Contemporary South Asia For Peer Review Only The Resurgence of Bhindranwale's Image in Contemporary Punjab Journal: Contemporary South Asia Manuscript ID: Draft Manuscript Type: Article Keywords: Green Revolution, India, Khalistan, Punjab, Sikh separatism URL: http:/mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsa Page 1 of 34 Contemporary South Asia 1 2 3 The Resurgence of Bhindranwale’s Image in Contemporary Punjab 4 5 6 7 ABSTRACT 8 9 10 11 12 This article will examine the reemergence since 2008 of the public imagery in Punjab of 13 14 Sant JarnailFor Singh Bhindranwale Peer who Review symbolises a Sikh Onlyseparatist movement against 15 16 the Indian state which took shape in the 1980s. The rebellion, characterised in the 17 18 19 mainstream urban-based Indian media as an extremist Khalistan movement, had its 20 21 strongest years of support in the rural areas of Punjab from 1984 until the early 1990s. 22 23 However, over twenty-five years later, the symbol of Bhindranwale, who was killed in the 24 25 Indian army’s Operation Blue Star, has reemerged. The “bazaar economy” has provided 26 27 a new canvas for the imagery of Bhindranwale, whose images are today visible in 28 29 30 commodified forms available for purchase in shops and market stalls in Punjab. This 31 32 article analyses this resurgence as a public response to contemporary politics in Punjab 33 34 and locates the circulation of Bhindranwale through souvenir-like goods within the 35 36 region’s ‘economic base of place’ (Urry 1995) in which the consumer market has enabled 37 38 39 a conduit through which identity and political culture can be both purchased and 40 41 displayed. The article examines the backdrop of his emblematic reemergence within the 42 43 as it relates to the collective memory of 1984 and the meanings of Bhindranwale’s legacy 44 45 and symbolism for the current times. 46 47 48 49 50 Key words: Green Revolution, India, Punjab, Khalistan, Sikh separatism 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 1 URL: http:/mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsa Contemporary South Asia Page 2 of 34 1 2 3 Introduction 4 5 6 1984 is a milestone in both historical and contemporary terms for Punjab. Sant 7 8 Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (1947-84), one of the most well known Sikh leaders of 9 10 the 20 th century, died in June 1984 resisting the Indian army’s entry into the Sikhs’ 11 12 13 holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. In October 1984 the then Prime 14 For Peer Review Only 15 Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards 16 17 followed by attacks upon Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of India in a communally 18 19 charged response to her death. To some, Bhindranwale is remembered as a 20 21 22 martyr to a valiant movement which stood up to Indian state dominance. To others, 23 24 he represents the beginning of a dark period in Punjab’s recent history of militancy, 25 26 violence and state repression. Often referred to as ‘the killing fields’ by human 27 28 rights interest groups, rural Punjab’s experience of human rights abuses and state 29 30 repression during this time was severe and has been documented and commented 31 32 33 upon extensively (Kumar et al, 2008: Pettigrew, 1995). 34 35 36 37 Despite recent reflections on Sikh separatism and the Khalistan movement as a 38 39 remnant of the past (Jodhka, 2001; Van Dyke, 2009), the reemergence of 40 41 42 Bhindranwale’s imagery in contemporary Punjab hints to his continued appeal 43 1 2 44 decades after his death. The scheduled hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana in 45 46 March 2012 in Patiala gave a distinctive sense that the period after Operation Blue 47 48 Star and the Delhi anti-Sikh ‘riots’ has far from been erased from the collective 49 50 51 memory. Instead, the case triggered a mass mobilisation through a ‘bandh’ (strike) 52 53 which resulted in a movement which continues to resonate in Punjab and the Sikh 54 55 diaspora through various organisations and the ‘Pledge Orange’ Campaign. 3 This 56 57 article, however, wishes to put the reemergence of Bhindranwale’s image within its 58 59 60 2 URL: http:/mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsa Page 3 of 34 Contemporary South Asia 1 2 3 historical context in order to understand such subsequent signs and expressions. 