In KPS Gill's death, Punjab has lost its true General

The True General of Punjab Police, KPS Gill, is no more. He passed away after a brief illness in New Delhi on Friday. He was the one who couldn't be ignored, as DGP Punjab from 1988 to 1995 with a hiatus of one year in between. He can't be ignored even in his death. It is only a rare man like him who can enjoy the kind of respect and loyalty from his officers and men like he did.

My association with him dated back to 1985, when I was a young ASP in Jalandhar and he was IGP (Operations) Punjab, a position of substance in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star and Operation Woodrose.

His real leadership was tested as DGP during the days of heightened tensions and surcharged environment emanating from terrorist killings. He always kept his cool, believed his foot soldiers, gave complete freedom with responsibility to his district heads, often visiting incident sites and patting the backs of his men. It lifted the morale of the men and officers.

He was a master strategist and man of few words, who not only listened to his field officers, but also believed in them and gave them his full backing in all kinds of crisis.

He established his leadership during Operation Black Thunder and proved to the whole world that Operation Blue Star, conducted by the Army in 1984, could have been handled better, without causing much loss of life and without denting the image of the forces.

The period from 1988 to 1990 in the first part of his tenure as DGP Punjab, after Operation Black Thunder was the period when forces had the upper hand. However, the decision of the Government of India to conduct parliamentary elections in Punjab, which saw Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal winning all seats, brought back the influence of terrorists.

Punjab witnessed the maximum number of killings of civilians and policemen during 1990-1991. Gill sahib was taken out by the Centre as DGP, CRPF. But, with the situation not improving, he was again sent back in 1992 to get the Assembly elections conducted.

At his first meeting after re-joining, held in Patiala, where I was the district police chief, he took me aside and asked, "Sheshan (TN Sheshan, then CEC) wants to know that what will be the threshold of civilian killings if Assembly elections are announced? When I said zero, more out of bravado that comes with youth than proper inputs, he smiled and left. That was his faith in his team.

Assembly elections were held quite peacefully and Beant Singh's Government was installed.

Gill sahib had come to Punjab on the promise that he would be back as DGP, CRPF after the elections, but the chief minister knew that without Gill sahib he would not be able to establish his grip on the state, especially since only 10 per cent of the total voters had exercised their franchise.

He agreed to stay back but only on the promise that there would be no political interference in his work and in the functioning of police. This promise was kept till Beant Singh was alive. Thereafter, Gill sahib was relieved on December 31, 1995 when Harcharan Singh Brar was the CM.

But, it was during the regime of Beant Singh that, under Gill Sahib, terrorism was almost brought to a naught, with the Night Dominance Operations – where terrorists were not allowed to move and change their hideouts during night and were raided and engaged during the day – ensuring that all major terrorist groups were neutralised. The rest ran out of the country.

But, he always made it a point to share credit with the Army and paramilitary forces.

After his retirement, his guidance was sought in states like Gujarat after the 2002 riots and Chhattisgarh when the Naxal menace became too big to control. One challenge that he took on but was unable to complete was to take Indian hockey back to its golden era.

One lesson that he taught each of the men who served under him was: live life on your own terms.

KPS Gill: 1934-2017

• KPS Gill, who was Punjab Police chief twice during the peak of militancy, was considered an authority on dealing with security issues
   
• After his retirement, his guidance was sought by Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. Even Sri Lanka consulted him on security issues

The writer is a former DGP, Punjab