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Operation Blue Star (June 3 to June 6, 1984) was the Indian military operation at the Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab, the holiest temple of the Sikhs. Which was considered fascist, state sponsored terrorism by the ruling Hindu government on the minority Sikhs.<ref>http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/bluestar/ob03.htm AllAboutSikhs.com] - (Terrorism, State-Terrorism and Disinformation)
Occupation of Harmandir Sahib
Following a crackdown on militants in early 1984, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's militant faction fortified the Harimandir Sahib complex. Bhindaranwale, along with Shabeg Singh, a Major General dismissed from the Indian army, took to heavily arming and fortifying the Harmandir Sahib. Bhindranwale was also killed in the operation.
The operation
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 - Shri Guru Granth Sahib. As a result of this, when the curfew was imposed the temple was filled with worshippers.
Major General Brar claimed in his book 'Operation Blue Star- The True Story' that he never visited the Harmandir Sahib complex, prior to the launch of the operation, as was widely claimed by many writers. 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. (later General) Sundarji, another senior commander, believed there was no way to avoid a violent resolution. Brar went in and briefed all troops.
The operation was expected to be a swift one. However, the firepower and fortifications of the temple by militants had been grossly underestimated. The operation was undertaken in the cover of the night, and due to the immense firepower and sophisticated weaponry in the possession of the militants, the Indian army suffered heavy casualties. General Brar was thus forced to order the tanks to be brought in, lest his commando unit become open targets in daylight.
The first task was the destruction of Major-General Shabeg Singh's outer defenses. Much of this had been completed in the preliminary firing when Major-General Brar had hoped to frighten Bhindrenwale into surrendering. These defences included the seventeen houses which the police had allowed Bhindanwale's followers to occupy in the alleys surrounding the Golden Temple. Some of them were as far as 800 yards away from the complex. These outposts were all in wireless contact with Shahbeg Singh's command post in the Akal Takht. The Temple view hotel outside the Temple complex had also been occupied. Next to it was Brahmbuta Akhara, a large building housing the headquarters of a Sikh sect. Then there were three main towers which had been fortified to make positions from which Bhindranwale's men could fire into the Golden Temple complex. Because they stood well above the rest of the building, the towers were also excellent observation posts for watching the movement of troops in the narrow alleys surrounding the Temple. The tops of these towers were blasted off by the artillery fire. The use of artillery in the dense city of Amritsar proved very costly; many innocent people living in close proximity of Golden Temple lost their lives. Then the commando operation was planned.
It was between 10 and 10:30 PM when commandos from 1st Battalion, the parachute regiment were ordered to run down the steps under the clock tower on to the parikarma, or pavement, turn right and move as quickly as they could round the edge of the sacred tank to the Akal Takht. But as the paratroopers entered the main gateway to the Temple they were gunned down by militants with light machine-guns who were hiding on either side of the steps leading down to the parikarma. The few commandos who did get down the steps were driven back by a barrage of fire from the building on the south side of the sacred pool. In the control room, in a house on the opposite side of the clock-tower, Major-general Brar was waited with his two supporting officers to hear that the commandos had established positions inside the complex.
The few commandos who survived regrouped in the square outside the Temple, and reported back to Major-General Brar. He reinforced them and ordered them to make another attempt to go in. The commandos were to be followed by the 10th Battalion of the Guards commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Israr Khan. The second commando attack managed to neutralise the machine-gun posts on either side of the steps and get down on to the parikarma. They were followed by the Guards who came under withering fire and were not able to make any progress radioed for permission to fire back at the buildings on the other side of the tank. That would have meant that the Golden Temple itself, which is in the middle of the tank, would have been in the line of fire. Brar initially refused permission, but then started to get messages from the commander of Guards reporting heavy casualties. They had suffered almost 20 percent casualties without managing to turn the corner of parikarma to the western sides. Militants would also suddenly appear from man-holes in the parikarma the Guards were fighting from, let off a burst of machine-gun fire or throw grenades, then disappear into the passages which run under the Temple. These machine-gunners had been taught to fire at knee-level because Major-General Shabeg Singh expected the army to crawl towards its objective, But the Guards and commandos were not crawling, and so many of them received severe leg injuries.
Brar again requested tanks and was this time granted his request. According to eyewitness accounts, as many as 13 tanks were brought into the parikarma and lined up on the eastern side. Temple's marble flooring was crushed and the eastern parikarma was broken. Brar ordered the destruction of Akal Takht. A total of 90 shells were fired and the Akal Takht was brought down by the Indian army.
A S Vaidya was COAS at the time of this operation and was later assassinated for his role in the operation.
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 Harimandir Sahib where the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept during the day received many bullet holes. The scripture itself was hit by a bullet.
The militants 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 and later Operation Woodrose.
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.
Criticism of the Operation
Operation Blue Star is regarded by some military observers in India and the international community as a major military embarrassment. It was criticized as the most poorly conducted and managed military operation in the history of the India Army due to the large number of military and civil casualties. Moreover, 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 crossfire.
The Operation led to an estrangement between the Indian Central government and large portions of the Sikh community. Indira Gandhi was later assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. The assassination triggered Anti-Sikh riots in North India.
References
- Rediff: Operation Blustar 20 years on
- Sikhs in Punjab
- BBC Reports and timeline
- Indian Army Viewpoint
- OnWar Repository of Conflicts
- Blue star operational plans and how it went
- Human Rights Watch (India - Human Rights Overview)
- Human Rights Watch - (I. Arms and Abuses in Punjab)