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Chand Joshi writes "Army units acted in total anger and unwittingly shot down all the suspects rounded up from Golden Temple complex".<ref>Chand Joshi, Bhindrawale: Myth and Reality, page 160</ref>
Chand Joshi writes "Army units acted in total anger and unwittingly shot down all the suspects rounded up from Golden Temple complex".<ref>Chand Joshi, Bhindrawale: Myth and Reality, page 160</ref>

BBC's Mark Tully (and Satish Jacob), Amritsar; Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, wrote "Any army which wants to destroy a nation destroys its culture. That is why Indian army burnt the Sikh [Reference] Library."

In The Sikhs of Punjab, Dr. Joyce Pettigrew writes: The initial crime (Operation Blue Star) was caliberated and indeed had been planned for a year beforehand. The Darbar Sahib complex, a place of 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.


==="Last resort"===
==="Last resort"===

Revision as of 05:29, 20 March 2013

Operation Blue Star

The aftermath of Operation Blue Star on the Akal Takht
Date3–8 June 1984
Location
Golden Temple in Amritsar, India
Result Sikh fighters Killed in military assault on temple complex Akal Takht severely damaged, high civilian casualties
Belligerents
Indian Army
Central Reserve Police Force
Border Security Force
Punjab Police		 Khalsa
Commanders and leaders
Major General Kuldip Singh Brar
Lt Gen Ranjit Singh Dyal[1]
Lt Gen Krishnaswamy Sundarji		 Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
Shabeg Singh
Strength
10,000 armed troops. of 9th Battalion, Parachute Regiment and Artillery units
700 jawans of CRPF 4th Battallion and BSF 7th Battallion
150 Jawans of Punjab Armed Police and officers from Harmandir Police Station.[citation needed]		 175 – 200[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
83 dead (4 officers, 16 Junior Commissioned Officers and 75 other ranks) and eyewitnesses).[2][3][4]

Operation Blue Star (Punjabi: ਬਲੂ ਸਟਾਰ, Hindi: ब्ल्यू स्टार (blyū sṭār)) 3–8 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India,[5] to eliminate Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was accused of amassing weapons in the Sikh temple and starting a major armed uprising.[6] These reasons are contested by most Sikh scholars who claim that Akal Takhat is a temporal seat and keeping weapons in Gurdwaras is well within the precincts of Sikhism. Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer says that Indira Gandhi attacked Darbar Sahib to present herself as a great hero in order to win forthcoming elections.[7]

The operation had two components: Operation Metal, confined to Golden Temple complex, and Operation Shop, which raided the countryside all over the Punjab to capture any suspects.[8] Following it, a complementary operation was launched code-named: Operation Woodrose for thoroughly scanning the Punjab countryside to round up any suspects.

The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks, artillery, helicopters and armoured vehicles.[9] Actual casualty figures given by Kuldip Singh Brar put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83 and injuries at 220.[10] According to the official estimate, 492 civilians were killed.[11][12] The military action led to an uproar amongst Sikhs worldwide and the increased tension following the action led to assaults on members of the Sikh community within India. Many Sikh soldiers in the Indian army mutinied, many Sikhs resigned from armed and civil administrative office and a few returned awards and honours they had received from the Indian government.[13] Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in what is viewed as an act of vengeance. Following her assassination, more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh riots.[14] Within the Sikh community itself, Operation Blue Star has taken on considerable historical significance and is often compared to what Sikhs call 'the great massacre' by the Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Sikh holocaust of 1762.[15]

Sikh billboard, Michigan, USA

The Operation

The Indian Army used seven Vijayanta Tanks during the operation[16]

Indira Gandhi first asked Lt. Gen. S. K. Sinha, then Vice-Chief of Indian Army and who was to succeed as the Army chief, to prepare a position paper for assault on the Golden Temple.[17] Lt. Gen. Sinha advised against any such move, given its sacrilegious nature according to Sikh tradition. He suggested the government adopt an alternative solution. A controversial decision was made to replace him with General Arun Shridhar Vaidya as the Chief of the Indian army. General Vaidya, assisted by Lt. Gen. K Sundarji as Vice-Chief, planned and coordinated Operation Blue Star.[17]

