Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram during the program in Delhi. SGPC member Gurcharan Singh Grewal countering his statement.
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram termed the method of ‘Operation Blue Star’ conducted by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the Golden Temple of Amritsar in 1984 as wrong. He said this was the “wrong way” to liberate the Golden Temple from terrorists. But, this
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Chidambaram made this comment during a program organized in Delhi. He said- No disrespect to any army officer present here, but the method of taking back the Golden Temple was wrong. After three-four years we showed the right way to take back the Golden Temple, without involving the army.
He further said – “I agree that Indira Gandhi (then Prime Minister) had to pay the price of that mistake with her life, but that mistake was not hers alone. It was the result of the collective decision of the army, police, intelligence agencies and civil service. We cannot put the entire blame for this on Indira Gandhi alone.”
On this statement of Chidambaram SGPC has hit back. Former General Secretary of SGPC and current member Gurcharan Singh Grewal said that telling 100 lies does not make one truth. Big leader Rajiv Gandhi was found saying that if a big tree falls, the earth shakes, this justified the massacre of Sikhs.
Read sequentially, what the SGPC member said…
- Statement given to take political advantage: SGPC member Gurcharan Singh Grewal said that the statement given today by Congress leader P. Chidambaram. This statement speaks of the real truth. It remains to be seen whether this statement is from his conscience or to take some political advantage. But, we will say that he has told the truth. They came late, but they came well, we welcome them.
- Chidambaram is lying: Grewal further said that along with him he (P. Chidambaram) is telling another lie. That this attack was not Indira Gandhi’s decision alone. Saying this in itself has no meaning. The Prime Minister has his own existence and status. All the agencies are with them. It is true that some people from the opposition parties were found to be supporting him and he has also said this in his biographies.
- Sikhs were killed to save political ground: Grewal said that this attack by Indira Gandhi was a planned attack. This was the intention of Indira Gandhi. They killed the Sikhs to save their political ground which was being lost. Hindu brothers were thrown out of buses and killed, this work was done by agencies. Finally said that I have killed Sikhs to save Hindus. This was his agenda, due to which he also had to suffer.
- Justified the massacre of Sikhs: Grewal further said that Indira also had to suffer the consequences of this. After this, there was a major attack on the country’s democracy by the Congress, which was the biggest insult to democracy. Sikhs were massacred. Big leader Rajiv Gandhi was found saying that if a big tree falls, the earth shakes, this justified the massacre of Sikhs.
- Rahul Gandhi is touring Punjab: According to Grewal, everyone is watching the condition of Congress today. Today, Rahul Gandhi tours around Punjab and also pays obeisance at the Golden Temple, but does not make any mention of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar sitting on the chair next to him.
Indira Gandhi reached the Golden Temple after Operation Blue Star. file photo
What was Operation Blue Star? Operation Blue Star, conducted between June 1 and June 8 in 1984, was a military operation conducted by the Indian Army on the orders of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Its objective was to evict Sikh militant leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his supporters who were taking shelter in the Golden Temple complex.
However, due to heavy firing and military action in this campaign, hundreds of innocent devotees were killed and Akal Takht Sahib also suffered heavy damage. This action was considered by the Sikh community as an attack on their religion, leading to widespread discontent in Punjab and starting a wave of insurgency.
There was a need to adopt strategic methods like Operation Black Thunder Responding to Chidambaram’s remarks, BJP national spokesperson RP Singh said that if strategic methods like Operation Black Thunder had been adopted, the terrorists could have been forced to surrender without disturbing the sanctity of the Golden Temple. He said, “During Operation Black Thunder, electricity and water supply to the Golden Temple was cut off, forcing the terrorists to surrender without bloodshed. If such a method had been adopted, neither the dignity of Sri Harmandir Sahib would have been violated nor the lives of innocent devotees would have been lost.” R.P. Singh accused Indira Gandhi of choosing the path of confrontation for political gains. “Before the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, she tried to inflame nationalism by portraying India’s most patriotic community (Sikhs) as anti-nationals. She herself got caught in this political ploy and ultimately had to pay the price with her life.”
Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. Five months after Operation Blue Star, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in retaliation by two of her own Sikh bodyguards. After his assassination, anti-Sikh riots broke out across the country, in which thousands of people lost their lives. Which had an impact on Punjab and also marked the beginning of a long period of terrorism in Punjab.
Now know what Chidambaram had said…
Chidambaram had reached Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. Here in the ‘Khushwant Singh Literature Festival’, journalist participated in the discussion of Harinder Baweja’s book ‘They Will Shoot You, Madam’. Baweja’s comment: Indira Gandhi paid the price for her decision of Operation Blue Star with her life.
On this Chidambaram had said-
Without insulting any military officer, I want to say that that was the wrong way to get the Golden Temple back. After a few years we showed the right way to get it back without the army. Blue Star was the wrong way. I believe that Mrs. Gandhi paid the price for that mistake with her life.
Chidambaram said- The real problem of Punjab is its economic condition.
During the discussion of the book, Chidambaram said that during my visits to Punjab, I realized that the political demand for Khalistan or secession is almost over. Today’s main problem is economic…Most illegal immigrants are from Punjab.
More than 3 thousand Sikhs were killed in Sikh riots: Government figures
General Singh Bhindranwale (centre) with his armed men at Guru Nanak Niwas in Amritsar on 1 January 1983.
- Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was the head of Damdami Taksal, a fundamentalist religious group of Sikhs. On 13 April 1978, on the day of Baisakhi, a gathering of the Nirankari community took place. In protest against this procession, Bhindranwale called a meeting of traditional Sikhs near Darbar Sahib and gave a powerful speech.
- After this, a procession of Akhand Kirtani Jatha and people of Damdami Taksal moved towards the Nirankaris. 13 Sikhs and 2 Nirankaris were killed in the clash. On 24 April 1980, Nirankari sect chief Gurbachan Singh was assassinated at his home in Delhi. The very next year, Lala Jagat Narayan, the founder and editor of Punjab Kesari, was murdered. The blame for these murders was on Bhindranwale and his new political front ‘Dal Khalsa’.
- In 1982, Bhindranwale made Guru Nanak Niwas adjacent to the Golden Temple in Amritsar his base. Akal Takht is right in front of the temple. It was from here that Bhindranwale started issuing fanatical sermons and orders for the Sikhs.
- The Congress government at the Center had tried to arrest Bhindranwale several times from 82 to 84, but failed. In April 1983, DIG AS Atwal was publicly murdered in the campus of the Golden Temple. After which, seeing the situation worsening, in October 1983, the Punjab Assembly was dissolved and President’s rule was imposed.
- In December 1983, Bhindranwale entered Akal Takht. On 27 May 1984, Shiromani Akali Dal leaders also tried to convince Bhindranwale, but when their efforts failed, the only option left was military operation.
- According to government figures, 300 to 400 people died in this entire operation, while 90 soldiers were martyred. However, according to eyewitnesses and people who observed the case closely, about 1000 people were killed and 250 soldiers were martyred.
(Left to right) Major General Kuldeep Brar, General Krishnaswami Sundarji and Chief of Army Staff General AS Vaidya in the Golden Temple complex after Operation Blue Star. Of the three key officers leading the operation, two were Sikhs – Brar, commander of the forces that entered the Golden Temple, and Lieutenant General Ranjit Singh Dayal. Both of them had made the complete plan together with General Sundarji.
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