A young Harki, French Algeria. Circa 1961.

Harki (adjective from the Arabic harka, standard Arabic haraka حركة, "war party" or "movement", i.e., a group of volunteers, especially soldiers) is the generic term for Muslim Algerians loyalists who served as auxiliaries in the French Army during the Algerian War from 1954 to 1962. The phrase sometimes extends to cover all Algerian Muslims who supported the French presence in Algeria during this war. In France, the term is used to designate the Franco-musulmans rapatriés ("repatriated French Muslims") community living in the country since 1962, and its metropolitan born descendants. In this sense, the term Harki now refers to a distinct ethnocultural group, i.e. French Muslims, distinct from other French of Algerian origin or Algerians living in France. Today, the harkis and their descendants represent around 500,000 people in France.

On April 14, 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy recognized France's "historical responsibility" in abandoning Harki Algerian veterans.^[1]

Before the Algerian conflict[link]

Algerian Muslim regular soldiers had served in large numbers with the French "Armée d'Afrique" (Army of Africa) from 1830 as spahis (cavalry) and tirailleurs (lit. skirmisher, i.e. infantry). They played an important part during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and World War I (1914–1918).

During World War II, after the rearmament of the French Army accomplished by the US forces in North Africa in 1942–1943, North African troops serving with the French Army numbered about 233,000 (more than 50% of the French Army effectives). They made a major contribution during the liberation of Southern France and the campaigns in Italy (French Expeditionary Corps) and Germany of 1944–45.

Tirailleurs from Algeria, Morocco and West Africa fought in Indochina, as part of the French Expeditionary Force, until the Fall of Dien Bien Phu (1954).

During the Algerian War[link]

A World War ll Harki veteran, French Algeria. Circa 1961.

With the outbreak of the Algerian War that same year, the loyalty of the Algerian Muslim soldiers to France inevitably came under heavy strain and some of the regular units were transferred from Algeria to France or Germany, following increased incidences of desertion or small-scale mutiny. As a partial replacement, the French administration recruited the Harkis as irregular militia based in their home villages or towns throughout Algeria. Initially raised as self-defence units, the Harkis, from 1956 on, increasingly served alongside the French Army in the field. They were lightly armed (often only with shotguns), but their knowledge of local terrain and conditions made them valuable auxiliaries to French regular units.

According to General R. Hure,^[2] there were by 1960 approximately 150,000 Muslim Algerians serving in the French Army or as auxiliaries. In addition to volunteers and conscripts serving in regular units, this total took into account 95,000 Harkis (including 20,000 in separate mokhazni district forces and 15,000 in commando de chasse tracking units). It was a recurring claim by the French authorities that more Algerian Muslims were serving with their forces than with those of the nationalist Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). According to US Army data, possibly compiled at a different date, the Harkis numbered about 180,000, more than total FLN effectives.^[3] According to recent research by General Faivre, there were by 1961 about 210,000 Muslim Algerians serving in the French Army or as auxiliaries and a maximum of 50,000 in the FLN.^[4]

Harkis were used as guerrilla style units, though mostly in conventional formations. Harkis served either in all-Algerian units commanded by French officers or in mixed units. Other uses included platoon or below sized units attached to French battalions. A third use involved Harkis in intelligence gathering roles, with some reported minor pseudo-operations in support of intelligence collection.^[5]

The motives of the Harkis were mixed. The FLN targeted both collaborators and rival nationalist groups and some Algerians enrolled in the Harkis to avenge the deaths of relatives. Others were defectors from the FLN rebel forces, who had been persuaded by one means or another to change sides. A major source was from families or other groups who had traditionally given service to France. Others presumably supported Algeria's union with France over independence out of simple preference. From the viewpoint of Algerian nationalists, all were traitors. However, at independence, guarantees were given by both signatories of the March 1962 cease fire ("Accords d'Evian" signed by France and the Algerian FLN), that no one, Harkis or Pieds-Noirs (Algerian-born Europeans with French nationality) would suffer reprisals after independence for any action during the civil war.

