Leadership can't be blamed for 2002: KPS Gill

Former Punjab Director General of Police, KPS Gill, recently stirred up the hornet's nest during the launch of his biography, KPS Gill: The Paramount Cop, when he said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi can't be blamed for the post-Godhra riots. In a conversation with Avantika Bhuyan, Gill speaks about the reaction that his remark has evoked and also talks about 'Operation Black Thunder' that was dubbed by Rajiv Gandhi as the 'Gill Plan'

How do you respond to the criticism that your Modi remark has invited?

I went to Gujarat when the rioting was on. The army was present as was the CRPF. Several claims have been made in the past that the rioting stopped because the army fired or the CRPF stepped in. That is not correct. I changed the officers, used the artillery effectively and reorganised forces. Such situations have to be dealt with in a much more sophisticated manner than just killing people, as you sometimes end up killing those who have nothing to do with the rioting. Hence, I feel that it was the failure of the security forces and not of the political leadership. Anyone who is upset should try and understand the complexity of the situation.

Following the criticism, you said that political parties which are anti-Modi are taking advantage of the mayhem to defame him. Can you elaborate?

If you want to tackle a communal situation, then you should have a long-term agenda. Blaming each other won't help. Look at what has happened in Muzaffarnagar. Does that mean that you will hold Akhilesh Yadav or Mulayam Singh Yadav guilty? A mix of a political and bureaucratic action plan is required to tackle the tension in a manner that riots are obliterated. I don't think blaming one another is the answer.

During your tenure as the security advisor to Gujarat, what steps did you take to prepare the police and administrative machinery to tackle such situations?

I did what was needed to be done - which was to place the right officers in the right place, motivate them and make sure that there are no biases.

In this latest book, you have said that Indira Gandhi was wrongly advised on Operation Bluestar. Please elaborate.

Various writers and the public don't understand how India operates. The prime minister does not say that you enter a temple with all guns blazing or lose a large number of men. That puts the operation into a tizzy. I remember people telling me that when Indira Gandhi visited the temple after Operation Bluestar she said, "Was this really necessary?" That one question shows the shock that she felt. I feel that Bluestar was a badly planned action. It could have been done differently, as we proved when we carried out Operation Black Thunder.

How do you evaluate Rajiv Gandhi's decisions during Black Thunder?

I remember that we were all seated around the table when he asked for suggestions. There were a lot of senior bureaucrats in the meeting, but not one of them uttered a word because they hadn't thought about it. As DG, Punjab, I was the juniormost there, but I offered a suggestion. The map of the area was lying there, and using that I explained how the operation should be carried out. He immediately agreed. Next he asked, "What should we call it?" Again, no one said anything. So he dubbed it the 'Gill Plan'. Every night I would fly down from Amritsar to Delhi to attend the meetings. I have tremendous regard for Rajiv Gandhi. I think he was open and fair.

In the book you have also said that P V Narasimha Rao gave you a free hand during his tenure. In what way? And have others tried to restrict you in the past?

Fortunately no one has ever restricted me as I have always tried to do the right thing. I had two spells in Punjab. First as director general of police between 1988 and 1990; the second spell was between 1991 and 1995. It was in the second spell that I was told to run the elections. I was then appointed as DG CRPF. I conducted the elections with great help from the army. The centre, under the leadership of Rao, gave me a free hand. Earlier when elections had been held in the state, 26 candidates had been killed. But when we ran the elections not a single candidate was killed and the Beant Singh government was established. Later, when Singh wanted me removed, Rao said nothing doing.

You maintain that the situations you dealt with were very complex, and yet the book only skims over them...

The writer, Rahul Chandan, is a young man. The young men of today don't understand the political implications of things done under great stress or those resulting in great loss of life. There were a lot of implications and issues that I didn't spell out as they were very complex. I intend to bring those to the surface when I write my autobiography in the next two to three years.