On 3 June, a 36-hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab with all methods of communication and public travel suspended.[18] Electricity supplies were also interrupted, creating a total blackout and cutting off the state from the rest of India and the world.[19] Complete censorship was enforced on the news media.[19]

The Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple on the night of 5 June under the command of Kuldip Singh Brar. The forces had full control of the Golden Temple by the morning of 7 June. There were casualties among the army, civilians, and militants. Sikh leaders Bhindranwale and Shabeg Singh were killed in the operation.[20]

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the Golden Temple

Sri Harmandir Sahib at night

Throughout his career Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale remained in contact with Indira Gandhi.[21][22] Bhindranwale had earlier taken residence in the Golden temple and made it his headquarters in April 1980, when he was accused of the assassination of Nirankari Gurbachan Singh.[23] The Nirankari Baba, also known as Baba Gurbachan, had been the target of an attack by followers of Jarnail, outside the Golden Temple. On 13 April 1978, Nirankari's Baba Gurbachan is alleged to have ridiculed 10th Guru Gobind Singh in a Nirankari Convention held in Amritsar. This prompted Akhand Kirtani Jatha to lead a protest against the offensive actions by Baba Gurbachan. Police responded to the Sikhs' protest by opening fire on them. Amritsar police used guns to fire at the protesters. In the ensuing violence, several people were killed: two of Bhindranwale's followers, eleven members of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha (total 13 Sikhs) and three Nirankaris.[24]

In 1982, Bhindranwale and approximately 200 armed followers moved into a guest-house called the Guru Nanak Niwas, in the precinct of the Golden Temple.[25] From here he met and was interviewed by international television crews.[25]

On 23 April 1983, the Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Golden Temple compound. The following day, after the murder, Harchand Singh Longowal (then president of Shiromani Akali Dal) hinted at the involvement of Bhindranwale in the murder.[26]

On 15 December 1983, Bhindranwale was forced to move out of Guru Nanak Niwas house by members of the Babbar Khalsa who acted with Harcharan Singh Longowal's support Longowal by now feared for his own safety. By 1983, the Golden Temple became a fort for a large number of militants.[27]

The Golden Temple compound and some of the surrounding houses were fortified. The Statesman reported on 4 July that light machine-guns and semi-automatic rifles were known to have been brought into the compound.[28] Faced with imminent army action and with the foremost Sikh political organisation, Shiromani Akali Dal (headed by Harchand Singh Longowal), abandoning him, Bhindranwale declared "This bird is alone. There are many hunters after it".[29]

Time magazine reported (about Amritsar) that:[30]

These days it more closely resembles a city of death. Inside the temple compound, violent Sikh fanatics wield submachine guns, resisting arrest 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

Operation Blue Star was launched to eliminate Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers who had sought cover in the Amritsar Golden Temple Complex. The armed Sikhs within the Harminder Sahib were led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and former Maj. Gen.Shabeg Singh. lt. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar had command of the action, operating under Gen. Sunderji.

1 June 1984

At 12h40 the CRPF starts firing at "Guru Ram Das Langar" building. The Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police Force, under orders of the Army started firing upon the Complex, in which at least 8 people died.[31]

2 June 1984

The Indian army had already sealed the international border from Kashmir to Ganga Nagar, Rajasthan. At least seven divisions of army are deployed in villages of Punjab. By the nightfall media and the press were gagged; the rail, road and air services in Punjab were suspended. Foreigners' and NRIs' entry was also banned . General Gauri Shankar was appointed as the Security Advisor to the Governor of Punjab. The water and electricity supply was cut off.[citation needed]

3 June 1984

A complete curfew is observed with the army and para-military patrolling the whole Punjab. The army seals off all routes of ingress and exit around the temple complex. There is an incessant exchange of fire during the night between 3 and 4 June. Neither side is victor or vanquished but the army was beaten back.[citation needed]

