From: G.S.Samra@lut.ac.uk
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: re:Khalistan
Date: 20 Nov 92 11:42:29 GMT
Reply-To: G.S.Samra@lut.ac.uk (GS Samra)
Organization: Loughborough University, UK.

In article <1992Nov19.011801@IASTATE.EDU> porayath@IASTATE.EDU (Rajiv Porayath) writes:
>
>Do you know that the Indian army did not destroy your holy gold canopy of the
>temple from where your brave fighters were firing, the paratroopers who went
>in did not wear their shoes least they descreate your holy temple. Tanks were 
>not used at all and the terrorist fired anti-personnel mortars from inside the 
>temple. They were not fighting with rifles but LMG's and HMG's and your
>fighters were hiding behind woman and children in the temple while firing 
>at the army.

The Sikh fighters were in the Akal Takhat building. There were no (at any time)
Sikh fighters in the Golden Temple itself. The Akal Takhat was destroyed
(reduced to rubble) completely by the Indian army and is currently being 
rebuilt by the Sikhs. At no time from 1982-1984 did any of the Sikhs enter
the Golden Temple itself with guns.If you know anything about about the
Punjab situation you would know this. Even the Indian Giovernment has at
no times claimed that there were armed Sikhs in the Golden Temple itself.
But despite that there were 373 bullet and mortar marks on the Golden Temple
due to the Indina Army action.

As for the Indian soldiers taking their shoes off before, this is another 
of the Indian Governments propoganda item. The Indian soldiers smoked
while in the Golden Temple complex. They tied captured Sikhs hands behind
their backs and shot them point blank. Rashpal Singh (P.A. of Sant Jarnail 
Singh Bhindrewale) and his wife were shot at point blank range. Their child
of 13 months was thrown in the sacred pool and left to drown.

	The invasion  took place on one of the holiest days in the Sikh
calendar. The Golden Temple complex was full of pilgrimes. Although the
exact number of Sikhs killed is not known, but it runs into several thousand.
The Indian Government was claiming before the invasion that there were only
forty 'terrorists' hiding in the Golden Temple complex.

	The Indian army used 13 tanks in the invasion, and roughly 
15,000 soldiers were used in Amritsar alone. In additon the air force was used
to survey the area with helicopters. Also the helicopters were used to
attack with machine guns the Sikhs from the surrounding villages who had
started to march towards the Golden Temple.  The attack by the Security
forces started on 1st June and ended on 6th June. There was a strict curfew
from the 3rd onwards. From the 1st June trains and buses were allowed to
come to Amritsar but not allowed to leave. It looks like the Government
wanted to have as many Sikhs as possible in the Golden Temple complex before
they attacked.
	
	Also  if you are not aware,thirty eight other historic Gurdwaras were
attacked by the Indian Army at the same time. Six lorry loads of bodies (of
Sikhs) were taken away from just one of these Gurdwara( Dukh Niwarn,Patiala) 
alone.

	As for the the Indian soldiers being professional fighters, most of the
Sikhs they killed were innocent pilgrimes. They set fire to the Sikh
reference libraray and Musuem between the 7th and 14th June. This was well 
after they had taken control of the Golden Temple complex. Those killed were
not handed to the their relatives but were burned in lorry loads.Those who
survived were not allowed any medical help for days afterwards. 
Further thousands of Sikhs were rounded up in the next three 
months (operation woodrose) and tortured in the Army camps.

	If you are really intrested in what happned there are well documented
eye witness accounts published in various papers and booklets.


>If the army wanted to destroy the terrorists all they needed to do was blow up
>the whole temple with artillery fire. It would have be all over in an hour. So
>don't  underestimate the indian military power, we have the third largest 
>military might and unlike the pakistani army are professional fighters not
>military dictators. 

	The army used tanks,machine guns,helicopters,mortars and according to
Mr. Nayer in his book (he is the former Indian High Commisioner  to England) 
nerve gas,which is disallowed under U.N. laws. As for your point that the
battle could he been over in just one hour, I think it was advice like that
to the Indian Government in the first place which led to this invasion of the
Golden Temple.

	The Indian Army is one of the largest in the world, but most of the 
time it's used for internal matters and not what an Army is normally used
for, i.e. to defend the country from external threat.

	It is because the Sikhs were treated so badly (even worse than
prisoners of war would be under the Geneva convention) that they do not
trust the Indian Government and that is one reason why the fight for Khalistan 
is still going on.

G.S.Samra
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian