Operation Blue Star
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The Operation Blue Star (June 3 to June 6, 1984) was the Indian military operation at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab, the holiest temple of the Sikh religion.
Occupation of Harmandir Sahib
The Punjab state in India had seen the rate of murder and overall crime rise in the early 1980's. This was in large part due to the conflict between the militant Sikhs and the secular government of India. Many Sikhs felt that the Punjab was being discriminated against. The distrust between the Militant Sikhs and the government grew. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had become the voice of the minority of Sikhs who were for militancy against the government.
Following a crackdown on Sikh militants in early 1984, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's militant faction fortified the Harmandir Sahib complex.
Bhindaranwale along with Gen. Shahbeg Singh, a retired General from the Indian army took to heavily arming and fortifying the Harmandir Sahib.
On the 3rd of June, a 36 hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab. The period coincided with the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, who built the Harmandir Sahib and compiled the Sikh's Holy book. As a result of this, when the curfew was imposed the temple was filled with worshippers. The Indian government could not have warned pilgrims of the coming action, and civilian casualties were high.
The entire operation was undertaken, and executed by Maj General Kuldip Singh Brar, a Sikh himself. In subsequent interviews, he has said that initially there was just to be a swift commando action to eliminate the revolutionaries holed inside the temple; However, they had grossly underestimated the firepower and fortifications of the revolutionaries. The operation was undertaken in the cover of the night, and due to the immense firepower and sophisticated weapons the revolutionaries had, the Indian army suffered casualities. Gen Brar was thus forced to order the tanks to be brought in, lest his commando unit be open targets in daylight. [2]
He later stated his pride in cleansing the Harimandir Sahib of revolutionaries.[1]
Bluestar operational plans
The Indian Army had thought the operation would last a few hours at most. However, after the Operation Bluestar commander Major General Brar visited the Harmandir Sahib complex the day before the operation he realized that the Sikh militants had prepared well and built defensive positions against an attack. The Sikh separatist forces within the Harmandir Sahib were led by former Major General Shabeg Singh (dismissed from the Indian Army in 1976). Gen. Brar and Lt. Gen. Sundarji, another senior commander, believed there was no way to avoid a violent resolution. Brar went in and briefed all troops.
Timeline
Eyewitnesses say that the army deployed tanks, armed personnel carriers, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and helicopters. Many of the buildings surrounding the Temple were reduced to rubble. The damage inside of the temple complex was severe. The Harmandir Sahib [the sanctum sanctorum where the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept during the day] received many bullet holes. The book itself was hit by a bullet.
The militants (Kharakus) in the temple appeared to be armed with machine guns, anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers and resisted the army's attempts to dislodge them from the shrine. The militants also appeared to have planned for a long occupation of the shrine having arranged for water from wells within the temple compound, and had stocked food provisions that would have lasted months. Thus it is a difficult point as to whether the Army could have waited out the militants, cut off electricity, water etc in order to ensure a peaceful non-violent end without the loss of life and desecration of the temple; this was the siege approach taken by Rajiv Gandhi five years later, in Operation Black Thunder.
The fighting between the militants and the Indian military continued throughout the night. Major General Brar, made the decision to bring in tanks to support the military in hopes of finishing the operation before dawn. After two days of heavy fighting with the assistance of superior military equipment the Indian military was able to bring most of the Harmandir Sahib complex under its control.
Despite the government's claims that only extremists were killed other reports claim that many innocent visitors, pilgrims and priests were killed in the cross-fire. Water, electricity and telephone links to the Harimandir Sahib were cut off.
On June 18, 1984 Christian Science Monitor reported: -" For five days the Punjab has been cut off from the rest of the world. All telephone and telex links are cut. No foreigners are permitted entry and on Tuesday, all Indian journalists were expelled. There are no newspapers, no trains, no buses- not even a bullock cart can move."
The success in emptying and depoliticising the temple was marred by the damage to the temple building and the death of civilian worshipers caught in the fire.
Operation Blue Star led to an estrangement between the Indian Central government and large portions of the Sikh community. It was considered by many Sikhs as a great insult because of the use of force at their holy place, on one of the most holiest of days. The later assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards was said to be in response to desecrating the temple. The assassination triggered Anti-Sikh riots broke out in North India killing as many as 4000; and then militancy in Punjab lasted for more than a decade in which many thousands more, civilians, terrorists and security personnel, were killed.
Later on numerous Kar Sevaks volunteered to rebuild the Harmandir Sahib, turning down an offer to do so by the government.
Operation Bluestar was followed by Operation Woodrose, in which the Indian government expanded their operations in Punjab.
Operation Bluestar is regarded by some military observers in India and the international community as a military embarrassment, poorly conducted and managed. Many of the leaders of the military action were either assassinated or are as in the case of Major General Brar, in hiding for fear of being assassinated.