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Decades after terrorism eased its grip in Punjab, the violent controversy over Dera Sacha Sauda revived flickers of fear. Extremism, it appeared, was returning to life; the Sikh right wing seemed to be finding a new voice. It was enough for people to travel back 23 years in time,reliving the traumas of 1984. It was the year that changed many lives, the year Operation Bluestar changed much of everything in Punjab. When the Indian Army launched the operation to flush out extremists from the Golden Temple Complex in Amritsar on June 6, 1984, it left nearly 600 armymen and civilians dead.
Today, the children of those who died then want nothing to do with extremism, Dera Sacha Sauda or otherwise. It’s a generation that has grown wise to the pitfalls of fundamentalism. They have built new lives around a past that they wish to alienate from their present. Normal lives, they call them. It includes good education, fulfilling careers and religious restraint. It may not help them shake off a violent legacy—but it can shape an untainted future. Militancy, it appears, stands marginalised for now.

Dharamvir Singh
(24)
S/o: Gurdial Singh
Occupation: Student
The only son of Khalistan activist Gurdial Singh of Lalhindi village in Moga district, Dharamvir is studying for a BCA degree and plans to settle abroad. After his father’s death, they led a reasonably comfortable lives because the family owned land, which was managed by his mother Jasvir Kaur.
“We have about 13 acres of land, so we don’t have to depend on anyone for financial assistance. We also have caring relatives,” says Dharamvir, who respects his religion but would rather focus on his career. Aligning himself with a religious organisation is not an option.

Paramjeet Kaur(26),Satwant Kaur(27),Tarlochan Singh(22)
Children of:Bhai Amrik Singh, second-in-command to Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale and AISSF president
Occupation:Paramjeet and Satwant are lecturers, Tarlochan a student
When Amrik Singh died, he was doing his PhD in Punjabi. Little wonder then that his children too have an academic bent of mind. While Paramjeet and Satwant are lecturers in zoology and English, their younger brother Tarlochan is pursuing his masters degree in IT.
“After my father’s death, it was my mother, Harmeet Kaur, who faced a tough time,” says Paramjeet. So Harmeet worked in her fields (they had enough land) to help provide a good education to her children. “After Operation Bluestar, we didn’t believe my husband had died. We waited for many years, but he didn’t return. Later we shifted from Amritsar and purchased land in a village near Muktsar, and my mother in-law helped me a lot. With her permission I sent my daughters to a convent school in Muktsar city as there were no good schools in the village and when my son started studying we shifted to the city,” she says.
Raising children was only part of the problem; the family suffered constant harassment after her husband’s death. “If guests visited us, the police would surround the house as if a ‘militant’ had come visiting,” she recalls. “Even our relatives were not spared by the police, who went to their homes and questioned them.”
“I also faced the wrath of many radical groups which wanted me to offer my children to them, but I was firm as I had lost much because of my husband’s involvement and didn’t want to ruin my children’s career,” she says. This, despite the fact that not only was Amrik president of the All India Sikh Students’ Federation, but his father, Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa, was the head of Damdami Taksal and predecessor of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Kanwarjit Singh(26)
S/o: Manminder Singh
Occupation: Forest guard
Kanwarjit was three years old when Manminder Singh of Bandala village in Ferozepur district was killed. Subsequently, the family not only faced a severe financial crisis but was also subjected to sustained humiliation by the police. “For years, the police came to our home unannounced and beat up my grandfather Buta Singh and my uncles,” says Kanwarjit. “They even gave me toffees so that I could tell them if my father had come home because they didn’t believe he had died.” His mother, Sukhjinder Kaur, worked in the fields to support the family. Today, his brother is looking after their six acre land, while he is in a government job. During the Dera row, people wanted to exploit their lineage but they refused to become involved.

Ishar Singh (39)
S/o:Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale
Occupation:Property dealer
Ishar Singh is media shy. He has a reason to be. He’s the son of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the man who led the violent struggle from the front. After Bhindranwale’s death in Operation Bluestar, his wife Pritam Kaur came to Jalandhar from Rode village in Moga district in 1989 along with her two sons, Ishar Singh and Inderjit Singh.
While Inderjit has been in Canada for the past six years, Ishar is a property dealer who also runs a small finance company in Jalandhar. Though himself a matriculate, he wants to provide good education to his two children and doesn’t want to be involved in any controversy, religious or otherwise. While Ishar refuses to talk, according to his family, he has made a life for himself without help from any radical religious group despite the funds that his father’s name attracted. In fact, both the brothers are not linked to any religious body.

Daljit Kaur (28)
D/o:Harcharan Singh Mukta
Occupation: Unemployed
Daljit has done her masters in Punjabi and public administration besides several computer courses, and is now looking for a job in Patiala. After the death of her father (who belonged to Dera Mir Miyan Sirhind), the family was left to fend for itself, with no radical group offering any help. So her mother Amar Kaur took to working at other people’s houses to educate her three daughters.
“We didn’t have any land and it was only my mother’s work that supported us. I also took tuition to pay for my courses,” says Daljit. As for the Dera Sacha Sauda, she says it’s a controversy created by politicians and best kept at a distance.

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