Operation Blue Star - Unsuccessful Attempt to Divide India

Amritsar (Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ; Punjabi pronunciation: [əmːɾɪt̪səɾ]), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is a city in north-western Indian state of Punjab. The city was named after the lake founded by the fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das in 1574 on the land bought by him for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. At that time, it was known as Guru Da Chakk. (Later, it came to be known as Chakk Ram Das). Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib (commonly known as the Golden Temple), the spiritual and cultural centre for the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100,000 visitors on weekdays alone and is the most popular destination in the whole of India. The temple complex also houses the Akaal Takht, the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa, and SGPC, the committee responsible for the upkeep of Gurdwaras.

Golden Temple Complex, Amritsar

Akali Agitation and "Dharam Yudh"

Ever since Pakistan was carved out of Punjab, the Sikhs have felt the loss of half of their homeland, the state of Punjab. They rue the loss of Lahore, the capital of Sikh empire and Nankana Sahib, the abandoned holy city where Guru Nanak, the founder of the religion was born.The Sikhs felt marginalized in the independent India with their religious identity, cultural heritage, and self governance under threat from a democratic system that based purely on numbers.

Punjab divided in Religion

The Sikh leadership had two options:

1. Get marginalized in a unified Punjab where Punjabi was not the state language and Sikhs form a minority with less than 33% representation in the state
2. Create a division of Punjab where Sikhs will be in majority and their language and heritage could be preserved at the cost of being land-locked against a closed border on one end and losing the direct connection to nation's capital on the other end.

They chose the second option and "Punjabi Suba" movement was launched by Akali Dal. Series of false promises by Indian leadership, in particular Gandhi, Nehru, and later Indira Gandhi led to a sense of alienation and betrayal. Decades of hunger strikes and peaceful protests resulted in no conclusion and Akali Dal, a Sikh political party started a peaceful non-cooperation agitation with a list of their grievances and demands.

Akali leadership launching the Non-cooperation Agitation

The failures of successive agitations and growing unemployment of educated Sikh youths to turn to militancy. Among these were AISSF, the All India Sikh Students Federation. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the leader of orthodox Damdami Taksal also joined the agitation. He was in no mood to compromise and considered the Akali leadership as spineless politicians.

The confused state of affairs was further complicated by indulgence of Indian and Pakistani secret service agencies masquerading as Sikh militants. Efforts were made to give communal color to the Sikh protests. Hindi newspapers originating from Jalandhar played a key role in creating a communal wedge between the Sikhs and Hindus of Punjab. Provocative speeches and actions of several politicians and central government support for Nirankaris, a breakaway Sikh cult led to a series of political assassinations and a sense of lawlessness in the state.

Sant Bhindranwale entring Golden temple Complex

Who Conceived Operation Blue Star?

India at that time was on crossroads with Hindu right wing organizations trying to revive a sense of pride and ownership among the majority Hindu community. This was threatening the mathematical calculations of the ruling Congress party led by Indira Gandhi, a frail but Wiley lady in her seventies. In the past she had been able to divide the majority Hindu community on caste, and unite the minorities, primarily Muslims and Christians to win the elections.

This time around, she was smart enough to sense the Hindus uniting under the banner to build a temple for Hindu God Rama by destroying an historic mosque that was built by Mughal Emperor Babur by destroying the original Hindu temple. 

Indira with her son Rajiv Gandhi

Her mathematical equation was simple - unite the majority Hindus in her favor against the tiny minority of Sikhs who were just under 2% of the total Indian population. In order to achieve her goals, she had to dehumanize the patriotic and popular Sikh community as "anti-nationals", "separatists", "extremists", and "terrorists".

Naive Sikhs - Sitting Target in 1984

Unknowingly and ignorantly, the Sikhs played a role of a "perfect villain" in her script. It was easy for her government agencies, and willing newspapers to convert the powerful image of Khalsa, the saint-soldier and a guardian of society into a dreaded "Extremist".