After the war[link]

In 1962, orders were initially given by the French government of Charles de Gaulle to officials and army officers to prevent the Harkis from following the example of the Pieds-Noirs and seeking refuge in Metropolitan France. However, some officers of the French army disobeyed and tried to assist the Harkis under their command, as well as their families, to escape from Algeria. On the other hand, the OAS far-right terrorist group initiated a campaign of bombings following the Evian Accords, and tried to block the Pieds-Noirs population from leaving the country. About 91,000 Harkis (including family members) were able to find refuge in France. As feared, there were widespread reprisals against those who remained in Algeria. It is estimated that at least 30,000 and possibly as many as 150,000 ^[6] Harkis and their dependants were killed by the National Liberation Front (FLN) or by lynch mobs in Algeria, sometimes in circumstances of extreme cruelty.^[7] In "A Savage War Of Peace" Alistair Horne writes: "Hundreds died when put to work clearing the minefields along the Morice Line, or were shot out of hand. Others were tortured atrociously; army veterans were made to dig their own tombs, then swallow their decorations before being killed; they were burned alive, or castrated, or dragged behind trucks, or cut to pieces and their flesh fed to dogs. Many were put to death with their entire families, including young children."

By contrast, regular Muslim troops (who had the option of continuing to serve in the French Army) were only occasionally subject to reprisals. Some leaders of the new Algerian Republic were themselves veterans of the French Army, which had prior to independence provided one of the few avenues for advancement open to the Muslim majority.

The French government of the time, concerned mainly with disengagement from Algeria and the repatriation of the Pieds-Noirs, disregarded or downplayed news of these killings. Charles de Gaulle himself appears to have been indifferent to the plight of the Muslim loyalists, according to Alistair Horne remarking to one of their spokesmen "Eh bien! vous souffrirez" ("Well then—you will suffer"). Nothing had been planned for the Harkis, and the government refused to formally recognize their right to stay in France for some years. They were kept out of sight in "temporary" internment camps surrounded by barbed wire, such as the Joffre Camp in Rivesaltes (outside of Perpignan) and in "chantiers de forestage"—communities of 30 Harki families on the outskirts of forests that the men maintained. The French government has since enacted various measures to help the Harki community (notably the 1994 Romani law and the 2005 Mekachera law); however, as the Harki community claims, these laws are often too little, too late.

Recently, the French government of Jacques Chirac has acknowledged these former allies and public ceremonies have been held to commemorate their sacrifices, such as the September 25, 2001 Day of National Recognition for the Harkis. There are hundreds of active Harki associations in France working to obtain further recognition for what is still a somewhat neglected and unassimilated refugee minority. For its part, the Algerian government still does not recognize the Harkis as French citizens and has not permitted them to visit their birth places and members of their families left behind in Algeria.

Harkis are often considered in France as "Français par le sang versé" ("French by spilled blood").^[8][9]

Since Algerian independence, "Harki" has been used as a derogatory expression within Algeria, or amongst some of the Franco-Algerian community, equating to "collaborator". However, according to Algerian historian Mohammed Harbi, a former FLN member, comparison between harkis and traitors or "collaborators" is not pertinent as, according to him, fighters during the Algerian War and those who opposed the French resistance to collaborators cannot be compared.^[10]

Other references[link]

During the Algerian Civil War of 1991–2002 the Islamic fundamentalist insurgents used "harkis" as an abusive term for government police and soldiers.^[11]

In 2006, French politician Georges Frêche incurred controversy after telling a group of Harkis in Montpellier that they were "subhumans". He later claimed he had been referring to a specific individual in the crowd, but was fined 15,000 Euros for the statement. Frêche was later excluded from the Socialist Party for his verbal attacks.^[12]

Harkis should not be confused with the Évolués, which in this context refers to the sub-group of Francized Algerians (it also refers to similar groups in other colonial possessions). Here, the term Évolué indicates an Algerian or North African who assimilated closely to French culture through education, government service, language and so on. The Harkis by contrast, were mostly culturally Algerian, speaking limited French, and largely indistinguishable from the majority of ordinary Algerians except for their service in French auxiliary military units. While many of the Évolués migrated to France during the Algerian Revolution or at independence in 1962, some remained in independent Algeria after 1962 and even rose to positions of prominence, such as the former President, Ferhat Abbas.

