Who was Kanwar Pal Singh aka KPS Gill? Career and controversies of Punjab’s ‘super cop’ amid ‘Satluj’ row
Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj has ignited the never-ending debate over the legacy of the controversial Punjab cop, Kanwar Pal Singh (KPS) Gill. Was he indeed a
Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj has ignited the never-ending debate over the legacy of the controversial Punjab cop, Kanwar Pal Singh (KPS) Gill. Was he indeed a ‘super cop’ or a symbol of institutional overreach? After a series of setbacks, the film was recently released on Zee5, but was taken down just days later. Here’s all you need to know about KPS Gill’s career and controversies KPS Gill first became Punjab’s Director General of Police in 1988. His appointment came amid the rise of the Khalistan separatist movement, and just four years after the execution of Operation Blue Star, and the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later that year. Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian Army in June 1984 at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar to disarm and dislodge Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a leading figure for the Khalistan movement. Punjab witnessed escalating violence following these events, and as the Punjab DGP, Gill had an uphill task. To counter the Khalistani insurgency, he launched an anti-terrorism campaign. The ‘super cop’ tag Operation Black Thunder-II was one of the most significant operations during Gill’s tenure. It was launched in May 1988, PTC News reported. Under Operation Black Thunder-II, security forces, unlike Operation Blue Star, surrounded the Golden Temple complex, negotiated with militants and carried out a carefully planned operation that resulted in far less damage to the shrine, the report added. Also Read | Kunal Kamra calls out CBFC after Diljit Dosanjh's Satluj is taken down Gill completed his first term as Punjab DGP in December 1990 before briefly heading the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
He returned as Punjab DGP in late 1991 with the backing of the then Chief Minister Beant Singh. It was during his second tenure that Gill began adopting an aggressive strategy against militant groups. As per PTC News, Gill’s approach relied on “better intelligence gathering, strengthening local policing, rewarding officers involved in anti-militancy operations and maintaining constant pressure on insurgent organisations”. By the mid-1990s, violence in Punjab had sharply declined, and the Khalistani insurgency had largely been defeated. Those supporting Gill highly credited him for taking on the Khalistani insurgency through an aggressive counter-insurgency campaign and restoring law and order in the state, earning him the reputation of a "super cop". But Gill had dismissed the idea that there had ever been a clearly defined movement for Khalistan — a proposed independent Sikh state carved out of the Indian state of Punjab. "There was never a movement for Khalistan. Even [Jarnail Singh] Bhindranwale rarely said so clearly. He would make a statement [for Khalistan], then deny it, and then deny the denial. Bhindranwale and his ideologues used the Two-Nation Theory, the same verbiage," KPS Gill has told India Today magazine in an interview in 1993, while speaking on the Khalistani movement. Allegations of human rights violations While Gill’s supporters called him a “super cop” for breaking the back of Khalistani separatists, human rights organisations accused the Punjab Police of carrying out fake encounters, custodial killings and enforced disappearances during the anti-insurgency campaign. There were also allegations of torture and secret mass cremations.
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