Sant Bhindranwale at manji sahib, Golden Temple Complex

The more she provoked the Sikhs, the more they reacted powerfully and militantly based on their military heritage, thus justifying her propaganda. This strategy was all progressing exactly as planned by Indira but not fast enough as the general elections were approaching soon in 1985. This is when Indira delivered her master stroke - Operation Blue Star.

Who Masterminded the Operation?

The Operation Blue Star was planned with immaculate political acumen and diplomacy. Indira even consulted and engaged the British secret services in the planning. General SK Sinha who opposed the military action on Harmander Sahib was superseded by Indira's stooge General Arun Shridhar Vaidya. Now, lets hear from respectable General SK Sinha in his own words:

Indira Gandhi had first asked Lt. Gen. S. K. Sinha, then Vice-Chief of Indian Army and selected to become the next Army chief, to prepare a position paper for assault on the Golden Temple. Lt. Gen. Sinha advised against any such move, given its sacrilegious nature according to Sikh tradition. He suggested the government adopt an alternative solution. A controversial decision was made to replace him with General Arun Shridhar Vaidya as the Chief of the Indian army. General Vaidya, assisted by Lt. Gen. Sundarji as Vice-Chief, planned and coordinated Operation Blue Star.

Maj. Gen KS Brar, Lt. General K Sunderji, and Gen. AS Vaidya

Who announced it?

On the night of the 2nd June, Indira Gandhi appeared on television and made a speech to the nation, saying that she was appealing to the Akalis to call off their agitation, which was to resume the next day in a state-wide attempt to stop the transport of grain. In the same speech she also said they had lost control of their movement to Bhindranwale, so the appeal she was making was in any case useless.

Indira Gandhi looking sinister before her announcement

It was a thinly-veiled exercise in self-justification; now, when she called in the army, it would be because the Akalis had forced her to, not because she herself had created the situation which had made it inevitable. That same evening it was announced on the radio that Punjab had been handed over to the army – the first time in Indian history that the soldiers had been handed complete control of a state.

Who Botched it?

Major General KS Brar, a Sikh belonging to Brar Jatt clan, same clan as Bhindranwale and hailing a village adjacent to the Sant was in charge of the 9th Division based at Meerut. He was selected to lead the Operation Blue Star. The over confidence of General Brar and other Indian Generals was evident. In fact, one of the generals pointed at some of his black-dungareed commandos, who were getting kitted out and briefed, and said, “Have you seen these bhoots (devils) of mine? The terrorists have to merely see them and they will surrender with their tails between their legs.”

Defiant Sikhs inside Golden temple Complex

On June 1st, at 12:40 hrs the CRPF and BSF started firing at "Guru Ram Das Langar" building where food was being served to the pilgrims. At least eight people died in this indiscriminate firing. The next morning, the Golden Temple complex was surrounded by the 12 Bihar Regiment. Bhindranwale held a defiant press conference in the Akal Takht at which he promised to give the army a fitting reply. Soon, the Indian Army was reinforced with soldiers from 26 Madras, 9 Garhwal Rifles, Kumaon Regiment, 10 Guards, 1 Para Commandos and Special Frontier Force (SFF) commandos.

The initial assault failed, resulting in massive casualities for the Indian Army. Armored vehicles were sent in with flash lights but even these failed to make an impact.

Damaged armoured vehicle belonging to Indian Army

The Indian Generals panicked and feared the Sikhs from villages approaching the Golden Temples from all directions. In this panic, Brar ordered artillery assault on Akaal Takht, a revered part of the complex from where Bhindranwale was making his last stand.

On June 6th, Vijayanta tanks shelled the Akal Takht. It suffered severe damage but the structure was still standing upright. The resistance continued from the neighboring structures of the Akaal Takht.

Damaged Akal Takht

By the morning of June 7th, the army had gained effective control of the Harmandir Sahib complex, The Army placed total casualties at: Sikh Militants:500 dead; Military: 83 killed and 2360 wounded.

