Kanwar Pal Singh Gill
Encyclopedia
Kanwar Pal Singh Gill served twice as Director General of Police
(DGP) Punjab
, where he is credited with having brought the Punjab insurgency
under control, and while the BBC
reports that many see Gill as a hero, there are accusations that Gill and the forces under his command were responsible for human rights violations "... in the name of stamping out terrorism." Gill's role in crushing terrorism in punjab is legendary. He is known to be a fearless officer with inordinarily high organizational capabilities who led the force from the front.
Gill retired
from the Indian Police Service
in 1995.
He is an author
, editor
, speaker, consultant
on counter-terrorism
, president of the Institute for Conflict Management and president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).
He has also been the center of controversy.
In 1996, he was convicted for "patting" a senior female Indian Administrative Service
officer's "posterior"(sexual harassment
) at a 1988 party.
However, on the other side , it is argued that Gill was targetted by lobbies inimical to him.
After allegations of corruption within the IHF in 2008, the Indian Olympic Association suspended the IHF indefinitely.
He received a Padma Shri
award, India's 4th-highest civilian honor, in 1989 for his work in the civil service.
Gill joined the Indian Police Service in 1958 and was assigned to the Assam
and Meghalaya
states in northeast India.
In the early 1980s, Gill served as Inspector General of Police in Assam.
Vinayak Ganapathy, writing for rediff.com in 2003, noted "Gill's no-nonsense style of functioning, which earned him the sobriquet 'supercop' in Punjab, made him unpopular among influential sections of the population" in Assam and called him "a controversial figure".
, where he was the Director General of Police
from 1988 to 1990 and then again from 1991 until his retirement from the Indian Police Service
in 1995.
During this era when Sikh extremists
in the Khalistan movement
were active in Punjab, there were reports of human rights violations in the Punjab region
.
Amnesty International
reported that, from 1983 to 1994, armed groups struggling to form an independent Sikh state
were responsible for "widespread" human rights violations, killing "thousands" of civilians and taking hostages.
It further reported that the police responded with a "crackdown", illegally detaining, torturing and killing "hundreds of young men".
Human Rights Watch
(HRW) reported that from the 1980s Sikh separatists were guilty of serious human rights violations through "...massacre of civilians, attacks upon Hindu minorities in the state, and indiscriminate bomb attacks in crowded places...".
HRW also reported that the government response resulted in further serious human rights violations against "tens of thousands".
In May 1988, he commanded Operation Black Thunder to flush out militants hiding in the Golden Temple
.
Compared to Operation Blue Star
, little damage was inflicted on the Golden Temple.
In what was reported as a successful operation, around 200 Sikhs surrendered, 41 were killed and 2 committed suicide.
Gill stated that he did not want to repeat the mistakes made by Indian army during Operation Blue Star.
This operation was described as a severe setback to the Khalistan movement
.
In contrast to prior operations, minimum force was used under full public scrutiny.
1991 saw the peak of violence in Punjab, with more than 5000 reported killed.
In 1992, the Indian government, "intent on retaking Punjab from terrorism", appointed KPS Gill chief of the police in Punjab.
The police and army instituted a crackdown, and in 1993 the reported death toll was less than 500.
In 1993, The New York Times
reported, the people of Punjab no longer feared the Sikh "rebels or gangs", but instead feared the army and police.
Jaswant Singh Khalra
was a human rights
activist who was taken into custody by Punjab Police
on 6 September 1995.
Human Rights Watch reported that a September 11, 1995 writ of habeas corpus
from the Supreme Court was presented to DGP Gill, and officials denied that police had detained him. (2005 testimony by Special Police Officer Kuldeep Singh indicated that Gill later visited Khalra in October 1995, a few days before Khalra was killed.)
and was its first
president.
Press reports noted that he ran the ICM.
Gill began advising governments on counter-terrorism matters.
In 1997, the Chief minister of Assam
state Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
requested his services as security advisor.
However since the sexual harassment case against him was pending he was not able to take this appointment.
In 1999, Delhi Police arrested Richhpal Singh, who was allegedly a Babbar Khalsa
suicide bomber
on a mission to assassinate Gill.
He arrived in Delhi
from Pakistan
on an Afghan
passport.
Two kilograms of the explosive RDX
, four detonator
s, and some "live wire" were recovered from him.
