Mr KPS Gill and Mr Sarbjit Singh, the then Deputy Commissioner Amritsar, are seen outside the Golden Temple when holed up militants were flushed out from the Sikh shrine during the operation Black Thunder in May 1988.— Photo Rajiv Sharma

Giving background of his being “tried” at mid-night by the then Union Minister, Mr Sarbjit Singh writes, “for the sake of religious propriety and respect for the Sikh religious sentiments and in order to sustain the support of the public, it was necessary to restore the glory of Darbar Sahib by starting the ‘maryada’ without further delay after Operation Black Thunder. But I needed at least two days to get the temple ready to begin normal ceremonies and other religious services. The whole day of May 19, 1998 was used up in completing the mines” detection operation by the National Security Guards (NSG). At the first opportunity, the senior and responsible citizens were sent in to have a round of the temple to see the conditions for themselves. The police (in plain clothes) under the supervision of a magistrate had also to investigate and take into its custody the arms and ammunition left in the temple, the police rightly did not require the gold-plated sheets, meant to be fitted on Akal Takht, and also the offerings in gold and cash lying in the ‘parikarma’, So K.P.S. Gill left the custody of the same to me. I therefore decided to seal the entire gold and cash in the presence of the SGPC. I also decided to keep the valuables in covers bearing the official and SGPC seals in a vault in the Darshan Deori itself which was also sealed under joint stamps. This sensitive work was done under the supervision of Harbans Singh Pawar and Suresh Kumar an IAS — both Additional Deputy Commissioners. Keeping in view all these considerations, I decided to start the maryada on the intervening night of May 21 and May 22.

Mr Sarbjit Singh said that on May 19, he received a telephone from the Union Home Minister to know about the happenings of the Golden Temple. I thought that he had rung up only to congratulate me. He wanted to know the details of the activities in the temple after Operation Black Thunder. I narrated in sequence and requisite details. He was positively not happy with my report of the day’s events. On this minister said, “things are not right in Amritsar, I am coming there, we will land at Amritsar airport at around 1.30 am”. However, Mr P. Chidambram came down, he congratulated me on the good work during the operation.

On their arrival at Circuit House, both ministers took their seats, “I stood facing them two senior officers Gopi Arora, Secretary Information and Broadcasting, Naryanana — Director IB and K.P.S. Gill stood behind the ministers. When the Home Minister raised the issues on the basis of which the government perceived that I had faulted, felt cheated. But K.P.S. Gill, even before the minister had finished, said to me from behind the minister, “Sarbjit, they have come to spoil what we have done”. The author further says, I shared the embarrassment but I felt some relief as he had given words to the feelings welling up within me.

The charges at the “midnight trial” included, (1) why had the (sic) gold and currency handed over to the SGPC when its place was the government treasury, (2) why did I not give adequate time to the TV team when they (sic) went into the temple (3) It was alleged that the team of civilians, selected by me sent into the temple was not proper because they made adverse comments which were contrary to the facts inside and with the result (4) distorted reports were published by the Press.

Mr Sarbjit Singh claims that he took up the charges one by one and the visiting ministers and senior bureaucrats seemed to be satisfied with explanations of the author. On this “my trial seemed to be over when a smiling Chidambram got up, he was warm and appreciative. The Home Minister too, had no option, but to show satisfaction though he remained somewhat stiff and reserve. Gopi Arora whom I had met for the first time also seemed delighted. Still the verdict on my midnight trial seemed to have been reserved to be announced later”.

“Later, I got the feeling that the matter was more serious than what I had initially thought it to be. It was also for the first time that Governor S.S. Ray was landing at Amritsar at 8 am. My alarm was heightened when I realised that the Prime Minister too, have to be acquainted with the details of our actions by 10 o’ clock. We managed to get the Prime Minister on the line and the Governor talked to him for more than half an hour. Smilingly he came out of his room and announced to us — the PM has told me to tell you and Gill that he had forgotten all about this (the alleged charges against us)”.

When the Chief Secretary visited Amritsar, he revealed that the Central Government had almost initiated action to sack the District Magistrate (the author) and Mr K.P.S. Gill.

With the departure of militants from the temple, the role of Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode, in handling the militants had become totally irrelevant. It seemed that Rode was the trump card, used primarily by the Home Ministry and the Government of India generally.

(Concluded)