4 June 1984

The army started bombarding the historic Ramgarhia Bungas, the water tank, and other fortified positions. The army used Ordnance QF 25 pounder and achieved the objective of destroying outer defences laid by General Shabeg Singh. The army then placed tanks and APCs on the road separating the Guru Nanak niwas building, thus forming a wall of iron. About 100 died In pitched battles from both sides.[32]

Nearly fifty thousand Sikhs gathered in the Golewal village about 25 km from Amritsar to fight the army, thirty thousand converged from the side of Batala in Gurdaspur district and about twenty thousand Sikhs gathered at Chauk Mehta, the headquarters of Damdami Taksal. Another formation of about twenty thousand were marching from the side of Harik Patan at confluence of the rivers Sutlej and Beas.[citation needed]

The army helicopters spotted the massive movements. General K. Sunderji sent tanks and APCs. Hundreds/thousands of Sikhs were killed at the rendezvous.[33]

The artillery and small arms firing stopped for a while, and Gurcharan Singh Tohra, former head of SGPC was sent to negotiate with Bindrawale; however, he was unsuccessful and returns. The firing resumes.

5 June 1984

In the morning, shelling started on the building inside the Golden Temple complex.[34]

The 9th division launched a frontal attack; however, it was unable to secure the Akal Takhat.

1900 hrs

The Army simultaneously attacked various other Gurdwaras. The White paper mentions 42, but some accounts mention 74.[32]

2200–0400 hrs

Late in the evening, the generals decided to launch a simultaneous attack from three sides. Commandos from the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment would attack from the main entrance of the complex, the 10th Battalion of the Guards from the northern entrance, and Madras and Garhwal battalions from the hostel complex side entrance.

As the commandos entered the temple they were gunned down by light machine-gun fire from both sides of the steps/staircase. 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, forcing them to fall back, and thus they ultimately failed to reach the pavement around the Sacred Pool.

A second collective attempt by the Guards and the Commandos managed to reach the pavement around the Pool; however they came under heavy fire from all sides. Crawling was impossible as Shabeg Singh had placed light machine guns nine or ten inches above the ground. This attempt caused many casualties among the Indian troops.

A third attempt to gain the Pool was made by a squad of 200 troops from both the Commandos and the Guards. On the southern side, the Madras and Garhwal battalions were not able to make it to the pavement around the pool because they were engaged by positions on the southern side.

India Today reported that Madrasis, being 5 hours late, straight away started firing at Brig. Diwan's Garhwalis. Fifty soldiers were killed before things could be sorted out.[35][36]

Despite the mounting casualties, General Sunderji ordered a fourth assault by the Commandos. This time the Madras battalion was reinforced with two more companies of the 7th Garhwal Rifles under the command of General K S Brar. However, the Madras and Garhwal troops under Brigadier A K Diwan once again failed to report any successful movement towards the parikarma (pavement around the pool).

Brigadier Diwan reported heavy casualties and requested more reinforcements. General Brar sent two companies of 15 Kumaon Regiment. This resulted in yet more heavy casualties, forcing Brigadier Diwan to request tank support. Brar also requested tank support after an APC was destroyed by a rocket fired by a Sikh militant. His request was granted and seven tanks rolled into the Golden Temple complex.

By 05h00 June 6, due to the 105mm shelling by Vijayanta the Akal Takhat was destroyed. However, the primary objective of removing militants from other neighbouring structures continued for a further 24 hours.