4 5 As Telford (1992) points out, the multifarious character of the Sikh community in 6 7 the rural and urban contexts has presented opportunities over time for leaders and 8 9 10 political interests both to attempt to consolidate Sikh identity and to contest it from 11 12 within, highlighting various social cleavages and structural reasons behind the 13 14 tensions betweenFor regional Peer Punjabi/Sikh Review aspirations and Onlythe overly centralised 15 16 Indian politico-economic system. It is likely that these tensions will keep on 17 18 19 contributing to divergent portrayals of Bhindranwale who is seen both by his 20 21 supporters as well as opponents as the most inspirational figure behind regional 22 23 Sikh aspirations. These aspirations also have a role to play in tensions which have 24 25 developed over time in Punjab society. The region was annexed by the British 26 27 army in 1849 and was made a part of Britain’s colonial empire in India. When India 28 29 30 became independent in 1947, Punjab was partitioned along with Bengal with 31 32 Kashmir remaining a disputed territory until today. East Punjab with a Hindu and 33 34 Sikh majority population became a part of India and the Muslim majority West 35 36 Punjab became a part of Pakistan. When the Indian Punjab was reorganized after 37 38 39 independence as a Punjabi speaking state in 1966, the Sikhs for the first time 40 41 became a majority religious group in that Punjabi speaking province. According to 42 43 the 2001 census, Sikhs are about 60% of Punjab’s population but merely 2% of 44 45 India’s total population (Govt. of Punjab, 2008:94-95). This duality of Sikh location - 46 47 a minority in India but a majority in Punjab- remains a continuing source of political 48 49 50 conflict and tension between Sikh majority Punjab and Hindu majority India. 51 52 Punjab’s industrial backwardness but agricultural advancement that enables 53 54 Punjab to be the main producer and supplier of food in India adds the economic 55 56 dimension to the tensions between Punjab and the federal centre (P. Singh, 2008). 57 58 59 60 3 URL: http:/mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsa Contemporary South Asia Page 4 of 34 1 2 3 Bhindranwale thus entered Punjab’s and India’s historical process as a part of the 4 5 rise of religious revivalism in Punjab linked with the cultural changes taking place 6 7 there as a result of the process of modernisation of agriculture and rural society in 8 9 10 the 1960s and 1970s. It could be said that Bhindranwale’s appeal in the late 1970s 11 12 and early 1980s was heightened by a combination of the identity politics of religion 13 14 and languageFor alongside Peer a consciousness Review of conflict over Only political governance 15 16 between the central government of India and the state of Punjab. Bhindranwale’s 17 18 19 emergence in the late-1970s coincided with important shifts in the economy and 20 21 culture of Punjab, especially in its rural segment. 22 23 24 25 Green Revolution, Capitalist Modernisation and Bhindranwale’s Social 26 27 Reformism 28 29 30 The Green Revolution strategy of agricultural development in the 1960s led to the 31 32 33 extension and deepening of the capitalist mode of production in Punjab 34 35 agriculture. 4 The commodification of social life as a consequence of increasing 36 37 capitalist modernization in Punjab’s rural society resulted in several forms of 38 39 fissures in social practices and cultural norms. In response to this socio-cultural 40 41 42 crisis, various ideological currents emerged with two in particular dominating the 43 44 discourse on social change in relation to economic development: a radical 45 46 Marxism-inspired vision of an alternative collectivist socialist life and a religious 47 48 revivalist vision of a ‘pure’ Sikh way of life. These two visions, which had been 49 50 51 engaged with one another for decades, became increasingly exclusive of one 52 53 another during this time. The radical vision became especially more popular with 54 55 Sikh students in the universities and the professional medical and engineering 56 57 colleges. Many of these students were the first generation of their rural families to 58 59 60 4 URL: http:/mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsa Page 5 of 34 Contemporary South Asia 1 2 3 enter higher education. The radicalization of student and youth movements all over 4 5 the world in the late 1960s also contributed to the spread of Marxist ideas among 6 7 the educated Punjabi rural youth. The specific form this Marxist influence in Punjab 8 9 10 took was the emergence of the Maoist Naxalite movement in Punjab from the late 11 12 1960s and early/mid-1970s. The theoretical and strategic importance attached to 13 14 the peasantryFor as a revolutionary Peer class Review in the Maoist thought Only appealed to the rural 15 16 economic and cultural background of Punjabi educated youth. Further, the Maoist 17 18 19 emphasis on ‘armed struggle’ gelled with the Sikh historical tradition and 20 21 contributed further to the valorization of Sikh identity.