CHANDIGARH, Dec 10: After Operation Bluestar in 1984, he floated the World Sikh Organisation that became a focal point of the Khalistan movement in North America. But the homecoming of Didar Singh Bains to his native Hoshiarpur yesterday is being seen by many as a watershed in the integration of erstwhile pro-Khalistan NRI Sikhs into the Indian mainstream.

Bains, perhaps the richest NRI in the USA, was detained at New Delhi's IGI Airport for two hours yesterday. Although he had a valid visa, he was apparently on the Immigration watch list as one who was not to be allowed into the country.

But Bains shows no bitterness over the embarrassment he suffered at the airport. The man who talked and advocated secession till as recently as about a year ago is today at the forefront of motivating NRIs to invest in Punjab. What caused the turnaround: the coming to power of the Akali-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the state.

Bains, who made his millions as a peach farmer in Yuba County in California, today downplays his role in furthering the cause of Khalistan. ``After Bluestar, every Sikh felt betrayed. The demand for a separate state was inevitable. However, we now feel that with an Akali Government in Punjab, things have changed.''

He never quite believed in the language of the bullet, he says, but the scars that Operation Bluestar left ``inevitably made very Sikh believe that a separate homeland alone was the answer.'' But, ``I was always for a negotiated settlement with more autonomy to states.'' It was a sense of fear and hurt which resulted in some Sikhs adopting a tough posture against the Government, he says.

He is said to have last visited India in 1983-84 when, as a guest of the then President, Giani Zail Singh he had stayed at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. He even had a meeting with Indira Gandhi on that visit.

Bains, who owns nearly 10,000 acres of land, was unsparing in his criticism of the Congress when he spoke to The Indian Express in his village near Hoshiarpur.

``It was the Congress which placed weapons in the hands of the Sikh youth,'' he says. ``We support the Badal Government because the state is again on the path of progress. An alliance with the BJP is welcome for it will strengthen communal harmony.''

He is now a member of the five-man presidium of North American Akali Dal. He is associated with raising of funds for the 1999 tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa and is actively promoting a bank. ``A peaceful atmosphere in Punjab will attract foreign entrepreneurs. I will motivate others to invest in Punjab,'' he says.

Commenting on the seven-month United Front Government, he says that from the Punjab standpoint, Inder Kumar Gujral has proved to be a good prime minister. As for the Lok Sabha elections, he hopes that the BJP will come to power at the Centre so that its alliance with Akali Dal helps Punjab.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.