In an interview after this incident, Gill claimed that he had been a target of four or five such assassination attempts by Babbar Khalsa, and that he was not afraid.
sought his expertise as an anti-terrorism expert to help them draw a comprehensive counter terrorism strategy against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
He was approached by Lakshman Kadirgamar
who was the foreign minister of Sri Lanka After the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
the similarity in the tactics used by Sri Lanka with the tactics used by Gill in Punjab was noted in an article published in India Today
He was appointed security adviser to the state of Gujarat after 2002 Gujarat violence
. Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi
commenting on his appointment stated “It is good to have an experienced person such as Gill as my security advisor. Gill had very effectively tackled the Punjab terrorism problem.” He requested deployment of 1,000 extra specially-trained riot police from Punjab state to combat the violence. He was credited with controlling violence after his appointment. He arrived in Gujarat on May 3, 2002 He subsequently blamed a 'small group' of people for the Gujarat riots.
In April 2003, there was a report that KPS Gill was being considered for the position of governor of Assam.
The Northeast Study Group, of which Gill is a member, had advised against assigning a state's previous security personnel to a state as governor.
Chief minister
of state of Assam
agreed, noting that Gill had served as Inspector-General there in the early 1980s.
Martin Regg Cohn argued in a Toronto Star
editorial that policies followed in Punjab by KPS Gill should be utilized in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan
.
An academic paper, "The Gill Doctrine: A Model for 21st Century Counterterrorism?", analysing his tactics in the successful fight against the Punjab insurgency
was presented at the annual meeting of American Political Science Association
on Aug 30, 2007.
s in 2006. After an attack by Naxalites killed 55 policemen in 2007 Gill commented that the issue was one of "underdevelopment in police forces. The state policy was to leave these tribal areas alone and that gave Naxalites a base. There used to be just 3,000 police for an area the size of Switzerland. That is now changing but it will take time. But yes, it is a winnable war.".
In March 2008, India's hockey team failed to qualify for the Olympics for the 1st time since the team's debut in 1928.
Narender Batra, one of 11 IHF vice presidents, on resigning his position over the failure to qualify, accused Gill of "autocratic functioning", and called on the entire IHF staff to step down.
Gill responded that the critics were "professional mourners" who were proud to "run down the establishment",
and stated "I will respond to these things at a later stage. We do not have an instant coffee machine that you can get results instantly."
Alok Sinha, writing for India Times, noted that the top 2 executives, Gill and the secretary general, did not even talk to one another.
There were rumors that the secretary general of the IHF, leader of the anti-Gill faction, would also resign.
Less than a month after the qualification failure, in April 2008, Aaj Tak Television reported that it had caught the secretary general of the IHF taking a bribe on camera to choose a player in a "sting".
There were renewed calls for Gill to resign.
After the allegations of corruption within the IHF, the Indian Olympic Association
(IOA) on April 28, 2008, suspended the IHF indefinitely.
IOA President Suresh Kalmadi
said in a press conference that "We have great respect for K P S Gill and it is not personal."
, human rights activist and general secretary of the Akali Dal's human rights wing, issued a press note alleging that Punjab security organizations had cremated thousands of unidentified bodies.
Khalra was taken into custody by Punjab Police on 6 September 1995.
Human Rights Watch reported that a September 11, 1995 writ of habeas corpus from the Supreme Court was presented to DGP Gill, and officials denied that police had detained him.
In 2001, Sardool Singh, speaking for the Zinda Shaheed Police Officers Association, announced to the press “We have decided to return the gallantry medals to the President of India on the occasion of Police Martyr’s Day on October 21 if the cases against us are not withdrawn.”
He also said that the association was filing a writ with the Supreme Court that cases be opened against senior police and political staff, including then-Director General of Police KPS Gill, for their "... ordering and certifying the encounters..." that resulted in over 650 junior officers facing human rights violation charges.
In 2003, Khushwant Singh
, author of "A History of the Sikhs",
wrote a review of "Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab" for The Tribune
titled K. P. S. Gill you have questions to answer.
Khushwant Singh noted that he supported Gill's use of extrajudicial methods to "stamp out terrorism" as the judicial system was in a state of collapse due to judges being too frightened to rule against the "terrorists."
Singh commented on the murder of J.S. Khalra that "There were others like him who were disposed of because the police did not like them." and "It is spine-chilling."
Khushwant Singh reported that when asked for comment, Gill's response was "Rubbish."