See also[link]

• Harka is a Spanish movie written by Francisco Franco (under a pseudonym) inspired by his experiences serving alongside indigenous troops in Spanish Morocco.
• Historical revisionism (discussion on the highly controversial February 23, 2005 law on the "merits of colonization")
• List of French possessions and colonies
• French colonial empire

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• A Savage War of Peace: Alistair Horne 1978 ISBN 0-670-61964-7
• The Algerian Insurrection 1954–62: Edgar O'Ballance 1967
• The Algerian War 1954–62: Martin Windrow ISBN 1-85532-658-2
• Fatima Besnaci-Lancou, Benoit Falaize et Gilles Manceron (dir.), Les harkis, Histoire, mémoire et transmission, préface de Philippe Joutard, Ed. de l'Atelier, septembre 2010.
• Fatima Besnaci-Lancou et Gilles Manceron (dir.), Les harkis dans la colonisation et ses suites, préface de Jean Lacouture, Ed. de l'Atelier, février 2008.
• Fatima Besnaci-Lancou et Abderahmen Moumen, Les harkis, éd. Le cavalier bleu, collection Idées reçues, août 2008.
• Isabelle Clarke, Daniel Costelle et Mickaël Gamrasni, La blessure, la tragédie des harkis, Ed. Acropole, septembre 2010.
• Tom Charbit, Les harkis, Edition La découverte, Collection Repères, mars 2006.
• Vincent Crapanzano, The Harkis :The wounds that never heals, pub. University Of Chicago Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-226-11876-5.
• Guy Pervillé, Le Drame des harkis, revue Histoire, avril 1988
• Jean-Jacques Jordi, La Réécriture de l'Histoire, actes du colloque du Centre universitaire méditerranéen de Nice, 1998.
• Mohand Hamoumou, Et ils sont devenus harkis, éd. Fayard, 1994 (réédité en 2001, épuisé).
• Mohand Hamoumou et Jean-Jacques Jordi, Les Harkis, une mémoire enfouie, Autrement, 1999.
• Elise Langelier, La situation juridique des Harkis (1962–2007), préface d'Emmanuel Aubin, éd. de l'Université de Poitiers, collection de la Faculté de Droit et des Sciences sociales de Poitiers, décembre 2009.
• Régis Pierret, Les filles et fils de harkis – Entre double rejet et triple appartenance, préface de Michel Wieviorka, Éditions L'Harmattan, Collection : Espaces interculturels, décembre 2008.
• Michel Roux, Les harkis, les oubliés de l'histoire, éd. la découverte, 1991.
• Abderahmen Moumen, Les Français musulmans en Vaucluse 1962–1991, Installation et difficultés d'intégration d'une communauté de rapatriés d'Algérie, Editions L'Harmattan, Collection Histoires et perspectives méditerranéennes, juillet 2003.

External links[link]

• Review of Le silence des harkis
• Letter of the FLN to the Harkis
• (French) http://www.harkis.com/ : AJIR association (Association Justice Information Réparation pour les harkis).
• (French) http://www.harki.net/ : "Harkis et droits de l'homme" Association.
• (French) http://www.coalition-harkis.com/index.php/: "Coalition nationale des harkis et des associations de harkis".

Harjinder Singh Jinda
Nickname	Jinda
Born	1961 Village Gadli, Amritsar, Punjab, India
Died	October 09, 1992 Pune, Maharashtra, India
Allegiance	Khalistan Commando Force
Years of service	1984 - 1992
Battles/wars	Khalistan movement
Awards	“Great Martyr’ of the Sikh nation

Harjinder Singh Jinda was a member of a Sikh organization Khalistan Commando Force and one of the two assassins of Arun Vaidya (the Chief of Indian army at the time of Operation Bluestar and architect of Operation Bluestar). He was responsible for three high-profile killings; Arjan Dass, Lalit Maken and Gen. Vaidya. He along with other members of Khalistan Commando Force participated in Indian history's biggest bank robbery^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]} of Rs. 5.70 crore ($4.5 million) from Punjab National Bank, Miller Gunj branch, Ludhiana^[8] to finance the campaign for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.^[9][10]

