I ordered the revised edition of the book Operation … Blue
Star – The True Story written by no other but Lt. Gen. K.S. Brar who
himself
led the “most controversial and hotly debated military operations in the
history” sometime last year but could not unwrap and read it. I traveled to
Delhi from Jalandhar on Amritsar Shatabadi last month on October 18 and took
the book with me to read while travelling. It was a good start. A young lady,
an IT expert working in Gurgaon (I am finding it difficult to recall her name
now) who was sitting by my side saw the book on my table and spontaneously
commented that it was a good book which she had read last week. I was further
motivated to read the book. I stayed with my senior diplomatic colleague and a
good friend Ambassador Bal Anand at their newly built house at the lush green
and peaceful IFS Villas at Greater Noida and enjoyed their hospitality over
numerous sessions of informal chats on subjects of mutual interests one among
them literature and general love for books. Though I also claim to have some
interest in reading and writing of which my hosts were aware yet I am nowhere
near Ambassador Bal Anand, a vivid reader and a prolific writer. I informed him
that I was reading the book of General Brar on operation Blue Star. He advised
that I should write a review of the book on my return to Jalandhar. Here I
attempt one not as an expert but as a common reader.
Since the Operation Blue Star at the Harimandir Sahib (Golden
Temple) at Amritsar, the seat of spiritual status and power of the Sikhs, 32
long years have gone by. But this unpleasant scar in the contemporary history
of India is still alive and will remain so in the years to come. In the
aftermath of the infamous operation in June, 1984, the sad and uncalled for
happenings on October 31 in which PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated and the
consequent holocaust in Delhi and other places against our Sikh brethren are
the festering wounds which require constant balm to get some much needed
relief. While I am writing a review of the book of General Brar today on
November 3, the air in Punjab is thick with the sordid happenings of 1984
which, to my mind, should be removed from the psyche and forgotten like a bad
dream. Such first hand and objective accounts given by the actual actors and
players would certainly put the things in their right perspective. Lt. Gen.
K.S. Brar has done a good job in writing the book “Operation … Blue Star – the
True Story.
General Brar is quite candid when he says in the preface of
the book itself “I know that many will disagree with some of my observations
and comments but then, the true test of the book of this nature is that it
should evoke discussion and introspection, which I hope will be healthy and honest
not bitter and acrimonious.” The ground situation has belied the expectations
of the author. It is unfortunate. The hard core elements are getting strength
both in temporal and spiritual Sikh hierarchy - Miri and Piri. There are vested
political interests. The successive governments could not demonstrate strong
will power to address the causes and concerns which were responsible for the
military action at Amritsar in June 1984 and its fallout in October, 1984. A
sincere introspection is needed as advised by the author of the book.
I fully agree with General Brar when he says “Operation Blue
Star was launched in order to preserve the country’s unity and integrity and it
can perhaps, be classified as one of the most traumatic, sensitive and
thankless missions ever undertaken by any army of the world.” The Indian army,
one of the most dedicated and professional armies of the world as also
recognized and appreciated by the UN in its various peace keeping operations,
did a job under difficult and trying situations and circumstances. General K.
Sundarji, who was also one of the chief players in the operation commented and
said “We did not go in anger but with sadness; with prayers on our lips and
humility in our hearts.” The role of
General Sundarji in the operation will find a mention in the proceeding paras
of this review of the book. The army did its duty. There should be no
bitterness or ill feeling against the army. It will serve as the first step to
forget and forgive the sad and traumatic experience like a bad dream.
The social, political and security situation in Punjab in the
late 1970s and 1980,s, in wake of militancy and political expediency, have been
well documented and need no elaboration. All the main political parties i.e.
the Congress, the Akali Dal and the BJP contributed, in one way or the other,
to the situation which they may or may not admit. The Hindu Sikh divide was
evident. The Sikhs were getting more radical. The political expectations were
inter-knotted with religious fundamentalism. The meteoric rise of Jarnail Singh
Bhindrawale and his associates like Major General Shabeg Singh, Balbir Singh
Sandhu, Harminder Singh Sandhu and Rachpal Singh and many more completely sidelined
the main stream Akalis like Harchand Singh Longowal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra,
Parkash Singh Badal, Surjit Singh Barnala among others. The Congress was a
divided house, with President Giani Zail Singh on one side and Darbara Singh on
the other. The BJP and other Hindu outfits were at a loss to understand, in the
aftermath of assassination of Lala Jagat Narain and his son Ramesh Chandra and
other Hindu leaders. It was total chaos. By the early months of 1984,
Bhindrawale with his hard core militants had occupied and fortified the holy
complex of Harimandir Sahib and started functioning from there. The Akali
leadership like Harchand Singh Longowal and Gurcharan Singh Tohra and others
also shifted to the complex. The high priests of Harimandir Sahib were totally
terrified and were unable to render any sober advice particularly to the
militants under Bhindrawale. The government of PM Indira Gandhi tried its best
to negotiate with Akalis and Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale to salvage the situation
but could not succeed. Akalis did not have political will and writ and
Bhindrawale and his group were all determined and ready for the show off. The
militants, under the control and directions of General Shabeg Singh, had entrenched
themselves at the Akal Takhat and almost the entire complex was fully fortified
to fight back any forced assault. But they did not know, as also confirmed by
General Brar in the book that the government would hand over the matter to the
military. They were expecting some sort of police action or at the most
involvement of para military forces for which they armed themselves to the
teeth and were confident to meet the challenge. In the case of armed conflict,
the militants were all set to declare Khalistan and were expecting the lakhs
and lakhs of people from the rural areas would rush to Amritsar in their
support and save their holy shrine, Harimandir Sahib. It seemed all the options
were closed and there was complete deadlock.