Unofficial casualty figures were much higher. Some suggest that civilian casualties numbered 2,000 Sikhs and over 800 military casualties. Apart from Amritsar, an unspecified number of soldiers were reported killed during the fighting at 38 other gurdwaras in Punjab. Thousands of Sikhs were arrested and shot by the Indian Army.

The timing of Operation Blue Star was planned on Sikh religious day to make higher casualty of Sikh community, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev ji, the founder of the Harmandir Sahib. The justification given by the Center was the announcement made by Longowal that a statewide civil disobedience movement would be launched on 3 June 1984, by refusing to pay land revenue, water and electricity bills, and blocking the flow of grain out of Punjab.

The Treatment of Survivors

Thousands of Sikhs were arrested and faced the ire of frustrated Indian Army soldiers. All forms of aid are denied to the surviving victims. The Red Cross is refused permission to enter the Temple complex and the wounded are left to suffer for days. Many people die of dehydration as they are refused water.

Sikh Pilgrims arrested by Indian Army

 The Christian Science Monitor reported on the 8th June 1984:

“On Saturday, medical workers in Amritsar said soldiers had threatened to shoot them if they gave food or water to Sikh pilgrims wounded in the attack and lying in the hospital.” The CFD report, ‘Oppression in Punjab’ remarks: “In accordance with the UN Charter of Human Rights, the Red Cross is permitted to go in aid of the wounded right inside the enemy territory, but in Amritsar in June, 1984, the Red Cross was not allowed to enter the Golden Temple – a respected and hallowed part of our country – in aid of Indians under attack from the Indian Army. It only means that the attack was so brutal and the battle scene so grisly, that there was much to hide from public scrutiny, even if it be that of a neutral agency called the Red Cross. This also explains perhaps why Press censorship had already been imposed, the last of the journalists were hounded away and the Press was not allowed to go inside the Golden Temple up to June 10, when they were taken on a guided tour of the complex for the first time since the Army operation began almost a week before.”

Punjab Police cleaning up Dead Bodies of Sikhs

An article that was published in India Today (30/9/84) details the most vulnerable of the 18,000 “suspected terrorists” arrested in June 1984 and detained in maximum security prisons:

“These were the other victims of Operation Bluestar, little children, some only two years old, who got rounded up. Since then, 39 children have been languishing in two Ludhiana jails. The youngest of these children, Jasbir Kaur, is only two years old, her sister Charanjit Kaur is four, and her brothers, Harinder and Balwinder, are six and twelve. There is four-year old Rinku whose father died during the army operation and whose mother has been missing since. Like the rest of the ‘infant terrorists’, Rinku had to go through gruelling interrogation. When asked where his mother was he replied, “I don’t know”. Asked where his father was, he said, “Killed with a gun”. Why his stomach was so big; “Because I eat clay”. Their ordeal began in early June when they were picked up around the Temple and packed into camps in Amritsar and Jalandhar. Two central agencies, the Central Bureau of lnvestigation (CBI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) began their questioning. There were long, intimidating sessions. The children cried and begged to be sent home. But it went on for days. Their little finger prints were taken and IB sleuths set about verifying their bonafides. One interrogating officer admitted that officials were not moved by the children’s cries."

How Propoganda was Spread?

The state owned Doordarshan started showing the images of "liberated" Harmander Sahib. The army officers were interviewed who exaggerated their role and tried to give a sinister color to the Sikhs defending the complex.

Singh Sahib, Giani Kirpal Singh, the Jathedar of Akal Takht was brought in, allegedly on gun point to declare on Doordarshan that the Golden Temple has no damage and the religious services have began.

Indian newspapers carried out government propaganda defaming Sant Bhindranwale and the militant Sikhs. They were accused of collaborating with Pakistan and create a separatist agenda to create Khalistan. It was claimed that the guns captured after the Operation Blue Star were of Pakistani and Chinese origin. Shameless lies were circulated to depict the Sikhs as murderers, kidnappers, rapists, and terrorists.

