‘KPS will always be remembered as the terminator of Khalistani terror’



How do I describe Kanwar Pal Singh Gill? A friend? Not really. His goal, like mine, was to put a stop to Khalistani terrorism, but his approach to the problem and philosophy of policing was diametrically opposed to mine. He once ventured to tell my wife that I was too soft to be a policeman in Punjab!

Only a Jat Sikh, like him, knew how to handle other Jat Sikhs, who incidentally formed the bulk of the terrorist cadres we were fighting. KPS was certainly not an enemy. We were brothers-inarms, fighting on the same side for the same cause. Besides, nobody, including me, would dare to count among his opponents a man called K P S Gill. Every police officer and man I met in my three years and a half in Punjab was afraid of him, to a greater or lesser extent. Apart from his physical presence, which was imposing, he had the seeds of ruthlessness that his juniors smelt and dreaded. For their own good they obeyed and followed.

When KPS first approached me with his offer to serve with me in the troubled state, I immediately agreed. I had asked many others but none was prepared to risk life or limb. KPS was a master in the operations field. I knew I did not possess that expertise or even the intrinsic ability to hunt down the desperadoes. I could motivate men under my command but not guide them in specific details of intelligence gathering that was essentially required to neutralise the miscreants. KPS was the man for that task. That job I left entirely to Kanwar Pal. He did the job with verve and panache. He really enjoyed it, even enjoyed being harsh at times though on that score I would often differ.

I certainly differed from him on the core issue of how this 'nationalistic' form of terrorism could be put to rest.


He was not convinced and hence, not concerned with winning over hearts and minds, which was and still remains the classical method of ending this form of terrorism, as opposed to the ideological form. Yet, KPS will always be remembered as the principal terminator of Khalistani terrorism. And he certainly deserves credit for the masterly manner in which he tackled Operation Black Thunder II, surrounding the Golden Temple for more than a week, forcing the terrorists holed inside to surrender, rather than ferreting them out with guns and mortar. I watched KPS on television last Friday, only a week ago. He was being interviewed by my friend, Shekhar Gupta. I could not follow what KPS was saying. Shekhar had to repeat his words for the audience. I knew instinctively that all was not well with the old warrior.

Julio Ribeiro, who had been commissioner of Mumbai police (1982-85), was moved to Punjab as Director General of Police in 1986 at the height of Khalistani insurgency. In 1988, when he was appointed advisor to the governor, he was succeeded by his No 2, KPS Gill as Punjab DGP


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/kps-will-always-be-remembered-as-the-terminator-of-khalistani-terror/articleshow/58865522.cms

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