The attack

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.


Bhindranwale in the Golden Temple
Bhindranwale had earlier taken refuge in the Golden temple in April 1980, when he was named as a suspect in the killing of Sant Nirankari Guru, Baba Gurbachan Singh[3], but only for a short time.

In 1982, Bhindranwale along with about 200 followers moved into a guest house called the Guru Nanak Niwas, in the precincts of the Golden Temple [4].From here he began to meet international television crews as the violence in Punjab grew and Hindu travellers were targeted.

On 23 April 1983, Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Golden Temple compound. On Oct 5, 1983 and Nov 18, 1983, two buses were hijacked, Sikh and Hindu passengers were separated and Hindus were shot. When Darbara Singh resigned as chief minister of Punjab after the massacre of Hindu travellers on October 6, 1983, Bhindranwal said "Hundreds of Sikhs have been killed, but the government only falls when six Hindus get killed."[5]

On December 15, 1983, Bhindranwale was forced to move out out of Guru Nanak Niwas by members of the Babbar Khalsa with Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal's support, who feared for his own safety. By 1983, the Golden Temple became a shelter for a large number of militants. Mark Tully and Satish Jacob wrote[6]:

"All ... [Bhindranwale's] terrorists were known by name to the shopkeepers and the householders who live in the narrow alleys surrounding the Golden Temple...The Punjab police must have known who they were also, but they made no attempt to arrest them. By this time Bhindranwale and his men were above the law."
The Golden Temple compund and some of the surrounding houses were fortified. The Statesman reported on July 4 that light machine-guns and sophisticated self-loading rifles were known to have brought into the compound. On February 1, 1984, Harcharan Singh Longowal claimed that Bhindranwale had suggested to him that motor cycles and arms should be purchased on a mass scale for killing members of a 'particular community'"[7].

Time magazine reported about Amritsar that [8]:

"These days it more closely resembles a city of death. Inside the temple compound, fierce Sikh warriors wield submachine guns, guarding against encroachment by government security forces. Outside, the security men keep a nervous vigil, all too aware that the bodies of murdered comrades often turn up in the warren of tiny streets around the shrine."

Overview

Indian Army taking position outside the temple complexThe operation was launched to eliminate the Sikh militants 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 MVC (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 fire.


22 hrs - 2330 hrs
Between 10:00 PM and 10:30 PM on June 5 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 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 complex[9].

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 Stephine tanks were brought into the parikarma and lined up on the eastern side, thus destroying the marble flooring of the eastern parikarma[citation needed]. 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

Bullet and shell riddled Akal Takht 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 JCOs 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 [10] [11]. 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.[12].

An unspecified number of Sikh soldiers deserted from the Indian Army, protesting against the operation. [13] 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 dead[14]. 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 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 7 October 1992.

The army was removed from the Golden Temple later in 1984 due to popular Sikh demand [15]. However the mililants continued to occupy the temple the temple compound time to time. On May 1, 1986, Indian paramilitary policemen arrested 200 militants who had occupied the Golden temple for three months[16]. On August 20, 1985 the moderate leader Harchand Singh Longowal was assassinated [17]. On November 27, 1985, a Sikh priest was wounded and his boyguard was killed. On June 4, 1986, 200 militants rampaged through the Temple killing one volunteer guard with a sword and wounding seven.[18]

On May 2, 1986 the paramilitary police undertook a 12-hour operation to take control of the Golden Temple at Amritsar from several hundred militants, but almost all the major radical leaders managed to escape[19].

In May 1988, Indian troops were called in to remove armed militants from the temple. The armed conflict during May 12-18 resulting in clearing the compound and on May 23, regular worship was resumed. On my 29, the government banned political and military use of the shrines in India. However, the militants killed the head priest on July 26, 1988. In June 1990, the government ordered the area surrounding the temple to be vacated by local resident to stop the militant activity around the temple.[20]


Choice of time to attack by Government
The day chosen by the government for army attack has baffled even the most moderate Sikhs as it was martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, the founder of Golden Temple and Sikhs from all across the Globe visit Golden Temple during this time. In 1736, about 2 and a half centuries earlier, Golden Temple was attacked by Mughal army which caused heavy casualties of civilian Sikhs [21]. Attack of Ahmad Shah Abdali on Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) also came on Baisakhi day when Sikhs gather in large numbers in Amritsar. The Sikhs view the attack by Indian Army and choice of the specific time to attack by Government as an attempt to inflict maximum casualties on Sikhs and demoralize them[22]


Criticism of the Operation
Operation Blue Star is regarded by some military observers in India and the international community as a major military embarrassment often compared with the bothched up Beslan hostage crisis. It was criticized as the most poorly conducted and managed military operation in the history of the Indian Army due to the large number of military and civilian 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.[23] The use of artillery in the congested inner city of Amritsar proved deadly for many people living in proximity of Golden Temple. Moreover a media blackout placed in Punjab during the time of the operation resulted in widespread doubt of official stories and the promotion of hearsay.[24]

However the army responds to such criticisms pointing out that the militants in the temple were 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 damaging the temple. The wearing out approach taken by Rajiv Gandhi five years later, in Operation Black Thunder when a handful of sikh extremists had again taken over the temple complex, was highly successful when the standoff was peacefully solved.