The review continued "Well, Mr Gill, it is not rubbish; you and the Punjab police have quite a few awkward questions to answer."
In 2004, India's National Human Rights Commission published a list of 2097 bodies cremated as unclaimed. Of those, the Commission had identified 693 at the time.
In 2004, Khushwant Singh wrote K.P.S. Gill Is a "Hero" for The Tribune
, and stated that "For 10 years, the Punjab countryside..." had been "...in the grip of terrorists..." until KPS Gill and Julio Francis Ribeiro
led the Punjab Police to "...put them down with a heavy hand."
Khushwant Singh reported allegations that Gill was "...a wanton killer...", but that in his judgement, this view was not correct.
In 2005, Special Police Officer Kuldeep Singh testified in court that in October 1995, after Khalra had been beaten and tortured, and bore the signs of torture on his body, then-DGP KPS Gill visited Khalra at SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu's home. He further testified that Gill remained with Khalra in the room for "half an hour", that a few days later Khalra was killed, and finally that on the way back to Jhabal police station after disposing of the body, he was told that Khalra could have saved himself if he had listened to the advice of KPS Gill.
Human Rights Watch and Ensaaf (another human rights
organization focused on Punjab), argue that KPS Gill had knowledge of Khalra's illegal detention, could reasonably have been expected to have knowledge of his torture, and had the authority and responsibility to order Khalra's release, which would have prevented Khalra's death.
On November 18, 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for Khalra’s abduction and murder.
On October 16, 2007, a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court
chaired by Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and A N Jindal extended the sentence to life imprisonment
for four of those convicted: Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh (all former Sub Inspectors) and Prithipal Singh (former Head Constable).
Human Rights Watch noted that one case under investigation in 2007 by India's National Human Rights Commission
focused on allegations that "thousands" had been killed and cremated by security forces throughout Punjab.
filed a complaint against Gill for, in 1988, "patting" her "posterior" at a party where he was alleged to be drunk.
In August 1996, Gill was convicted under Section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult a lady), generally summarized as sexual harassment.
Gill was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh, be imprisoned rigorously for 3 months and simply for 2 months, and finally to serve 3 years of probation.
After final appeals before the Supreme Court in July 2005, the conviction was upheld, and the jail sentences were reduced to probation.
The victim had declined to accept the monetary compensation, and the court ordered that it be donated to women's organizations.
Jha stated that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt
will play the real life cop who fought resolutely against Khalistan movement
terrorism
in Punjab
at its peak in the late 80s
.
Gill argues that Al-Qaeda
leadership is bent on Islamic world conquest, and that Pakistan
has a long range strategy to revive militancy in Punjab by 2025.
of the ICM, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict and Resolution.
He is also an author of the ICM website, South Asia Terrorism Portal.
KPS Gill's 1997 book, "Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood" has been reprinted in 2008 in paperback.
He edited the 2001 book "Terror And Containment: Perspectives on India's Internal Security" with Ajai Sahni
.
He also authored "The Global Threat of Terror:Ideological, Material & Political Linkages", also with Ajai Sahni.
Director General of Police
In India the director general of police or inspector general of police is a three-star rank and the highest ranking police officer in Indian States & Union Territories. All DGPs/IGPs are Indian Police Service officers. The DGP/IGP is usually the head of the state police force in every Indian state...
(DGP) Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, where he is credited with having brought the Punjab insurgency
Punjab insurgency
The insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab originated in the late 1970s. The roots of the insurgency were very complex.-Punjabi Suba Movement:In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in India caused civil disorder when the central government declared Hindi as the national language of India...
under control, and while the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reports that many see Gill as a hero, there are accusations that Gill and the forces under his command were responsible for human rights violations "... in the name of stamping out terrorism." Gill's role in crushing terrorism in punjab is legendary. He is known to be a fearless officer with inordinarily high organizational capabilities who led the force from the front.
Gill retired
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
from the Indian Police Service
Indian Police Service
The Indian Police Service , simply known as Indian Police or IPS, is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India...
in 1995.
He is an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, editor
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
, speaker, consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
on counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
, president of the Institute for Conflict Management and president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).
He has also been the center of controversy.
In 1996, he was convicted for "patting" a senior female Indian Administrative Service
Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service is the administrative civil service of the Government of India. It is one of the three All India Services....
officer's "posterior"(sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
) at a 1988 party.
However, on the other side , it is argued that Gill was targetted by lobbies inimical to him.