1100 hrs

A group trying to escape from Akal Takht was mowed down by machine gun fire.[citation needed]

The resistance continues from the neighbouring structures of the Akal Takhat.[citation needed]

7 June 1984

Army gains complete control of the Golden Temple complex.[citation needed]

8–10 June 1984

The Army fights about four militant Sikhs holed up in basement of a tower. A Colonel of Commandos is shot dead by LMG burst while trying to force his way into the basement. By afternoon 10 June, the entire operation is completed by the army.[citation needed]

Casualties

The Army placed total casualties at:[10]

  • Military: 83 (4 officers, 16 Junior Commissioned Officers and 63 other ranks) and 220 wounded.
  • Civilians: 492 dead
  • Militants: 433 out of the 1592 people apprehended were segregated as militants

Some of the estimates include:[37]

Authors/Officials Casualties
Indian Government white paper category civilian/terrorist 493
AP, Reuters and New York Times (11 June 1984) 1,000
Author Mark Tully's (Amritsar, Mrs. Gandhi's last battle) 2,093
Amritsar crematorium worker 3,300
Author Chand Joshi (Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality) 5,000
Eyewitnesses 8,000
Author A R Darshi (The Gallant Defender) 5,000 (most conservative)

Combatants killed

Source Casualties
Government White Paper 200, 35 bodies in Akal Takht 200
A.I.S.S.F. Member – 100 fighters 5 June 100
S.S. Bhagowalia, V.P. Association for Democratic Rights 140–150

Indian Government White Paper

Government source casualties
Own troops killed 83
Own troops wounded 249
Innocent killed 493
injured 86
Civilians/Sikh's apprehended 1,592

According to some journalists, several Sikh youths were also killed in crossfire from militants.[38]

Unofficial casualty figures were much higher.[39]

Mark Tully and Satish Jacob mention of use of tanks by the army at Sultanwind area over the civilian Sikhs marching towards Amritsar.[40]

According to the independent sources number of military personnel dead amount to more than at least 700.[41] In one of his speeches Rajiv Gandhi, the former prime minister of India, admitted to have lost more than 700 soldiers in this operation.[42] CNN-IBN on the 25 death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, i.e. 31 Oct 2009, reported to have lost 365 commandos.[43] Apart from this, an unspecified number of soldiers have been reported dead during the fighting at 38 other Gurdwaras in Punjab where an extreme resistance was reported at Muktsar and Moga.[44] On top of this, more number of Indian army personnel would have perished during mutinies by Sikh soldiers at different military locations across India.[44]

In one of the most cited instances, the Sikh soldiers-recruits at Sikh regimental center Ramgarh killed their Commanding Officer and after looting the arsenal started a long journey towards Punjab. And they could be restrained only after a massive resistance.[44]

Aftermath

Main articles: Assassination of Indira Gandhi and 1984 anti-Sikh riots

At least 4000[45] Sikh soldiers mutinied at different locations in India in protest, with some reports of large-scale pitched battles being fought to bring mutineers under control.[46]

The operation also led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards,[47] triggering the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The widespread killing of Sikhs, principally in the national capital Delhi but also in other major cities in North India, led to major divisions between the Sikh community and the Indian Government. The army withdrew from the Golden Temple later in 1984 under pressure from Sikh demands.[48]

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

Sikh militants continued to use and occupy the temple compound and on 1 May 1986, Indian paramilitary police entered the temple and arrested 200 militants that had occupied the Golden Temple for more than three months.[49] On 2 May 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.[50] In June 1990, the Indian government ordered the area surrounding the temple to be vacated by local residents in order to prevent militant activity around the temple.[51] Dr. Sangat Singh, member of Joint Intelligence Committee India, in his book, "The Sikhs in History", mentions that almost half of these fake Sikhs were actually RAW agents.[52]

Criticisms

The use of artillery in the congested inner city of Amritsar proved deadly to many civilian bystanders living near the Golden Temple. The media blackout throughout the Punjab resulted in widespread doubt regarding the official stories and aided the promotion of hearsay and rumour.[53] The operation is criticised on four main grounds, the choice of time of attack by Government, heavy casualty, loss of property, and allegation of human rights violations by Army personnel.

G.K.C Reddy writes "Thus the Operation Bluestar will go down in the history as one of the biggest massacres of unarmed civilians by the organised military force of a nation." [54]

Chand Joshi writes "Army units acted in total anger and unwittingly shot down all the suspects rounded up from Golden Temple complex".[55]

BBC's Mark Tully (and Satish Jacob), Amritsar; Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, wrote "Any army which wants to destroy a nation destroys its culture. That is why Indian army burnt the Sikh [Reference] Library."