By the end of May, 1984, the iron was cast and the D-day had
come. In her ‘toughest decision’, PM Indira Gandhi was advised to take military
action to flush out the militants from the holy place. I am certain that it was
the most difficult decision of her life. She was assured, as recorded, that the
military operation will be taken and completed in a few hours and the holy
complex cleared of militants without much damage. The military action was
ordered on May 31, 1984 in ‘deep anguish’.
General Brar has given a detailed and complete narration in
the book of the operation which he led under the overall command of General
A.S. Vaidya, Chief of Army Staff and Lt. General K. Sundarji, Chief of the
Westren Command and Lt. General R.S. Dyal. The narration of General Brar suggests
that there was no pre-planning and they mobilized themselves at a short notice
beginning June 1. PM Indira Gandhi spoke to the nation on June 2 and took the
people into confidence. General Brar has written that the PM’s broadcast was
delayed for 45 minutes as she was still reaching out to the Akali leadership
for an honorable and peaceful settlement but that was not to be. The Akalis,
who boast of and claim innocence, as written by General Brar, “had virtually
abdicated their authority to Bhindrawale”. PM Indira Gandhi said in her address
that ‘the government could no longer remain a silent and passive spectator to
the morbid happenings in Punjab, as also the secessionist movement designed to
break the country’. She ended by saying “Let us join hands and shed hatred,
rather than shed blood”. Against the
expectations to end the operation with quick results, it took almost 10 days to
neutralize and flush out the militants from the holy shrine with unexpectedly
huge loss of life on both the sides and avoidable damage to the historical
buildings including the Akal Takhat. General Brar has given all the operational
details with graphics and pictures in his narration. From these details one can
easily find and assess the gravity of the situation. Thank God that there was
no physical damage to the Golden Temple in spite of efforts on the part of the
militants and other vested interests to provoke and engage the army and other
forces to do something untoward and create further difficulties. It is a credit
to the Indian armed forces, against all odds and provocation; they could manage
to save the holy Golden Temple and the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine. In the
main assault on June 5 and 6, the hard core militants like Jarnail Singh
Bhindrawale and his military commander General Shabeg Singh and others were killed
in the operation and the rest were neutralized or flushed out. President Giani
Zail Singh visited the shrine on June 8. It was providence that he was saved
from a volley of fire busted by the militants during the visit, as stated by
General Brar. It could have been yet another blot in our history, had they
succeeded in harming the President of India. PM Indira Gandhi visited the
shrine and paid her obeisance on June 23. She expressed ‘her grief over the
unfortunate consequences of violence and terror perpetrated from within the
Temple for the past few months’. She interacted with the high priests of
Harimandir Sahib and stressed the necessary safeguards to ensure that a place
of worship was never again misused.
The unfortunate happenings of June and October, 1984 are
behind us. We need to forget and forgive to carry on. But reading of the book
of General Brar certainly compels us to sit and contemplate what went wrong for
which the country and the society at large suffered immensely? It was a
collective failure, to my mind, of the whole system - the governments,
administration .i.e. bureaucracy and intelligence agencies, political
parties, and religious leaders. The army did their job to the best of their
ability and responsibly under trying circumstances with their hands tied to their
backs from day one of the Blue star operation except for the one rider. It is
believed by political and security analysts that PM Indira Gandhi was misled
and misinformed by some jingoistic and flamboyant army brass, said to be led by
General Sundarji, that they were competent and prepared to undertake the
operation and were capable to flush out the militants from the holy shrine in a
few hours without much damage to the buildings and loss of life. Had she been
informed of the factual position, my gut feeling tells me that she would have
exercised more caution and thought in taking such a drastic decision? Anyway,
she took the decision, like a leader of a democratic country, and paid the
price by succumbing to the bullets of her own security guards.
Let us stop the blame game. Let us shed our anger, hatred and
revenge. Let us stop eulogizing the militants by making memorials to celebrate
them. Let us not mix religion with politics for our narrow agenda and vested
interests. Let me quote from Lt. General K.S. Brar, the author of the book
“Operation – Blue Star – The True Story” to conclude this piece “Finally, I can
only fervently hope and pray that better sense dawns on the radicals and
hardliners and that they begin to realize and understand that it is time now to
live in peace and harmony.”
वतन की फ़िक्र कर नादाँ; मुसीवत आने वाली है,
तेरी बर्बादियों के मश्वरे हैं आश्मानों में ,
नासमजोगे तो मिट जाओगे ऐ हिन्दोस्तान
वालो;
तुम्हारी दास्ताँ तक भी न होगी दस्तानों में !
