Gurbachan Singh Manochahal

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Baba
Gurbachan Singh Manochahal
ਗੁਰਬਚਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਾਨੋਚਾਹਲ
Jathedar of the Akal Takht
In office
27 April 1986 – 26 January 1987
Preceded byGurdev Singh Kaunke
Succeeded byDarshan Singh
Personal details
Born
Gurbachan Singh

(1954-06-06)6 June 1954
Manochahal, Tarn Taran, Panjab
Died28 February 1993(1993-02-28) (aged 38)
Rataul, Tarn Taran, Panjab
Kharku groupBhindranwala Tigers Force of Khalistan
PostChief

Gurbachan Singh Manochahal was a Sikh[1] who founded the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan in 1984.[2]

Early life

Gurbachan Singh Manochahal was born on 6 June 1954 at village Manochahal in Tarn Taran district in the Indian state of Punjab to S. Atma Singh and Gurmej Kaur. He served in the Indian Army during his youth.

Manochahal was shot in the arm during the 1978 Sikh–Nirankari clashes. Manochahal maintained a relationship with Damdami Taksal and became acquainted with other members of the organization, such as Amrik Singh and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Insurgency

[3] Manochahal led a resolution at the 1986 Sarbat Khalsa to declare the resolve of a separate Sikh homeland and also formed a Panthic committee which would lead Sikhs per this resolution.[citation needed]

In 1992, a separate Panthic committee headed by Dr. Sohan Singh was formed. It called for the boycott of the 1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. Elections resulted in a Congress Government under Beant Singh of the Congress Party. The formation of this committee undermined the influence of Manochahal who was criticized for his support for political participation and led to a divide between the armed groups within Punjab.[citation needed]

Per Maloy Krishna Dhar, a former Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau, India, he was given the task to negotiate with Gurbachan Singh Manochahal. He contacted Manochahal through a journalist source, was blindfolded and taken a few hundred kilometres from Amritsar to meet with him where he secretly held negotiations for three hours before he was blindfolded again and transported back.[4]

[5]

Death

Manochahal carried a bounty of ₹30 lakh on his head. He was killed in a police encounter on 1 March 1993 by Punjab Police. Manochahal escaped from the police's dragnet on 27 February in Bagrian village before the police cornered him in the nearby Rataul village the following day. After defending himself for an hour with a machine gun, he was killed. The chief of the Punjab Police, Kanwar Pal Singh Gill later proclaimed, "Now I can say that we have finished militancy in Punjab."[6][7]

Bibliography

  • Van Dyke, Virginia (2009), "The Khalistan Movement in Punjab, India, and the Post-Militancy Era: Structural Change and New Political Compulsions", Asian Survey, 49 (6): 975–997, doi:10.1525/as.2009.49.6.975 https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Gurbachan_Singh_Manochal

References

  1. ^ Dang, Satyapal; Bakaya, Ravi M. (1 January 2000). Kharku lehar in Punjab. Gyan Books. p. 412 pages. ISBN 9788121206594.
  2. ^ Mahmood, Cynthia Keppley (1996). Fighting for Faith and Nation. Series in Contemporary Ethnography. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 159ff. ISBN 9780812215922.
  3. ^ Van Dyke 2009, p. 990.
  4. ^ "Old men and their Official secrets - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. ^ "The Rajiv Gandhi years". India Today. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Indian police kill top Sikh guerilla". The Daily Gazette. 1 March 1993. p. 16.
  7. ^ "Manochahal killed in encounter". The Indian Express. 1 March 1993. p. 1.
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