Memories of the dark days of terrorism
Reviewed by Dinesh Kumar

KPS Gill: The Paramount Cop
by Rahul Chandan

Time Present & Time Past: Memoirs of a Top Cop
by Kirpal Dhillon

Two books, one by a police officer and another about a police officer, have recently hit the stand. Both have one prominent past assignment in common — that of Director General of Police or DGP of Punjab during the dark days of terrorism in a state that is known for its saints, brave soldiers and tough farmers. Both the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers are Sikhs hailing from Punjab but belonging to different state cadres.

While Kirpal Dhillon, who has written Time Present & Time Past: Memoirs of a Top Cop, belonged to the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, about who Rahul Chandan has written KPS Gill: The Paramount Cop belonged to the Assam cadre. Both these police officers were posted to Punjab soon after Operation Blue Star (June 1984).

While Dhillon was appointed DGP soon after Operation Blue Star in 1984, Gill, who by then had already been serving on deputation to Punjab, was appointed state DGP four years later in 1988.

Dhillon’s autobiography focuses on his career in the IPS, most of it in Madhya Pradesh. But his longest chapter is on his slightly more than a year-long tenure in Punjab which is full of interesting narrations on events immediately after Operation Blue Star, i.e. the period when he was posted to Punjab after being personally twice interviewed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

For those who are not well versed with Punjab politics of that time, the book contains interesting accounts of the political manipulations and machinations that went on then. His most interesting revelation is about KPS Gill, whose decisions and perceived incompetence he blames for Harchand Singh Longowal’s assassination soon after the signing of the August 1985 Punjab Accord. This is the first time that a senior police officer, who is also a former DGP of the state, has criticised Gill who is perceived to be an iconic figure with a larger than life image.

Dhillon, who is candid about his being posted out of Punjab in a humiliating way after being sidelined, is severely critical of late Arjun Singh, who then served as the Governor of Punjab under President’s rule.

For students of politics and governance, Dhillon’s book is replete with interesting examples of both intrigues and the competitive politics played by the Akalis and the Congress alike at that time, the alienation among the Sikhs following both Operation Blue Star and the Congress party engineered anti-Sikh violence following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the dismal state of politician-police relations and the extent to which personalities and personal equations between politicians and police officers and, likewise, among police officers themselves play in decision making and police functioning.

The book on KPS Gill in contrast is based on extensive interviews with the police officer and his admirers all of who have given raving testimonials for the ‘super cop’. As the title suggests, the book is entirely subjective and provides an extensively one sided view of the police officer. The book, however, comprises some interesting anecdotes and provides an insight into tactics employed by Gill in curbing terrorism in Punjab.

Notwithstanding Dhillon’s criticism of Gill, both have similar observations to make about some core issues: Both hold the (obvious and well known) view that Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh violence led to considerable alienation among the Sikhs and resulted in many youth taking to the gun. Both have narrated examples of, and criticised the myopic vision and at times the naivety and lowly politics played by, politicians. Both bring out the fact that Gill’s predecessor Julio Francis Ribeiro had reservations about the former.

The book either glosses over or remains conspicuously silent about allegations of human rights violation and corruption by sections of the police force during Gill’s tenure.

Other than Punjab, which forms a sizeable portion of the book, Gill is controversially quoted as giving a clean chit to Narendra Modi for the anti-Muslim violence that occurred in 2002. Gill, who has also served as adviser to the Gujarat Chief Minister, blames the Gujarat police for the horrific incident.

At best, the book has an anecdotal value for a serious student of terrorism and policing. The chapter on ‘winning strategies’ would be particularly of interest to present and future police officers considering that Punjab is the only example in India and the few in the world where terrorism was put to an end by force with the state police playing the lead role.

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