Operation Blue Star: The story of Indira Gandhi's assassination and the hanging of both the assassins
Former Prime Minister of the country Indira Gandhi is known for many big decisions. One of these decisions was Operation Blue Star, which became the cause of her death. Due to this, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards on 31 October 1984. Thousands of lives were lost in the anti-Sikh riots that started from this.
On 6 January 1989, the Prime Minister's murder convicts, bodyguards Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, were hanged. On the anniversary of this incident, let us know the whole story of Operation Blue Star.
When Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale became a problem
The foundation of the story of Operation Blue Star was laid in the year 1977, when Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was made the Jathedar of Damdami Taksal, a major branch of religious preaching of the Sikhs. After this, Jarnail Singh became a big face in the then politics of Punjab. He was made a pawn in Punjab politics but the same pawn became a problem. Senior journalist Kuldeep Nayyar has written a book, Beyond the Line: An Autobiography. In this, he has written that those who made Bhindranwale their pawn had no idea that he would adopt the path of terrorism.
He took his support to win the election
In fact, along with the general election of 1977, Congress had to face a huge defeat in Punjab as well. Akali Dal formed the government in Punjab under the leadership of Prakash Singh Badal. To overcome this, Congress took the support of Bhindranwale and in the election of 1980, Indira Gandhi not only got a huge victory across the country, but Congress also won the Punjab assembly elections. When Darbara Singh was made the Chief Minister of Punjab, the Akali Dal started raising its old issue and started demanding the sharing of Chandigarh and river water. In such a situation, the politics of Punjab got stuck in religion and language. During this period, the census started, in which people were also asked about their language and religion. On the other hand, the Hindi campaign also started, due to which the hardline Sikhs got angry. Bhindranwale was also among these angry people.
A murder and Bhindranwale's arrest
It was on 9 September 1981, when armed men shot dead Lala Jagat Narayan, editor of Punjab Kesari newspaper. Bhindranwale was accused of this. Bhindranwale was arrested on 15 September from Gurudwara Gurudarshan Prakash in Amritsar. However, he was granted bail due to lack of evidence against him. Meanwhile, the demand for recognition of Punjab as a separate country gained momentum. On the other hand, angry with his arrest, Bhindranwale started protesting against the Asian Games to be held in Delhi in November-December 1982. He had announced a formal protest, on which about 1500 people were arrested for security reasons.
They did not have the courage to lift the body of DIG
This incident further increased the anger of the Sikhs. Bhindranwale took advantage of this. His growing influence isolated the Akalis in Punjab. AS Atwal, the then DIG of Punjab, was murdered on the stairs of the Golden Temple. His body lay on the stairs for hours, and no one dared to lift it. Chief Minister Darbara Singh himself had to appeal to Bhindranwale to remove the body. After this incident, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked the then Home Minister Giani Zail Singh for advice on sending police inside the Golden Temple, but he refused. This further emboldened Bhindranwale.
Captured the Akal Takht
Punjab was now burning badly in the fire of violence. On 5 October 1983, Sikh fundamentalists stopped a bus going from Kapurthala to Jalandhar and killed the Hindu passengers in it. The next day, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dismissed Darbara Singh's government and imposed President's rule in Punjab. The situation did not change even then and violence continued in Punjab. As no strict action was taken to stop Bhindranwale, he became autocratic and on 15 December 1983, along with his armed companions, he captured the Akal Takht Sahib in the Golden Temple. There was opposition to this, but Bhindranwale did not care at all. Bhindranwale wanted all Hindus to leave Punjab.
Punjab was handed over to the army
As Bhindranwale's audacity increased, finally on 1 June 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handed over Punjab to the army. This operation was named Operation Blue Star. Major General Kuldeep Singh Brar was given the responsibility of leading it. Under his supervision, the army's ninth division moved towards the Golden Temple and on 3 June, journalists were sent out of Amritsar. The Pakistan border was sealed. People were asked to come out of the Golden Temple complex. However, despite repeated appeals, only 129 people could come out by 7 pm on 5 June. These people told that Bhindranwale's companions are stopping people from coming out.
The operation lasted from 5th to 7th June 1984
The real action of the army started at 7 pm on the evening of 5th June 1984. At 10:30 pm, 20 army commandos silently entered the Golden Temple. They entered. Equipped with night vision goggles, M-1 steel helmets and bulletproof jackets, those commandos also had MP-5 submachine guns and AK-47 rifles. After this, firing continued between the army and Bhindranwale throughout the night. On the morning of June 6, it was decided that tanks would have to be used to remove the terrorists from the Golden Temple and that was done. On June 6, firing continued from morning to evening. Late at night, the army found the body of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. With the morning of June 7, Operation Blue Star ended.
Indira Gandhi was stunned
A total of 83 soldiers had to make the supreme sacrifice in this operation, including three army officers. 248 other soldiers were injured. The total number of terrorists and other dead was 492. It is said that when the then Minister of State for Defense KP Singhdev informed Indira Gandhi about the success of Operation Blue Star, she exclaimed, Oh God, what has happened? These people had told me that there would not be so many deaths.
Experts say that giving the green signal to Operation Blue Star was not easy even for Prime Minister Indira. After much deliberation, Indira Gandhi gave this order to the army on the assurance of minimum loss of life and property. Senior journalists Mark Tully and Satish Jacob have written a book, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle. In this, both write that she (Indira Gandhi) decided to take action when she was badly surrounded and the army was the last resort.
Sikh bodyguards fired bullets at the Prime Minister
Angry with this, the Sikh bodyguards of the Prime Minister shot and killed him on 31 October 1984. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, who had shot the Prime Minister, were also fired upon in retaliation. Beant Singh was killed in this. Satwant Singh was saved after treatment. After this, in the investigation, the names of Beant Singh's relative Kehar Singh and another Balbir Singh also came to the fore in plotting the murder of the Prime Minister. On January 6, 1989, Kehar Singh and Satwant Singh were hanged.