Twenty seven years ago almost to the day of an event occurred in Punjab that shook the Republic of India to its very foundations.
Sikh extremists seeking to carve an independent country had been slowly but surely taking control of the state over the previous couple of years, striking terror in the hearts of politicians, law-enforcers & the general population.
Operation Blue Star 3-6 June 1984, was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists, led by Janrail Singh Bhindranwale, who were amassing weapons in the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
The Operation was carried out by Indian Army troops with tanks & armoured vehicles. Militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy & the government's justification for the timing & style of the attack are still under debate. Operation Blue Star was included in the Top 10 Political Disgraces by India Today magazine.
The impact of the military assault, its aftermath & the increased tensions led to assaults on members of the Sikh community within India & uproar amongst Sikhs worldwide. In India, many Sikhs resigned from armed & civil administrative office & returned their government awards. Some who perceived the attack as desecration of the Sikh shrine pledged revenge. Indira gandhi was assaulted by two of her Sikh bodyguards on 31st October 1984.
Bhindranwale had earlier taken refuge in the Golden Temple & made it his headquarters in April 1980, when he was named as a suspect in the killing of Nirankari Gurbachan Singh. Indira Gandhi first asked Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, then Vice Chief of Indian Army to prepare a poition paper for assault on the Golden Temple but the officer advised against any such move, given its sacrilegious nature according to Sikh tradition.
On 3rd June, a 36 hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab with all methods of communication & public travel suspended. Electricity supplies were also interrupted, creating a total blackout & cutting off the state from the rest of India & the world.
The Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple on the night of 5 June under the command of Maj. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar. The forces had full control of the Golden Temple by the morning of 7 June. Bhindranwale, Maj. Gen. Shabeg Singh, & several other militant leaders were killed in the operation along with a large no. of followers & civilians. The armed forces also suffered many casualties. Operation Blue Star coincided with a Sikh annual festival. Pilgrims, including the elderly & the children were trapped inside the temple when the operation began & many were wounded & killed as a result.
Why I have chosen this topic?
This Operation was brought into action in the month of June almost 26 years ago. Whose fault was there for this big disaster is not worth to comment but the question is that whether the innocent who were killed were liable to get messed between the fight of Bhindranwale & Indian government or whether is was right & in convenience with humanity to kill such a large number of innocent people for the sack of killing only a few persons? The answer is with none. But it depends upon us now the future citizens of India to learn from the past mistakes & move ahead with the life & try to avoid any such mishappenings in the future. Because "Zindagi aage badhne ka naam hai piche mudkar dekhne ka nahi!!"
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