How Rage of Sikhs Erupted?

The news of the damage to Akal Takht and killings of thousands of Sikh pilgrims inside the Golden temple complex spread like fire. The Sikhs were outraged by the martyrdom of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his close followers. 

Sikhs gazing at the damaged Akal Takht

The Sikhs in India and abroad were shocked by the decision of Indira Gandhi to send Indian Army to Golden Temple Complex. As the details of the operation began to leak out, the global Sikh community was stunned and enraged. Even the uncle of KS Brar disowned him and broke relationship with him. 

Sikhs protest in London, UK

Aftermath of Operation Blue Star

President Zail Singh himself a practicing Sikh, visited the Golden Temple on June 8th. Before his visit to Amritsar, he had also had a secret 90-minute audience with Arun Singh, who had earlier flown in an Indian Air Force aircraft with Singh Deo to fetch photographs of the curfew-locked city for the President's eyes only. A Sikh sniper hiding in Ramgarhia Bunga took aim at the President. He survived but one of his bodyguard was injured. He was criticized by arriving there wearing a red rose on his jacket. The Raagis of Harmander Sahib sang an appropriate Shabad, "Kutte raaj kamaunde ...."

He was criticized for roaming around in the Complex clasp­ing “red rose” as though he had gone to attend a mar­riage ‘party'. He must have witnessed the horrible scene there. The blood stained rooms, the blood stained Parkarma around the Sarovar were still visible here and there although the Army had washed away all these places before his visit. He must have seen the Akal Takht reduced to rubble by heavy and intensive bombard­ment and heavily damaged Darshni Deori as well as bul­let holes in the Golden Temple. He must have witnessed the destruction of surrounding buildings and debris scat­tered all around in the Parkarma and outside the Com­plex. He must have smelt the stench emitted by the de­composed bodies of thousands of Sikhs. Seeing all these horrible acts of savagery he was visibly moved. What he said to the Governor B.D. Pande was “Where from such a large number of weapons happened to be smuggled in by the extremists and brought to the Golden Temple Com­plex. Did you lend your eyes and ears to some one else.”

Later Indira Gandhi also visited the Golden temple. The following video shows her visiting the temple and the sentiments of Sikhs.

Efforts were made by Indira Gandhi and Sikh leaders of her Congress party to make ammends with the Sikhs. Home Minister Buta Singh appointed the Sikh owner of Skipper Group, a construction company to rebuild the Akal Takht. Baba Santa Singh, aging head of Nihangs - Buddha dal and an opium addict was enrolled to carry out the service. A Sarbat Khalsa was organized by Buta Singh at the inauguration of the rebuilt Akal Takht. The Sikh community, however rejected this construction and the building constructed by government agents was razed to the ground and rebuilt by public.

Reconstruction of Akal Takht by Sikhs

Did Indira Knew Her Death was Near?

Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India

Indira had prenomination of her death. In her last public speech before her death, she shares her fears about her imminent death and instigates the public to wake up as the last drops of her blood falls on earth. 

  DocumentarySeries by Kanwar Sandhu

Famous Journalist Kanwar Sandhu who represented Indian Express and India Today during the turbulent period in Punjab. He has meticulously documented the entire period with great clarity of a professional journalist.

Here are the links to the series:

Operation Blue Star Part I

Operation Blue Star Part II

Operation Blue Star Part III

Operation Blue Star Part IV

Operation Blue Star Part V

Operation Blue Star Part VI

Operation Blue Star Part VII

Operation Blue Star Part VIII

Operation Blue Star: Part IX

Reference:

1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10881115/Operation-Blue-Star-How-an-Indian-army-raid-on-the-Golden-Temple-ended-in-disaster.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Blue_Star
3. https://asrandhawa.wordpress.com/operation-bluestar-conspiracy-with-sikh-nation/
4. https://southasiablog.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/religious-map-of-punjab-before-partition/