Early life[link]

Harjinder Singh's mother's and father's names are Gurnam Kaur^[11] and Gulzar Singh.^[12] Jinda had two older brothers, Nirbhail Singh and Bhupinder Singh^[8][13][14] and one sister, Balvinder Kaur.^[11] Harinder Singh alias Mathra Singh and Jagjit Singh were nephews of Harjinder Singh Jinda.^[12] Sikh militant Surjit Singh Penta (who committed suicide by consuming cyanide during Operation Black Thunder in the year of 1998) was a cousin of Harjinder Singh Jinda.^[15][16][17] He belonged to a farmer family.

He was born on April 4, 1962 in the village of Gadli, Jandiala in district Amritsar^[18] and received his early education in his native village of Gadli^[19] in district Amritsar. After completing his early education, he enrolled in Khalsa College, Amritsar.^[13][18][20]

India today described Jinda as 5'7" tall with a mole on the right side of his neck and two wounds on his right leg^[21]

Participation in the Khalistan movement[link]

He was completing his BA part II when Operation Bluestar occurred. He left his studies and joined the Khalistan separatist movement afterwards.

Assassination of Lalit Maken[link]

Harjinder Singh "Jinda" and Sukhdev Singh Sukha along with Ranjit Singh Gill gunned down Congress(I) Member of Parliament Lalit Maken on July 31, 1985,^[8] when he was moving towards his car parked across the road from his house in Kirti Nagar, New Delhi. The three assailants continued firing even as Maken ran towards his house for cover. Maken's wife Geetanjali and a visitor, Balkishan, were also caught in the firing. The assailants escaped on their scooters. Lalit Maken was considered to be involved in the killings of innocent Sikhs during 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. In a 31-page booklet titled 'Who Are The Guilty', People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) listed 227 people who led the mobs, which killed up to 3,000 Sikhs over three days. Lalit Maken's name was third on the list.^[22] A press report has indicated that someone named Bakshish Singh was also involved along with Jinda in this assassination.^[23] Ranjit Singh "Gill" was arrested by Interpol in New Jersey, USA on May 14, 1987, a federal magistrate approved his extradition on February 6, 1988^[24] and he was deported back to India in February 2000 after lengthy legal cases and was sentenced to life imprisonment on February 24, 2003. Finally his life sentence was commuted on May 20, 2009.^[25]

Assassination of General Vaidya[link]

In 1984, General Arun Vaidya had designed and supervised^[26] Operation Blue Star - a controversial military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India,^[27] against a group of Sikh separatists in June 1984 at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs.

General Vaidya had moved to Pune after his retirement from the army. On August 10, 1986, General Arun Vaidya was shot to death by Jinda and Sukha while he was driving his car home from the market.^[28] According to the police, the assailants pulled up next to his car on motor scooters and fired eight or nine shots into the car.^[29] Vaidya reportedly died instantly of head and neck wounds. His wife, who was also in the car, was wounded by four bullets in her back and thighs.^[30] According to Indian intelligence sources, Vaidya had been the number four assassination target on lists by Sikh militants and he was one of several people killed in retaliation for Operation Blue Star.^[31][32] Following the assassination, the Khalistan Commando Force issued a statement declaring that Vaidya had been killed in retaliation for the Operation Blue Star.^[31]

Assassination of Arjan Dass[link]

Congress (I) leader Arjun Dass was assassinated on Sept 5 1985^[33][34] by Jinda,^[35] Sukha^[36] and one other Sikh because of his involvement in 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. Arjan Dass's name appeared in various affidavits submitted by innocent Sikh victims to Nanavati Commission which was headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India.^[37] He was also identified among organisers of the carnage.^[38][39] Arjun Dass was a close friend of Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.^[40]

Arrest and death[link]