In The Sikhs of Punjab, Dr. Joyce Pettigrew writes: The initial crime (Operation Blue Star) was caliberated and indeed had been planned for a year beforehand. The Darbar Sahib complex, a place of 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.

"Last resort"

The attack on Golden Temple was in plans before the armed Sikh militants fortified it.[56] Then GOC of the Indian Army, S. K. Sinha, who was sacked at the last moment had criticised the Government's claim that the attack represented a "last resort". The General [57] has alleged that the army had been rehearsing the operation in a replica of the Golden Temple at a secret location near Chakrata Cantonment in the Doon Valley.[58]

Timing

The timing of Operation Blue Star coincided with a Sikh religious day, the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, the founder of the Golden Temple. Sikhs from all over the world visit the temple on this day. Many Sikhs view the timing and attack by the Indian Army as an attempt to inflict maximum casualties on Sikhs and demoralise them,[59] and the government is in turn blamed for the inflated number of civilian dead for choosing to attack on this day.

The Sikh community's anger and suffering was further increased by comments from leading newspaper editors, such as Ramnath Goenka, terming the operation as "A greater victory than the win over Bangladesh, this is the greatest victory of Mrs. Gandhi".[60]

Media Blackout

Brahma Chellaney was the only reporter for a foreign news service in Amritsar during the media blackout.

Before the attack by army a media blackout was imposed in Punjab.[61] The Times reporter Michael Hamlyn reported that journalists were picked up from their hotels at 5 am in a military bus, taken to the adjoining border of the state of Haryana and "were abandoned there".[61] The main towns in Punjab were put under curfew, transportation was banned, news blackout was imposed and Punjab was "cut off from the outside world".[62] A group of journalists who later tried to drive into Punjab were stopped at the road block at Punjab border and were threatened to be shot if they proceeded.[61] The Indian nationals who worked with the foreign media were also banned.[61] The press criticized these actions by Government as an "obvious attempt to attack the temple without the eyes of foreign press on them".[63] Associated Press reporter Brahma Chellaney, who managed to report on the operation, later faced police intimidation.[64][65]

Honouring invading soldiers

To quote Dr Dilgeer, "During the attack on Darbar Sahib, the Indian Army had behaved as brutal enemies; no warnings, no attempts to save innocent pilgrims, indiscriminate killings, inhuman treatment with the dead, no handing over the dead to their relatives, keeping no records of the dead, burning of bodies without identification, cremating the dead bodies by pouring kerosene oil and petrol on them, perpetrating atrocities on the arrested Sikhs by keeping them in small cells without water and thus killing several of them, killing those prisoners who begged for water (this being the hottest month of the year), detaining babies and children (for months) were among the great ‘achievements’ of the Indian Army. What the Indian Army did had no parallels in the world history; most ferocious invaders had not behaved in such savage manner; still the Indian Government presented these inhuman soldiers and generals with gallantry awards, honours, decoration strips, promotions etc. for their ‘heroic acts’; this special ‘Award Ceremony’ was performed on the 10th of July 1985. It is amazing to note that the Indian Government had not honoured the brave soldiers who had performed acts of chivalry during the battles of 1962, 1965 and 1971; honouring of those who had perpetrated atrocities on its own people and had crossed all the limits of inhuman acts was shocking and shameful; however it exposed the Sikh-hatred of the Indian regime; further shocking is that these ‘Awards’ were given by Sikh looking President; so devoid of self-respect he was!" [66]