After allegations of corruption within the IHF in 2008, the Indian Olympic Association suspended the IHF indefinitely.
He received a Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
award, India's 4th-highest civilian honor, in 1989 for his work in the civil service.
Career
As of September 2009, Gill remained president of the Institute for Conflict Management. As of July 2009, he was also winding up the affairs of the suspended Indian Hockey Federation as it merged with its replacement, Hockey India.1956 - 1984
Altogether, Gill lived in the northeast region of India for 28 years, returning to his home state of Punjab in 1984.Gill joined the Indian Police Service in 1958 and was assigned to the Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
and Meghalaya
Meghalaya
Meghalaya is a state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means the Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi . The...
states in northeast India.
In the early 1980s, Gill served as Inspector General of Police in Assam.
Vinayak Ganapathy, writing for rediff.com in 2003, noted "Gill's no-nonsense style of functioning, which earned him the sobriquet 'supercop' in Punjab, made him unpopular among influential sections of the population" in Assam and called him "a controversial figure".
1984 - 1995
He has been called a "supercop", for his work in PunjabPunjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, where he was the Director General of Police
from 1988 to 1990 and then again from 1991 until his retirement from the Indian Police Service
Indian Police Service
The Indian Police Service , simply known as Indian Police or IPS, is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India...
in 1995.
During this era when Sikh extremists
Sikh extremism
Sikh extremism refers to threats or acts of violence against civilians, or material support for the acts of violence.Some extremists have been separatists pursuing the formation of a Sikh state, often referred to as Khalistan....
in the Khalistan movement
Khalistan movement
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
were active in Punjab, there were reports of human rights violations in the Punjab region
Human rights in Punjab, India
-Background:From 1984 to 1994, the state of Punjab in northern India was engaged in a power struggle between the militant secessionist Khalistan movement and Indian security forces...
.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
reported that, from 1983 to 1994, armed groups struggling to form an independent Sikh state
Khalistan
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
were responsible for "widespread" human rights violations, killing "thousands" of civilians and taking hostages.
It further reported that the police responded with a "crackdown", illegally detaining, torturing and killing "hundreds of young men".
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(HRW) reported that from the 1980s Sikh separatists were guilty of serious human rights violations through "...massacre of civilians, attacks upon Hindu minorities in the state, and indiscriminate bomb attacks in crowded places...".
HRW also reported that the government response resulted in further serious human rights violations against "tens of thousands".
In May 1988, he commanded Operation Black Thunder to flush out militants hiding in the Golden Temple
Harmandir Sahib
The Harmandir Sahib also Darbar Sahib , also referred to as the Golden Temple, is a prominent Sikh gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab . Construction of the gurdwara was begun by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, and completed by his successor, Guru Arjan Dev...
.
Compared to Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star ) 3– 6 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar...
, little damage was inflicted on the Golden Temple.
In what was reported as a successful operation, around 200 Sikhs surrendered, 41 were killed and 2 committed suicide.
Gill stated that he did not want to repeat the mistakes made by Indian army during Operation Blue Star.
This operation was described as a severe setback to the Khalistan movement
Khalistan movement
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
.
In contrast to prior operations, minimum force was used under full public scrutiny.
1991 saw the peak of violence in Punjab, with more than 5000 reported killed.
In 1992, the Indian government, "intent on retaking Punjab from terrorism", appointed KPS Gill chief of the police in Punjab.
The police and army instituted a crackdown, and in 1993 the reported death toll was less than 500.
In 1993, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported, the people of Punjab no longer feared the Sikh "rebels or gangs", but instead feared the army and police.
Jaswant Singh Khalra
Jaswant Singh Khalra
- Family :Jaswant Singh Khalra's grandfather Harnam Singh was an activist in the Ghadar movement for the independence of India.- Activism :Jaswant Singh Khalra was a bank director in the city of Amritsar in Punjab during the militancy...
was a human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist who was taken into custody by Punjab Police
Punjab Police
Punjab Police may refer to:* Punjab Police , which operates in the Indian state of Punjab* Punjab Police , which operates in the Pakistani province of Punjab...
on 6 September 1995.
Human Rights Watch reported that a September 11, 1995 writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
from the Supreme Court was presented to DGP Gill, and officials denied that police had detained him. (2005 testimony by Special Police Officer Kuldeep Singh indicated that Gill later visited Khalra in October 1995, a few days before Khalra was killed.)
