The Massacre Was Organised

"Thanks to Hollywood movies, I have no fear of guns." This remark, made by a Hollywood actor has an undercurrent of irony which marks our systematic desensitisation to violence. But ask any Sikh survivor of the bloody massacre, he or she, given a choice, would have settled for 'mercy-killing' by bullets and bombs. Not only because they are modern weapons but also because of the quick death they bring and because they are not "scary'.

When modern weapons are freely available in the arms bazaar, when killing just takes a push button, is it not strange that Sikhs should have been killed with all kinds of improvised weapon? Executed through sophisticated weapons, the killings would have been less taxing for the killers too. So, why were they not given these weapons by those who plotted the violence? Why were the killers armed with kerosene, petrol, match boxes, deadly chemicals, iron rods, sticks and other petty weapons? Not just in Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana. Why did the carnage start all at once in places divided by thousands of miles? Why did the police in every state affected by violence, take a uniform stand? Why were the police control rooms in all the cities either abandoned or not functional? Considering the gravity of the situation, even without the anti-Sikh violence, there should have been police reinforcements in every place.

There is only one answer to all these questions. The gory violence was organised and organised in a way that would make it difficult to trace the killers. A stick, an iron rod, kerosene and petrol-these are things of petty use and anybody can have them and, if somebody decides to use them for killing, there is no way to prove the crime. And, not for a moment should we believe that the blood-thirsty mobs, who devoured thousands of Sikhs, had the intelligence not to choose weapons which could make them accountable for the crimes. This, like the improvised weapons provided by the state-controlled ration shops, was the gift of those who organised the massacre.

Look at the role played by the state-controlled (and the most powerful) electronic media. Throughout the days of violence, its focus was either on the mourners in and around Teen murti house or on the funeral arrangements. Even in that, it repeatedly showed footage of bloodthirsty mobs shouting, "khoon ka badla khoon (seek blood for blood)." Other parts of the Indian media had already done their job by harping on the religious identity of the assassins. The killer mobs, who were other wise illiterate, however, had no difficulty in putting two and two together in this case and quickly picked up the signal about whose "khoon" was needed to avenge the killing of Mrs. Gandhi. This is another very strong pointer to the belief that the massacre was organised by the powers that be.

There are many more indicators but among the most glaring is the fact that Sikhs in the security forces were systematically disarmed soon after the assassination.

The conspiracy theory gets its biggest boost from the fact that the assassins, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, who surrendered their weapons almost immediately after shooting Mrs. Gandhi, were taken to a room and shot at by the ITBP commandos in the prime minister's security. Who gave them the orders to shoot at point blank range the disarmed assassins (who, by no accounts, were resisting arrest)? Who is it who wanted evidence behind the assassination plot wiped out immediately and desperately? Could it be the same people who plotted the subsequent violence?

Look at the evidence after the violence stopped. The same people who had organised, plotted and executed the violence now switched floors to the peace camp. Many processions paying lip service to the cause of Hindu-Sikh unity were organised by the same people.