Operation Blue Star

Operation Blue Star - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Blue Star ( ????? ???? , ?????? ????? (bily? s??r)) (June 3 to June 6, ... Bullet and shell riddled Akal Takht building after Operation Blue Star ...
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1984 Attack on Golden Temple
Operation Blue Star - Background. On 13th April 1977, head of Naqli Nirankaris ... the Sikh general who was most outspoken critic of the Operation Blue Star. ...
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Operation Bluestar
Operation Bluestar: ... At 7:00 p.m. Operation Blue Star, the invasion of The Golden ... were killed in the army operation at the same time which ...
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Operation Blue Star
Read ... Operation Blue Star. The first task was the destruction of ... Operation Blue Star-Background. Read next pagesOperation Blue Star - Aftermath ...
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Operation Blue Star - SikhiWiki, free Sikh encyclopedia.
Operation Blue Star was the codename for the attack on the Akal Takhat and the ... Operation Blue Star Hans Kalan Encounter Bolowali Encounter? Manochal Encounter ...
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Operation Blue Star (June 3 to June 6, 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhihttp://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/03spec.htm Operation BlueStar, 20 Years On to flush out Militants from Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab (India), the holiest shrine of the Sikhs.

The operation On June 3, a 36 hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab. The period commemorated the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, a major religious holiday in Sikh calendar, which draws larger than usual crowds annually.

Overview

The operation was launched with a view of eliminating the Sikh extremists who had taken control of the Amritsar Golden Temple Complex. The Sikh militants within the Harminder Sahib were led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and former Major-General Shabeg Singh (who had resigned from the Indian Army in 1976).

The operation was undertaken under the cover of night. Due to the immense firepower and sophisticated weaponry of the Indian Army, the operation was expected to be a swift one.

20 hrs - 22 hrs The first task was the destruction of Shabeg Singh's outer defenses. Much of this had been completed in the preliminary firing. Major-General Brar had hoped to frighten Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale into surrendering, which did not happen. These defenses included the seventeen houses which the police believed Bhindranwale's followers occupied in the alleys surrounding the Golden Temple. They were all in wireless contact with Shahbeg Singh's command post in the Akal Takht. 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 rose well above the surrounding buildings, the towers were excellent observation posts for tracking the movement of Indian troops in the narrow alleys surrounding the Temple. The tops of these towers were blasted off in the preliminary Artillery.

22 hrs - 2330 hrs Between 10:00 and 10:30 PM on June 5 Para Commandos (India) from Parachute Regiment (India), 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 around 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 waiting with his two supporting officers to hear that the commandos had established positions inside the complexhttp://www.sikh.com.au/blue/ Indian Army Viewpoint.

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 neutralize the machine-gun posts on both sides 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. They 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, but then started to get messages from the commander of Guards reporting heavy casualties.

2330 hrs - 01 hrs Brar again requested tanks after an APC that had been sent in was destroyed by a rocket fired by a Sikh militant. This time his request was granted. According to eyewitness accounts, as many as 20 Tanks were brought into the parikarma and lined up on the eastern side. Marble flooring of eastern parikarma was destroyed. A total of 90 shells were fired and the separatists were brought down by the Indian army. Later the Holy Temple was found to have more than 300 bullet holes.

Aftermath building after Operation Blue StarAs per the affidavit filed by retired Brigadier D.V. Rao in court of Harjit Singh Khalsa, judicial magistrate first class, Amritsar, on March 19, 2007, the Indian Army suffered 83 deaths, which included four officers, four Junior Commissioned Officers and 75 other ranks. As per the affidavit, 13 Indian Army officers, 16 Junior Commissioned Officers and 220 other ranks were injured in the operation. Indian army recorded 492 civilian deaths inside Golden Temple while 433 persons were segregated as separatists amongst 1592 persons apprehended http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070320/punjab1.htm http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070914/punjab1.htm#7. During June of 1984, brigadier D.V. Rao served as Commander of 350 Infantry Brigade based in Jalandhar, which formed part of Ninth Infantry Division of Indian Army. The unofficial casualty figures recorded by eye-witness accounts was much higher.

The operation led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. On October 31 of that year, two of her armed Sikh security officers shot her deadhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/31/newsid_2464000/2464423.stm. 1984 Anti-Sikh riots allegedly organized by the Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and H.K.L. Bhagat, amongst others, were triggered by Mrs Gandhi's assassination. The widespread killing of Sikhs, principally in national capital Delhi and other major cities in North India, led to major divide between Sikhs and Indian Government, which continued for a long time.

General A S Vaidya, the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army at the time of Operation Blue Star, was also assassinated in 1986 in Pune by Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda. Both were sentenced to death, and hanged on 7th October, 1992.

References

External sources

Operation Blue Star
Rediff: Operation Bluestar 20 years on
BBC Reports and timeline
BBC Flashback