Human rights

Brahma Chellaney, who was then the South Asia correspondent of the Associated Press, was the only foreign reporter who managed to stay on in Amritsar despite the media blackout.[4] His dispatches, filed by telex, provided the first non-governmental news reports on the bloody operation in Amritsar. His first dispatch, front-paged by the New York Times, The Times of London and The Guardian, reported a death toll about twice of what authorities had admitted. According to the dispatch, about 780 militants and civilians and 400 troops had perished in fierce gunbattles. The high casualty rates among security forces were attributed to "the presence of such sophisticated weapons as medium machine guns and rockets" in the militants arsenal.[67] Mr. Chellaney also reported that “several” suspected Sikh militants had been shot with their hands tied.[68] The dispatch, after its first paragraph reference to “several” such deaths, specified later that “eight to 10” men had been shot in that fashion.[69] In that dispatch, Mr. Chellaney interviewed a doctor who said he was picked up by the army and forced to conduct postmortems despite the fact he had never done any postmortem examination before.[68] The number of casualties reported by Mr. Chellaney were far more than government reports,[70] and the Indian government, which disputed his casualty figures[71] accused him of inflammatory reporting.[72] The Associated Press stood by the reports and figures, the accuracy of which was also "supported by Indian and other press accounts" according to Associated Press; and reports in The Times and The New York Times.[73]

CKC Reddy, an Indian journalist Please provide organisation and credibility of this journalist writes that the

Whole of Punjab and especially the Golden Temple Complex was turned into a murderous mouse trap from where people could neither escape nor could they seek succor of any kind. The way the dead bodies were disposed off adds to the suspicions regarding the number and nature of the casualties. The bodies of the victims of military operation in Punjab were unceremoniously destroyed without any attempt to identify them and hand them over to their relatives. The government, after the operation, on the other hand, did every thing in its power to cover up the excesses of the army action. The most disturbing thing about the entire operation was that a whole mass of men, women, and children were ordered to be killed merely on the suspicion that some terrorists were operating from the Golden Temple and other Gurudwaras.[74]

Similar accusations of high handedness by the Indian Army and allegations of human rights violations by security forces in Operation Blue Star and subsequent military operations in Punjab have been levelled by Justice V. M. Tarkunde,[75] Mary Anne Weaver,[76] human rights lawyer Ram Narayan Kumar,[77] and anthropologists Cynthia Mahmood and Joyce Pettigrew.[78][79][80]

The Indian Army responded to this criticism by stating that they "answered the call of duty as disciplined, loyal and dedicated members of the Armed Forces of India...our loyalties are to the nation, the armed forces to which we belong, the uniforms we wear and to the troops we command"[81]

It was later pointed out that as the blockade approach taken by Rajiv Gandhi five years later in Operation Black Thunder, when Sikh militants had again taken over the temple complex, was highly successful as they managed to resolve the stand-off peacefully and in hindsight, Operation Blue Star could have been averted by using similar blockade tactics. The army responded by stating that "no comparison is possible between the two situations", as "there was no cult figure like Bhindranwale to idolise, and professional military general like Shahbeg Singh to provide for military leadership" and "confidence of militants having been shattered by Operation Blue Star".[81] Furthermore, it is pointed out that the militants in the temple were armed with machine guns, anti tank missiles and rocket launchers, and that they strongly resisted the army's attempts to dislodge them from the shrine, appearing to have planned for a long stand-off, having arranged for water to be supplied from wells within the temple compound and had stocked food provisions that could have lasted months.[81]