On September 17, 1986, Sukha got into an accident with a truck in Pimpri, Pune and was arrested. He was riding the same black motorcycle which was used at the time of assassination of General Vaidya. Jinda was arrested at Gurdwara Majnoo Daa Tilla, Delhi in March, 1987. He was shot in the legs at the time of his arrest. During their court trial, despite admitting to the killing, they pled not-guilty, justifying their actions by saying that Vaidya was "guilty of a serious crime, the punishment for which could only be death".^[32] They were awarded death sentences at 2:05 pm on October 21, 1989. Sukha and Jinda also wrote a letter to president of India asking for "No-Clemency" prior to their hanging.^[41] They welcomed their death sentences with Sikh religious slogans of Jo Bole So Nihal and their political slogans of Khalistan Zindabad.

On October 9, 1992, early in the morning, Sukhdev Singh "Sukha" and Harjinder Singh "Jinda" were hanged until death in Pune Jail. The Independent World mentioned “While being led from their cell to the gallows set up in the Yerawada gaol yard, the two convicted killers shouted slogans for Sikh independence in the Punjab”.^[42] Both of them were hanged at 4 am in Yerwada Central Jail Pune while extraordinary security was deployed at the jail and in the periphery of Pune to oppose any possible Sikh militant attack. Security was also tightened all over Northern India.^[43]

Public protests[link]

The Independent World reported that “..their hanging sparked off protests by students and shop-keepers in the Sikh-dominated state of Punjab” and “Security forces were put on alert in New Delhi, Pune, the southern city where the two assassins were hanged, and throughout the Punjab.”.^[42]

Memorial service and subsequent seizure of Golden Temple by the government[link]

On their memorial service, hundreds of troops and police surrounded the Golden Temple. In the early morning hundreds of Sikhs were ordered to move out of the Golden Temple. Sikh leaders Simranjit Singh Mann, Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra and 300 others were arrested in the statewide arrests. Some people were baton charged when they tried to enter this religious place. Approximately 300 Sikhs openly resisted the police clampdown and held the 30 minute memorial service inside the complex while chanting slogans hailing the assassins and in support of Sikh homeland Khalistan. Jinda and Sukha’s fathers were presented with gold medals by Golden Temple priest. Police seize of the temple was lifted 3 hours after the memorial service^[44][45]

Honours/ anniversaries[link]

In October 1999, his death anniversary was celebrated in his village Gadli, district Amritsar, where chief of Akal Takhat Amritsar, Giani Puran Singh declared Jinda a national martyr while justifying his action of killing general Vaidya. Some Akali leaders stayed away from this function.^[46]

On October 9, 2000, representatives of all major Sikh bodies, including ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, the SHSAD, the SGPC, the Damdami Taksal, AISSF and the Dal Khalsa attended the eighth death anniversary of Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha. To honour Jinda and Sukha, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Head of Akal Takht (Supreme Sikh temporal seat), performed the ‘ardas’ (a Sikh religious rite). Both Sukha and Jinda were declared as “great martyrs’ of the Sikh nation during this event.^[47]

On October 9, 2002, per The Tribune, on Jinda's death anniversary, "Tributes were paid to the assassins of General Vaidya — Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha" and Jinda's mother was honoured by Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, chief of Akal Takhat.^[48]

In October 2005, the anniversary of his death was celebrated in his native village of Gadli by various Sikh organization including Dal Khalsa, Damdami Taksal, Akal Federation and Sikh Students Federation etc.^[19] and his family was again honoured by Dal Khalsa in Fateh Garh Sahib in Punjab, India.^[49]

Dashmesh Durbar Sikh temple in Surrey, Canada recently organized special prayers for both Jinda and Sukha in Canada^[50]

On October 9, 2008, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee honoured kin of Jinda and Sukha in the Golden Temple complex, to mark the anniversaries of their death. SGPC declared Jinda and Sukha ‘martyrs of Sikh nation' and added that Jinda and Sukha took revenge of Operation Bluestar.^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Letter sent by the two to the President of India asking for no clemency
• Letter of Bhai Sukha-Jinda in Panjabi Language
• Harjinder Singh Jinda & Sukhdev Singh Sukha Biography.