'Khalistanis raped Sikh women...' Captain Amarinder Singh revisits Punjab militancy era (WATCH)
Captain Amarinder Singh delivered the KPS Gill Memorial Lecture at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Mohali, reminiscing about the challenging times of militancy in Punjab. He praised KPS Gill's leadership, highlighting his ability to understand the psyche of Punjabis and transform the Punjab Police
FollowCaptain Amarinder Singh gave a reminder of the times when militancy was at its peak in Punjab, and how the Punjab Police was transformed under the able leadership of KPS Gill who was able to tap into the psyche of the average Punjabi already enraged by the Khalistanis' brutality.
Delivering the KPS Gill Memorial Lecture at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Mohali, Captain Amarinder said, "They (Khalistanis) used to go into homes. They used to get the women there to prepare food for them, lay down their beds and then they would rape their daughters. This was one thing that spread through Punjab like wildfire, and started turning people against them. And then they did another thing. Whenever a police personnel or his wife went shopping in town, they would be shot. That gave more courage to the police. And knowing the psyche of the Punjabi, Mr Gill worked on that and eventually brought the force (Punjab Police) to a point where the terrorism was beaten back."
Hailing the leadership of the former Punjab top cop, Captain Amarinder recalled, "It was a time, most of you do not remember, when all your police stations shut at sunset. I remember once I was coming from Batala (in Gurdaspur district). Nobody used to be on the roads. And from Batala to Amritsar, I did not see a single person on the road. We stopped. I was with a colleague who wanted to talk to the Deputy Commissioner. We stopped at his house, but the Deputy Commissioner' sentry will not open the gate. So the Depty Commissioner was told that somebody is at the door. So at that time, they handed over a telephone with cable and told me to speak. The Deputy Commissioner was spoken to . He apologised, and said, 'I am sorry sir, but after sunset, we do not open the gate. Now that was the fear (of militants) that existed. At that time, the Punjab Police used to be what old police forces used to be like. They were maintaining law and order and directing traffic. Nobody had actually faced terrorism of the time. And that was when the situation developed as it did. The government of India posted Mr Gill here, and he had a difficult task of putting this force back on its feet, re-arming and re-training it. But it was that his leadership that mattered. He started night dominance. Where there was fear to go in, he led the force through village. There were cordon and search operations. The Army had the outer cordon. And eventually, the terrorists made mistakes."