References

  1. ^ "Temple Raid: Army's Order was Restraint". The New York Times. 15 June 1984. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  2. ^ Stevens, Williams (30 October 1984). "India is said to drop prosecution of A. P. reporter in Punjab case". The New York Times. p. 5. Mr. Chellaney was the only reporter for a foreign agency in Amristar during the Golden Temple assault, although he was not present in the temple. He filed exclusive reports for the A. P. that were published only outside India. Mr. Chellaney reported a death toll of 1,200 at a time when the Indian Government said the figure was 576. He also reported that 8 to 10 Sikhs had been tied up and shot by soldiers. The Government called his dispatches false and inflammatory. AP defended the accuracy of his reports, which were supported by Indian and other press accounts. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. ^ "Truth on Trial – in India". The New York Times. 23 October 1984. pp. A32. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ a b Hamlyn, Michael (12 June 1984). "Amritsar witness puts death toll at 1000". The Times. p. 7. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ "Operation BlueStar, 20 Years On". Rediff.com. 6 June 1984. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  6. ^ Operation Bluestar, 5 June 1984[dead link]
  7. ^ "Indira Gandhi had since long been planning for an attack on Darbar Sahib..." Harjinder Singh Dilgeer: SIKH HISTORY in 10 volumes, vol 7, p. 168.
  8. ^ Sangat Singh, The history of Sikhs: 1995, page = 382
  9. ^ Sangat Singh, The Sikhs in History, page = ??
  10. ^ a b "Army reveals startling facts on Bluestar". Tribune India. 30 May 1984. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  11. ^ Martha Crenshaw (1995). Terrorism in Context. Penn State Press. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-271-01015-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |length= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Singh, Pritam (2008). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Routledge. pp. 44. ISBN 978-0-415-45666-1. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  13. ^ Westerlund, David (1996). Questioning The Secular State: The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics. C. Hurst & Co. p. 1276. ISBN 1-85065-241-4.
  14. ^ Singh, Pritam (2008). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Routledge. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-415-45666-1. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  15. ^ Ram Narayan Kumar; Amrik Singh; Ashok Agrwaal (2003). "Part Two". Reduced to ashes : the insurgency and human rights in Punjab : final report. Vol. One (Final Report ed.). South Asia Forum for Human Rights. p. 35. ISBN 99933-53-57-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Singh, Sangat (1992). The Sikhs In History. Uncommon Books. p. 378. ISBN 81-900650-0-9.
  17. ^ a b Sharma, Cf. Brig. Man Mohan (1998). What Ails The Indian Army. Trishul Publications. pp. 273–75. ISBN 81-85384-25-8.
  18. ^ Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited. p. 54. ISBN 81-7476-068-7.
  19. ^ a b Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited. pp. 81–82. ISBN 81-7476-068-7.
  20. ^ Ahmed, Ishtiaq (1996). State, Nation, and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 130. ISBN 1-85567-578-1.
  21. ^ "The confusion in the Governor's house in Chandigarh was made worse by Mrs. Gandhi maintaining contact with Bhindranwale. Her go-between was the President of Punjab Congress, Raghunandan Lal Bhatia... This link, which was well known to officials, enhanced Bhindranwale's status and made the Indian administration even more reluctant to grapple with him."Tully, Mark (1985). Amritsar; Mrs. Gandhi's last Battle. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. p. 121. ISBN 81-291-0917-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Blank, Jonah (2000). Arrow of The Blue Skinned God: retracing the Ramayana through India. New York: Grove Press. p. 354. ISBN 0-8021-3733-4.
  23. ^ India in 1984: Confrontation, Assassination, and Succession, by Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. Asian Survey, 1985 University of California Press
  24. ^ http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/nightsoffalsehood/falsehood4.htm
  25. ^ a b Singh, Tavleen. "Prophet of Hate:J S Bhindranwale". India Today. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
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  74. ^ CKC Reddy, et al., Army Action in Punjab: Prelude & Aftermath, New Delhi: Samata Era Publication, 1984, pp. 46–48
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Further reading

  • Harjinder Singh Dilgeer (2012). Sikh History in 10 volumes. Sikh University Press. ISBN 2-930247-47-9.: presents comprehensive details of the invasion of Indian Army (causes and events). Vols 7 to 10 also give precious information.
  • K. S. Brar (1993). Operation Blue Star: the true story. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 978-81-85944-29-6.: presents the version of the Sikh general Kuldip Singh Brar, who led the operation
  • Kirapal Singh and Anurag Singh, ed. (1999). Giani Kirpal Singh's eye-witness account of Operation Blue Star. B. Chattar Singh Jiwan Singh. ISBN 978-81-7601-318-5.: presents the version of the Giani Kirpal Singh, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht
  • Johncy Itty (1985). Operation Bluestar: the political ramifications.

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