A brief political history of Operation Bluestar

India Today

2 days ago

News: On June 5, 1984, the Indian Army launched Operation Bluestar to remove Sikh militants from Amritsar's Golden Temple. The militants, led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, were spearheading an armed movement for a separate Sikh state, called Khalistan (the land of the pure).Pre-Independence RootsBefore India's independence, Sikhs had explored the idea of a separate nation. When the British government's Cripps Mission visited India in 1942 to negotiate self-governance, the Akali Dal, led by figures like Baba Kharak Singh, met at Amritsar, accepting the inevitability of partition and arguing for a Sikh state from the River Jhelum to the River Sutlej. The British dismissed the demand.advertisementDream of a DiasporaIn 1971, Jagjit Singh Chauhan, a former Punjab finance minister, revived the Sikh Home Rule Movement in the UK, renaming it Khalistan. He set up a self-styled embassy, printing stamps, currency, and passports. Allegedly supported by elements in Pakistan, he rallied the Sikh diaspora.
On October 12, 1971, a half-page advertisement in The New York Times, reportedly authored by Chauhan and allegedly funded by Pakistan's ISI, called for a buffer state, Khalistan, as 'the only guarantee for peace in the subcontinent.' Few took it seriously.A Silent BurialIn 1966, responding to Sikh demands, the government reorganised Punjab on linguistic lines, creating today's Punjab. It comprised Jullundur (Jalandhar), Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Patiala, Bhatinda, Kapurthala, and parts of Gurdaspur, Ambala, and Sangrur. The new state, with a Sikh majority and Punjabi as the primary language, housed most of India's Sikhs. With the Centre acquiescing to the demand for a Punjabi suba (state), the clamour for a state for the Sikhs subsided.Zail Singh and a Sacred HorseadvertisementIn 1972, Giani Zail Singh, later President of India, became Punjab's Chief Minister. To appeal to Sikh voters, he launched initiatives rooted in Sikh religious sentiment, including symbolically bringing a horse from Britain, claimed as a descendant of one ridden by Guru Gobind Singh.The Akali Dal, self-anointed political representatives of the Sikhs, countered by gathering at Anandpur Sahib, where the Khalsa tradition began, issuing demands for Punjab's greater autonomy.The Anandpur Sahib ResolutionSirdar Kapur Singh, a former Indian Civil Service officer dismissed after Independence, helped draft the 1973 Anandpur Sahib Resolution. It sought greater autonomy for Punjab, proposing to limit the Centre's role to defence, external affairs, and currency, though its scope remains debated. Later modified, it focused on demands like more water and the transfer of Chandigarh-–a Union Territory– to Punjab. The resolution faded when the Akalis won the 1977 Punjab elections but was revived after their 1980 loss to Congress. It was bolstered by Bhindranwale's rise as jathedar (leader) of the Damdami Taksal, a seminary near Amritsar.Enter BhindranwaleThe Sikh preacher highlighted concerns among Sikhs about demographic changes and the erosion of their distinct identity. He played on the fear among Sikhs that Hindus would soon outnumber them, and their independent identity would be erased. Publicly ambiguous on Khalistan, he said he was neither for nor against it, yet claimed Sikhs could no longer live in India.advertisementOne of his followers, Balbir Singh Sandhu, called himself secretary-general of a self-proclaimed national council of Khalistan. He kept a handwritten Constitution of Khalistan, which he read out to anyone who cared to listen. In Sandhu's mind, Khalistan was a religious state with communist ideals—a kind of Communist Israel for the Sikhs.Petty political rivalries between Congress and the Akalis deepened Hindu-Sikh tensions, fracturing decades of coexistence.Dharam Yudh MorchaOn April 24, 1982, the Akalis launched an agitation against the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal, a project to supply water to neighbouring states. The project was launched by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi herself at a place called Kapuri (the agitation was also called Kapuri Morcha). At the start of June, the protest against the canal turned into a civil disobedience movement. By June, it became a civil disobedience movement.Meanwhile, Bhindranwale launched his Front from the Golden Temple, demanding the release of arrested All India Sikh Students' Federation members. On August 4, 1982, he and the Akalis united under the Dharam Yudh Morcha (religious struggle), courting arrest to press for the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. Bhindranwale moved to Guru Nanak Niwas, a hostel near the Golden Temple.advertisementSoon Bhindranwale shifted to Guru Nanak Niwas, a hostel behind the east gate of the Golden Temple. Hundreds of followers joined him. Most of them were members of the All India Sikh Students' Federation, and Nihangs baptised by him at his seminary. His guardsmen were drawn from former army and police personnel. Taking advantage of the chaos, some hardened criminals and smugglers operating in Punjab also took refuge in the shrine.Operation BluestarOn December 15, 1983, fearing arrest, Bhindranwale shifted to the Golden Temple complex. By late 1983, turf wars between rival Sikh militant groups turned its corridors into battlegrounds.Bhindranwale's followers were linked to a wave of violence in Punjab, spreading fear amid rumours of hit lists and an imminent Khalistan declaration, allegedly backed by Pakistan.With Punjab spiraling and her 'Iron Lady' image at stake, Indira Gandhi ordered the Army into the Golden Temple.On June 5, 1984, Operation Bluestar unfolded as tanks rolled in, culminating in a tragic confrontation that left deep scars on the Sikh community and India's history.Must Watch