New Delhi:
Winston Churchill had once referred to the times of Lord Rosebery as an "age of great men and small events". But there is definitely a difference between an age of 'small men or women' and great events.
The 'Operation Blue Star' would certainly go down the memory lane in the history of free India as something which could have been and should have been avoided.
But how much the political leadership and the other stakeholders of the time were actually responsible for the episode ?
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| Indira with Sanjay |
According to B D Pande, the Governor of Punjab from October 10, 1983, to June 27, 1984, when the state was under President’s rule - the 'vernacular press' and hardliners were responsible and they had contributed to a "false narrative".
Pande's book '‘In the Service of Free India’, also blames the tussle between President Zail Singh and former Punjab Chief Minister Darbara Singh for the unfolding of the events, says a report in 'The Tribune'.
‘In the Service of Free India’ is a new book edited by his daughter Ratna M Sudarshan, and published by Speaking Tiger, and it comes more than a decade after B D Pande's death in 2009 at the age of 92.
Pande, who also served as the Union Cabinet Secretary and Governor of West Bengal, penned the memoirs between 1986 and 1999, it is said.
He had understandably instructed his family to publish these at least five years after his death. Pande was one of the last living members of the Imperial Civil Service, having entered in the 1939 batch.
The Government of India awarded Pande the fourth civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1972 and later in 2000 during the Vajpayee government, he was given the country's second highest Padma Vibhushan in 2000.
On his impressions of Indira Gandhi, Indira Gandhi writes, “Even though one acknowledged her remarkable sense of political astuteness and timing, there was an element of ruthlessness in facing or removing her adversaries... She introduced what was called the amoral theory in Indian politics. Power had to be seized and retained — the measures adopted really did not matter.”
“What I am trying to say is that Indira Gandhi could not and would not tolerate anyone or any party standing up to her. And the Akalis were one such party," the report says.
The now infamous 'Operation Blue Star' was carried out between June 1st and 10th in 1984, in order to remove the Sikh Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
The decision to launch the attack was of course taken by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. According to another former Governor (in Punjab and Assam), Lt Gen (Retd) S.K. Sinha, Indira Gandhi had been considering the operation for more than 18 months prior.
According to Lt Gen S.K. Sinha, who headed the Army’s Western Command, preparations for the military operation started for over 18 months (1984) in the Doon Valley.
In July 1982 it is said, Harchand Singh Longowal, the President of the Sikh political party Akali Dal, had invited Bhindranwale to take up residence in the Golden Temple Complex to evade arrest.
Central agencies had reported that three prominent figures Shabeg Singh, a court-martialed Army officer Balbir Singh, and Amrik Singh, and referred to in reports as "prominent heads of the Khalistan movement", had made at least six trips each to Pakistan between 1981 and 1983.
Late B C Pande in his book also questioned the official figures of casualties in Blue Star.
“The number of casualties among the terrorists and civilians was 1,200 (and not 700). Some 200 terrorists still got away. Blue Star did not achieve the desired result.”
Of course, other reports have said in the past that the central government had deputed a team led by P V Narasimha Rao to try to convince Bhindranwale to back out and vacate the temple.
The negotiations failed and the law and order situation in Punjab deteriorates.Indira Gandhi also reportedly tried to persuade the Akalis to support her in the arrest of Bhindranwale peacefully. These talks too ended up being futile.
Later it was reported that faced with imminent army actions, Bhindranwale had declared "This bird is alone. There are many hunters after it".
Some decades later, it was reported that when consulted by Indira Gandhi around May 1984, BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had counseled her to avoid sending army to the Golden Temple.
"Iski bhaari keemat chukaani padh sakti hai," (May be one has to pay a heavy price for this)," Vajpayee reportedly told her and suggested that there can be other ways of flushing out terrorists, as reported later in 2014.
Needless to add, Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 30, 1984 as a fallout of Sikh militancy and Operation Blue Star.
ends
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