Operation Blue Star

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The Operation Blue Star (June 4 to June 6, 1984) was the Indian military operation at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab,, the holiest temple of the Sikh religion. The declared purpose of the Operation was to flush out Khalistan sepratists who were using it as a base of operations. However, facts show that the intent was more to "shock and awe" the Sikh Nation. Baptized (Ammritdhari) Sikhs all over Punjab were a military target during that dark period.

Contents 1 Beginnings 2 Stand-off 3 Role of Afghan War and Pakistan 4 The Unequal Battle 5 The Indian Army's Plan 6 Indian army attacks 7 References

Beginnings

In March 1984, by which time the temple was already long occupied by Bhindranwale, the then leader of the Sikh militants, the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian army to surround the temple. Meanwhile, Indira lulled the Sikh leaders through intensified but sham negotiations and as many as seven secret meetings starting January 24, 1984, and the last one on May 26, 1984, a few days before the start of the actual operatoins were held.

On the 3rd of June, a 36 hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab which increased the apprehensiveness of the militants inside the temple that a raid on the temple was imminent. The period coincided with the weekend of 2nd and 3rd, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, who built the Golden Temple and compiled the Sikh's Holy book. As a result of this, when the curfew was imposed the temple was filled with worshippers. This fit well with Indira's plan to inflict maximum damage on the Sikh psyche. Of the many innocent worshippers arrested on that day thousands are languishing in Indian Jails even after two decades without having had their day in court.

Stand-off

Amid fear mongerng by the Indian Government sources of declaration of independence by Bhindranwale and support from Pakistan, Indira Gandhi decided to send troops inside the temple. Bhindranwale declared he would die as a martyr and any military action within the temple would unite the Sikhs of India. Notably, earlier in a BBC interview, Bhrindranwale had stated that he did not wish to declare a separate Sikh state. Indian intelligence reports and the KGB Mitrokhin archives, however, have indicated otherwise and the matter remains highly contentious.

Role of Afghan War and Pakistan

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had the strategic objective of allowing Soviets access to the Persian Gulf with the ability to shut-off the crucial oil supplies of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates should the eventuality arise. The other long term goal was to extend Soviet sphere of influence over Iran (where there had been an Islamic Revolution in 1979) and the Middle East while shoring up its control of Eurasian SSRs.

Afghanistan has access to the Arabian Sea through the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. A breakup of Pakistan or a favourable regieme change would have given the Soviets access to Baluchi or Pakistani ports. According to the Mitrokhin archives, the KGB had extended and post-invasion intensified support to sepratists and nationalist groups in Pakistan.

Pakistan, a United States ally and CENTO (also known as the Baghdad Pact) signatory, responded by working with US security forces and the CIA to train, equip and operationally support mujahideen fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan. India, had been a non-aligned nation for much of its history, but after Pakistani genocides in Bangladesh (see Bangladesh Liberation War) and a rebuke from President of United States Richard Nixon had signed the Indo- Soviet ‘Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation’ in the days prior to the Third Indo-Pakistan War (the Eastern theatre of which is also known as the Bangladesh Liberation War) in 1971.

In the intelligence war that followed, Indian security and intelligence agencies led by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) supported and aided KGB efforts within Pakistan, while Pakistan agencies led by the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) pursued a doctrine to ferment Low Intensity Conflicts (LICs) within India. Regions with a majority population of religions or ethnic minorities were to be targeted, particularly Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the North-East. In Punjab, ISI activities focussed on the creation of a separate Sikh state, Khalistan, the "Land of the Pure" in Punjabi, in contrast to Pakistan that stands for the "Land of the Pure" in Urdu.

Bhrindwale's group received significant support in terms of equipment, arms training and diplomacy from Pakistan. An outcome of this support was the grant of asylum to 'tainted' Sikhs in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Since then, however, a number of Khalistan militants have been extradited to India or are fighting extradition in Western courts. It is important to note, that the Indian authorities, and the many Sikhs that were part of Indian intelligence and security forces in battling the Punjab insurgency, were motivated from a secular security standpoint overshadowed by the Cold War.

The Unequal Battle

The most sophisticated weapons the Sikh fighters had were Light Machine Guns and one anti-tank gun. Other arms they possessed were sten-guns, carbines of .30 calibre, self-loaded Rifles, 303 Rifles, revolvers and pistols of various calibres besides some hand grenades.

The Indian Army, on the other hand, came equipped with all kinds of heavy and sophisticated weapons which included Main Battle Tanks "Vijayanta", howitzer, heavy guns and canons using twenty-pounder shells, mortors, machine guns, light machine guns and other pieces of artillery. Besides, the army had stun-gas bombs, incendiary bombs, highly explosive hand grenades, Armed Personal Carriers, Armoured Carriers. Russian-made helicopters were also used.

Numerical strength of the Sikh militants was also insignificant in comparison to the Indian Army. The Sikh fighters were 200 in number while the Army's strength was at least 7000.

The Indian Army's Plan

The operation was to be launched in the following phases:

I - Initial operations::

1. BSF to secure Hotel Temple View by 9 pm, June 5th.
2. CRPF to secure Brahm Boota Akhara by 10 pm, June 5th.

II - Phase 1

1. 10 Guards to secure Northern Wing of the Temple Complex by 1 am, June 6th.
2. 1 Para-Commandos

1. Secure a foothold in the Akhal Takht at the earliest and not later than 1 am, June 6th.
2. Secure a foothold in Harmandir Sahib with divers and neutralise demolitions, if any, by 11:30 pm, June 5th.

