Amritsar : On the 40th anniversary of Operation Blue Star, several members of the Sikh community raised pro-Khalistan slogans at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday. Protestors carried posters of slain separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Among them was Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann, who joined in raising slogans and displaying posters of Bhindranwale at the temple premises.
In response to the situation, security around the Golden Temple has been significantly increased. Senior Superintendent of Police SS Randhawa Singh stated, “Security arrangements have been made here. Forces have been deployed, and barricading has been done. Any untoward incident will be monitored.”
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, head of the radical Sikh outfit Damdami Taksal, was killed along with his armed followers during Operation Blue Star. This operation was launched by the Indian Army in June 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex. The decision to storm the temple was made by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, aiming to contain Sikh militancy under Bhindranwale’s leadership in Punjab. Bhindranwale had reportedly stashed large quantities of arms on the Golden Temple premises.
Operation Blue Star was heavily criticized, and months later, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, at her New Delhi residence on October 31, 1984.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, son of Beant Singh, won the Faridkot constituency by a margin of 70,053 votes over Aam Aadmi Party leader Karamjit Singh Anmol.
Lt Gen (retd) Kuldeep Singh Brar, who led the 1984 Operation Blue Star, commented in an interview that late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had “allowed” militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to grow into a “Frankenstein monster” and decided to “finish him off” when he became too powerful. Brar, a retired 1971 war veteran, criticized the then-political leadership for permitting the Bhindranwale cult to flourish, stating, “They had their own little problem of support between Akali and Congress. They allowed this cult of Bhindranwale to continue.”
