staff was wonderful, the Metropolitan Police in London and Scotland Yard were wonderful. The Indian high commission gave me total support.

Doesn’t the Golden Temple episode sadden you?

I am a Sikh myself; it gave me no pleasure to go inside the Golden Temple, which is a very holy place for the Sikhs. It was a call of duty. I mean we are in uniform. Once you are given a task you have to accomplish it, particularly to preserve the sovereignty of the nation, preserve the unity of the country. We should carry out our task, however sad we may feel about it. And we don’t think about our religion, caste, creed or any such considerations.

So, you don’t have any regrets as it pertained to national security?

No, I don’t have any regrets; it was no longer a holy place. The Golden Temple had been desecrated. These people had brought in explosives, ammunitions and guns. They were carrying out all sorts of killings and murders, etc. If anything, by our going in, we had cleaned up the temple, we removed the dirt from there. Why should I have any regret?

Is that why other Sikh Army personnel were with you?

Yes, I spoke to them before we went in. I said if there is anyone who feels strongly and doesn’t want to go in, no problem. No action will be taken against you. I give you my word. It was one of them (a Sikh) who got up and said, “Sir, I want to be the first one to go in and want to get to the Akal Takht.” He led the attack, he was blasted by machine gun fire, he lost both his legs, he was bleeding, he refused to be evacuated and kept crawling towards the Akal Takht. He had to be forcibly evacuated. His legs were amputated. I got him the Ashoka Chakra for dauntless courage, which he received at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Have other officers who were part of Operation Bluestar been receiving hate mails like you have?

I don’t think so, for after all it is difficult to blame them. As far as the radicals, militants and terrorists are concerned, the ones to be blamed were Mrs Indira Gandhi, General Arun Shridhar Vaidya, Lt. Gen. Krishnaswamy Sundarji, Lt. Gen. Ranjit Singh Dyal and Lt. Gen. Brar. The others were just taking orders in the line of duty.

Won’t the supporters of pro-Khalistani groups blame the other officers?

Well, I hope not. There were a lot of Sikh troops in this operation going into the Golden Temple.

Have the hate mails increased after the London attack?

Hell of a lot. Why only post-London? I think on the 25th anniversary of the Operation Bluestar, BBC interviewed me, and it was all over BBC and the whole lot of hate groups came up on the Internet. They pledged to kill me, they said, “we will destroy this chap, we will send him to hell, and he is enemy number one of the Sikhs.” So the hate mails carry on. If you see in Facebook, there is a group which says “Hate Brar-Kill Brar” and those who are radical are joining such groups.
There are two Khalistani groups on Facebook, which a normal person cannot access. If one wants to join that group, they will interview you, they will get all your details and if they feel you are okay they will take you in. The aim of those groups is “Hate India”. I mean these are groups that demand Khalistan. The social network and the electronic media are being misused by these people for anti-national acts. I think there needs to be some legislation to ban such groups in the social networks. It’s terrible.

Then what about freedom of speech?

There is a limit to freedom of speech. Freedom of speech doesn’t entitle you to threaten someone’s life. It is a very thin line and one should know where to draw it and it is also up to one’s personal discretion to know where the limit ends. Such things should not be permitted at all. Anything that is inciting violence or calling for violence must not be allowed. This is a free world. We need to make sure that everyone around us also has a free chance to live.

You have also served in the Northeast and were part of anti-insurgency operations. Was there any backlash?

Yes, I have commanded the Northeast and have dealt with Ulfa, MNF (Mizo National Front), GNLF (Gorkha National Liberation Front). There the problems are not religion-based, but socio-economic problems, they feel that they are second-class citizens and are not getting their rightful share. The entire insurgency there is of a different type.

When it comes to the government’s role, isn’t this second-class citizen perception true?

Well, the government needs to do a lot more. When the missionaries were there, there were hospitals, roads, etc. Once they left, the local people were almost abandoned.

If at all required, will you shift base from Colaba in Mumbai as your movements are constantly tracked?

Why should I? I am 78 years old, I have just a few more years to live. I have been here for 20 years, and it is a very safe place, it’s a military cantonment. I have my relatives, friends and life here. You can’t at this point of my age just kick me around. Wherever I go, do you think that I won’t be under threat there? The terrorists will get to know about it in 24 to 48 hours.

How much do you blame mainstream Akali politics for this? Aren’t they building up the tension?

Yes, they are. They should stop supporting the militant groups and stop declaring the dead as martyrs. They are even asking for clemency for Balwant Singh, who killed former chief minister Beant Singh. They should just stop honouring people.

You have been opposing a memorial inside the Golden Temple in the memory of those who died in Operation Bluestar.

The memorial will only become a rallying point. For the younger generations to come, who haven’t seen what mayhem happened in the 1980s, their passions will be aroused due to the memorial. Thus, it should not come.