1. Special Frontier Force (SFF) to isolate Akhal Takht and secure western flank by 1 am, June 5th.
2. 26 Madras to secure southern and eastern wings by 1 am, June 5th.
3. 9 Kumaon to secure Guru Ram Das Serai and SGPC building by 1 am, June 5th.

III - Phase 2 Mopping up all areas secured in Phase 1

IV - Phase 3

1. 9 Kumaon - extend operations to secure the rest of hostel complex.
2. Units of 10 Guards, SFF and 1 Para Cdo to secure rest of Temple Complex and check prisoners.

Others: 12 Bihar was to continue to cordon of the Temple with CRPF units under its command and provide fire support to any target within its span of observation.

Mechanised units

Armour: 16 cavalry

1. Three tanks to enter through the main temple entrance, initially for close protection for 10th Guards but thereafter for support to infantry, paras and SFF with machine gun fire.
2. Three tanks to enter the langar area and provide machine gun fire for the 26 Madras.

Mechanised infantry: 8 Mech Btn

1. 4 BMP to carry para-commando/divers.
2. 4 BMPs and 3 Skot APCs to support the 26 Madras and Paras.

Reserves : 15 Kumaon - 2 companies as backup for 9th Kumaon and 2 companies for any contingency tasks.

Central Rendezvous and Logistics Control - City Kotwali.

Divisional Tactical HQ - Roof Top outside Temple complex.

H-Hour for operation launch 10 pm, June 5th

A senior civil administration member and a senior army officer through a public address system asked militants and devotees to come outside. From 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm the attempts continued. The militants however refused to surrender. Of the large group of civilians who did march out several were shot by the army on suspicion.

Indian army attacks

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 Harmindar Sahib [the sanctum sanctorum where the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept during the day] received some damage as well.

Despite the government's claims that only extremists were killed other reports show that many visitors were killed in the cross-fire. India today (30/9/84) reported the case of Zaida Khartton, a Bangladeshi women who stopped to get food for her five children at the Golden Temple and ended up in jail. Water, electricity and telephone links to the Golden Temple were cut off.

On 18/6/84 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."

It was a military operation using indiscriminate force against a non-military target and as such was in breach of Article 51 of the 1977 Protocol to the Geneva Convention.In the Punjab as a whole, about 150,000 to 200,000 Indian soldiers were used in this fight.

Many Sikhs believe that the number of Bhindranwale's men has been greatly exaggerated by the government. Some estimates by survivors of the attack put the number of Bhindranwale's men at around 100 men. Other estimates put Bhindranwale's men at 500 and other armed groups at 150.

The operation was poorly executed and the army brought in tanks in the temple to flush the militant Sikh separatists. The success in emptying the temple was marred by the damage to the temple building and killing of civilian worshipers caught in the fire. There were apparently more than 3,000 people in the temple when Operation Blue Star began, among them 950 pilgrims, 380 priests and other temple employees and their families, 1,700 Akali Dal supporters, 500 followers of Bhindranwale and 150 members of other armed groups. Official figures put the number of people killed at around 1000, however unofficial sources estimate that the number of civilian casualties alone were much higher.

Dr. J. M. Pettigrew, a Scottish anthropologist, who spent much time in Punjab doing independent research on the Punjab problem, writes in "The Sikhs of the Punjab": "The initial crime (Operation Bluestar) was calibrated and indeed had been planned for a year beforehand. The Darbar Sahib complex, a place of a great beauty, the spiritual and political centre of the Sikh way of life and of the Sikhs, as a whole, their historic home through years of invasion from the West, had its sanctity shattered. The army went into Darbar Sahib not to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to suppress the culture of a people, to attack their heart, to strike a blow at their spirit and self-confidence".

Operation Blue Star led to India's bitter relations with Sikhs all over the world. It was considered by most 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 to put a stop to her continued plans against Sikhs. The events that followed were more horrific. Anti-Sikh riots broke out in North India killing as many as 3,000 Sikhs, militancy in Punjab lasted for more than a decade until the government ruthlessly wiped out whole familes to subdue it.

Later on numerous Kar Sevaks volunteered to rebuild the Harmandir Sahib.

Operation Bluestar was followed by Operation Woodrose, in which the Indian government expanded their operations in Punjab and arrested and killed many thousands of innocent Sikh youths, which served only to further anger Sikhs worldwide pro-long increasing militantancy.

Students from the Gurdaspur Zaffarwal College had this to say in an independent investigation by the ‘Citizens for Democracy, India’s foremost Civil Rights Organisation in an article ‘Oppression in Punjab, 1982-1984’ that:

“Police are terrorising the people. All those who are supposed to protect us, like the Border Security Force, Punjab Police, Central Reserve Police Force, military and Central Government forces are the real terrorists and extremists, because terrorists are those who have crossed all limits of law and humanity. Now the government and its agencies have crossed all those limits. It is not Pakistan which is training terrorists, it is these agencies of the government who are doing all that.”

References

• Rediff: Operation Blustar 20 years on
• Sikhs in Punjab
• BBC Reports and timeline
• Indian Army Viewpoint
• OnWar Repository of Conflicts
• The New York Times on Operation Blue Star