1995 - 1999
Gill founded the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM)and was its first
president.
Press reports noted that he ran the ICM.
Gill began advising governments on counter-terrorism matters.
In 1997, the Chief minister of Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
state Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was the leader of the Assam Movement, a former Chief Minister of Assam and belongs to the Asom Gana Parishad , a major political party in the Indian state of Assam...
requested his services as security advisor.
However since the sexual harassment case against him was pending he was not able to take this appointment.
In 1999, Delhi Police arrested Richhpal Singh, who was allegedly a Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa , also known as Babbar Khalsa International , is a Sikh armed organisation based in India. Many consider the Babbar Khalsa a Resistance movement, and it played a prominent role in the Punjab insurgency. Babbar Khalsa International was created in 1978, after a number of Sikhs were...
suicide bomber
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
on a mission to assassinate Gill.
He arrived in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
on an Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
passport.
Two kilograms of the explosive RDX
RDX
RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...
, four detonator
Detonator
A detonator is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the latter two being the most common....
s, and some "live wire" were recovered from him.
In an interview after this incident, Gill claimed that he had been a target of four or five such assassination attempts by Babbar Khalsa, and that he was not afraid.
2000 - 2004
In 2000 the government of Sri LankaSri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
sought his expertise as an anti-terrorism expert to help them draw a comprehensive counter terrorism strategy against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
He was approached by Lakshman Kadirgamar
Lakshman Kadirgamar
Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar PC was a Sri Lankan diplomat, politician and a lawyer. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005...
who was the foreign minister of Sri Lanka After the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
the similarity in the tactics used by Sri Lanka with the tactics used by Gill in Punjab was noted in an article published in India Today
India Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...
He was appointed security adviser to the state of Gujarat after 2002 Gujarat violence
2002 Gujarat violence
The 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
. Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat.He was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar; and is a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood, as also an active politician since early in life. He holds a masters degree in political...
commenting on his appointment stated “It is good to have an experienced person such as Gill as my security advisor. Gill had very effectively tackled the Punjab terrorism problem.” He requested deployment of 1,000 extra specially-trained riot police from Punjab state to combat the violence. He was credited with controlling violence after his appointment. He arrived in Gujarat on May 3, 2002 He subsequently blamed a 'small group' of people for the Gujarat riots.
In April 2003, there was a report that KPS Gill was being considered for the position of governor of Assam.
The Northeast Study Group, of which Gill is a member, had advised against assigning a state's previous security personnel to a state as governor.
Chief minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of state of Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
agreed, noting that Gill had served as Inspector-General there in the early 1980s.
Martin Regg Cohn argued in a Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
editorial that policies followed in Punjab by KPS Gill should be utilized in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
An academic paper, "The Gill Doctrine: A Model for 21st Century Counterterrorism?", analysing his tactics in the successful fight against the Punjab insurgency
Punjab insurgency
The insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab originated in the late 1970s. The roots of the insurgency were very complex.-Punjabi Suba Movement:In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in India caused civil disorder when the central government declared Hindi as the national language of India...
was presented at the annual meeting of American Political Science Association
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903, it publishes three academic journals...
on Aug 30, 2007.
2005 - 2009
The government of Chattisgarh state in India appointed him a security adviser to help control NaxaliteNaxalite
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...
s in 2006. After an attack by Naxalites killed 55 policemen in 2007 Gill commented that the issue was one of "underdevelopment in police forces. The state policy was to leave these tribal areas alone and that gave Naxalites a base. There used to be just 3,000 police for an area the size of Switzerland. That is now changing but it will take time. But yes, it is a winnable war.".
In March 2008, India's hockey team failed to qualify for the Olympics for the 1st time since the team's debut in 1928.
Narender Batra, one of 11 IHF vice presidents, on resigning his position over the failure to qualify, accused Gill of "autocratic functioning", and called on the entire IHF staff to step down.
Gill responded that the critics were "professional mourners" who were proud to "run down the establishment",
and stated "I will respond to these things at a later stage. We do not have an instant coffee machine that you can get results instantly."
Alok Sinha, writing for India Times, noted that the top 2 executives, Gill and the secretary general, did not even talk to one another.
There were rumors that the secretary general of the IHF, leader of the anti-Gill faction, would also resign.
Less than a month after the qualification failure, in April 2008, Aaj Tak Television reported that it had caught the secretary general of the IHF taking a bribe on camera to choose a player in a "sting".
There were renewed calls for Gill to resign.
After the allegations of corruption within the IHF, the Indian Olympic Association
Indian Olympic Association
The Indian Olympic Association is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams at the events...
(IOA) on April 28, 2008, suspended the IHF indefinitely.
IOA President Suresh Kalmadi
Suresh Kalmadi
Suresh Kalmadi is an Indian politician and senior sports administrator. He was formerly a member of the Indian National Congress...
said in a press conference that "We have great respect for K P S Gill and it is not personal."
Later developments in human rights matters
On January 16, 1995, Jaswant Singh KhalraJaswant Singh Khalra
- Family :Jaswant Singh Khalra's grandfather Harnam Singh was an activist in the Ghadar movement for the independence of India.- Activism :Jaswant Singh Khalra was a bank director in the city of Amritsar in Punjab during the militancy...
, human rights activist and general secretary of the Akali Dal's human rights wing, issued a press note alleging that Punjab security organizations had cremated thousands of unidentified bodies.
Khalra was taken into custody by Punjab Police on 6 September 1995.
Human Rights Watch reported that a September 11, 1995 writ of habeas corpus from the Supreme Court was presented to DGP Gill, and officials denied that police had detained him.
In 2001, Sardool Singh, speaking for the Zinda Shaheed Police Officers Association, announced to the press “We have decided to return the gallantry medals to the President of India on the occasion of Police Martyr’s Day on October 21 if the cases against us are not withdrawn.”
He also said that the association was filing a writ with the Supreme Court that cases be opened against senior police and political staff, including then-Director General of Police KPS Gill, for their "... ordering and certifying the encounters..." that resulted in over 650 junior officers facing human rights violation charges.
In 2003, Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country....
, author of "A History of the Sikhs",
wrote a review of "Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab" for The Tribune
The Tribune
The Tribune is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Dehradun and Bathinda. It was founded on 2 February 1881, in Lahore , by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as...
titled K. P. S. Gill you have questions to answer.
Khushwant Singh noted that he supported Gill's use of extrajudicial methods to "stamp out terrorism" as the judicial system was in a state of collapse due to judges being too frightened to rule against the "terrorists."
Singh commented on the murder of J.S. Khalra that "There were others like him who were disposed of because the police did not like them." and "It is spine-chilling."
Khushwant Singh reported that when asked for comment, Gill's response was "Rubbish."
The review continued "Well, Mr Gill, it is not rubbish; you and the Punjab police have quite a few awkward questions to answer."
In 2004, India's National Human Rights Commission published a list of 2097 bodies cremated as unclaimed. Of those, the Commission had identified 693 at the time.
In 2004, Khushwant Singh wrote K.P.S. Gill Is a "Hero" for The Tribune
The Tribune
The Tribune is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Dehradun and Bathinda. It was founded on 2 February 1881, in Lahore , by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as...
, and stated that "For 10 years, the Punjab countryside..." had been "...in the grip of terrorists..." until KPS Gill and Julio Francis Ribeiro
Julio Francis Ribeiro
Julio Francis Ribeiro is a retired Indian police officer and civil servant.He held increasingly responsible positions during his career, and led the Punjab Police during part of the Punjab insurgency periods....
led the Punjab Police to "...put them down with a heavy hand."
Khushwant Singh reported allegations that Gill was "...a wanton killer...", but that in his judgement, this view was not correct.
In 2005, Special Police Officer Kuldeep Singh testified in court that in October 1995, after Khalra had been beaten and tortured, and bore the signs of torture on his body, then-DGP KPS Gill visited Khalra at SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu's home. He further testified that Gill remained with Khalra in the room for "half an hour", that a few days later Khalra was killed, and finally that on the way back to Jhabal police station after disposing of the body, he was told that Khalra could have saved himself if he had listened to the advice of KPS Gill.
Human Rights Watch and Ensaaf (another human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization focused on Punjab), argue that KPS Gill had knowledge of Khalra's illegal detention, could reasonably have been expected to have knowledge of his torture, and had the authority and responsibility to order Khalra's release, which would have prevented Khalra's death.
On November 18, 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for Khalra’s abduction and murder.
On October 16, 2007, a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court
Punjab and Haryana High Court
Punjab and Haryana High Court is a common High Court for both the States of Punjab and Haryana and Union territory of Chandigarh, in India. It is situated at Chandigarh, the capital of the States of Punjab and Haryana. The sanctioned strenghth of this High Court is 68 judges consisting of Chief...
chaired by Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and A N Jindal extended the sentence to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
for four of those convicted: Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh (all former Sub Inspectors) and Prithipal Singh (former Head Constable).
Human Rights Watch noted that one case under investigation in 2007 by India's National Human Rights Commission
Human rights commission
A Human Rights Commission is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights.The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as national human rights institutions or truth and reconciliation commissions.-International Human Rights...
focused on allegations that "thousands" had been killed and cremated by security forces throughout Punjab.
1996 conviction for sexual harassment
A senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) female officer named Rupan Deol BajajRupan Deol Bajaj
Rupan Deol Bajaj, is a retired Officer of the Indian Administrative Service belonging to the Punjab Cadre. She at present lives in Chandigarh...
filed a complaint against Gill for, in 1988, "patting" her "posterior" at a party where he was alleged to be drunk.
In August 1996, Gill was convicted under Section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult a lady), generally summarized as sexual harassment.
Gill was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh, be imprisoned rigorously for 3 months and simply for 2 months, and finally to serve 3 years of probation.
After final appeals before the Supreme Court in July 2005, the conviction was upheld, and the jail sentences were reduced to probation.
The victim had declined to accept the monetary compensation, and the court ordered that it be donated to women's organizations.
Future film?
Subhash Jha reported that Raj Kumar Santoshi plans to make a movie of the life of KPS Gill.Jha stated that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt is an Indian Hindi film actor and politician. Dutt, son of Hindi film actors Sunil and Nargis Dutt, made his acting debut in 1981.-Personal life:...
will play the real life cop who fought resolutely against Khalistan movement
Khalistan movement
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
in Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
at its peak in the late 80s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
.
Opinion and activism
Gill has been, and remains as of 2010, an outspoken critic of the Indian Government handling of national security issues. He has blamed it for "soft nature and under-preparedness", and argues that policy is formed without input from anti-terrorism experts, and that the country lacks a national security policy.Gill argues that Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
leadership is bent on Islamic world conquest, and that Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
has a long range strategy to revive militancy in Punjab by 2025.
Awards and honors
He received a Padma Shri award, India's 4th-highest civilian honor, in 1989 for his work in the civil service.Publications
Gill is editor of the quarterly journalMagazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
of the ICM, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict and Resolution.
He is also an author of the ICM website, South Asia Terrorism Portal.
KPS Gill's 1997 book, "Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood" has been reprinted in 2008 in paperback.
He edited the 2001 book "Terror And Containment: Perspectives on India's Internal Security" with Ajai Sahni
Ajai Sahni
Ajai Sahni is an author and expert on counter-terrorism, and serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, which maintains the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a website focusing on terrorism in South Asia....
.
He also authored "The Global Threat of Terror:Ideological, Material & Political Linkages", also with Ajai Sahni.
See also
- 1984 anti-Sikh riots1984 anti-Sikh riotsThe 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
- 1987 Punjab killings1987 Punjab killings1987 Punjab killings are killings of 34 Hindu bus passengers in Haryana state in India in July 1987 by the suspected Khalistan Commando Force militants....
- 1991 Punjab killings1991 Punjab killingsThe 1991 Punjab killings was a massacre of train passengers that occurred on 15 June, 1991 in Ludhiana district, Punjab state, India. The Sikh militants killed at least 80 train passengers travelling in two trains near the city of Ludhiana in India. The militants attacked two trains about a...
- Air India bombing
- Human rights in IndiaHuman rights in IndiaThe situation of human rights in India is a complex one, as a result of the country's large size and tremendous diversity, its status as a developing country and a sovereign, secular, democratic republic, and its history as a former colonial territory. The Constitution of India provides for...
- Human rights in Punjab, IndiaHuman rights in Punjab, India-Background:From 1984 to 1994, the state of Punjab in northern India was engaged in a power struggle between the militant secessionist Khalistan movement and Indian security forces...
- Operation Blue StarOperation Blue StarOperation Blue Star ) 3– 6 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar...
- Sikh extremismSikh extremismSikh extremism refers to threats or acts of violence against civilians, or material support for the acts of violence.Some extremists have been separatists pursuing the formation of a Sikh state, often referred to as Khalistan....
- Sumedh Singh Saini