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77-549: Indian tactical victory; strategic and political failure [REDACTED] Sikh militants Support provided by : 83 killed (per White Paper 1984 of the Indian Army) 700 killed (disclosure by Rajiv Gandhi as alleged by Kuldip Nayar ) Operation Blue Star was a military operation by the Indian Armed Forces conducted between 1 and 10 June 1984 to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Sikh militants from

154-623: A separate homeland for Sikhs by establishing a Punjabi Sikh nation‐state called Khalistan (" land of the Khalsa ") in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent . The proposed boundaries of Khalistan is entirety of the Sikh-majority state of Punjab and Punjabi ‐speaking areas of nebouring Indian states, and this is a page that depicts the list of Khalistani separatist organizations. Babbar Khalsa

231-588: A building near the Golden Temple and convinced a militant, Santhok Singh Kala, to join security forces and to carry out terrorist operations for them. Kala taunted other militants which led to them firing and Virk being injured. Hearing about the shooting the Jathedar, Jasbir Singh Rode, hurried to Amritsar. On May 11 and 12, around 1,000 commandos from the Special Action Group were airlifted to Amritsar under

308-544: A gurdwara on 19 February 1984. During debate in the Parliament of India members of both houses demanded the arrest of Bhindranwale. Sensing a prospect of his arrest from the hostel premises, he convinced SGPC president Tohra to set up his headquarter in Akal Takht (a shrine representing the temporal power of God) in the Golden Temple. The temple high priest protested this move as a sacrilege since no Guru or leader ever resided in

385-534: A long siege was ruled out by the army due to the risk of emotionally aroused villagers marching to the temple and clashing with the army. The negotiated settlement had already been rejected by Bhindranwale and the government decided to raid the temple. Police methods normally used on common criminals were used on protesters during the Dharam Yudh Morcha , creating state repression affecting a very large segment of Punjab's population#. Retaliatory violence came from

462-589: A major role in the developments to come. After being routed in the 1972 Punjab election , the Akali Dal put forward the Anandpur Sahib Resolution in 1973 to demand more autonomy to Punjab. The resolution was rejected by the Indian government. Activist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale then joined the Akali Dal, and launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha movement in 1982, in a bid to urge the Indian government to implement

539-416: A month was stocked in the complex. During this period police and security forces stationed around the temple complex were allowed only within 200 yards. This was to avoid the 'desecration' of the temple by their presence. The security forces were prevented by the politicians from taking action in enforcing the law. Even self-defence from the militants was made difficult. On 14 February 1984, a police post near

616-498: A peaceful resolution of the crisis, and that Bhindranwale was no longer under anyone's control. Faced with imminent army action and with Harchand Singh Longowal abandoning him, Bhindranwale declared, "This bird is alone. There are many hunters after it." In his final interview to Subhash Kirpekar, Bhindranwale stated that Sikhs can neither live in India nor with India. Indira Gandhi then gave her permission to initiate Operation Blue Star on

693-473: A section of the Sikh population, widening the scope of the conflict and creating fresh motives for Sikh youth to turn to insurgency. The concept of Khalistan was still vague even while the complex was fortified under the influence of former Sikh army officials alienated by government actions who now advised Bhindranwale, Major General Shabeg Singh and retired Major General and Brigadier Mohinder Singh, and at that point

770-675: A visit to Moscow in 1983 that the CIA was engaged in subversion in the Punjab. When Rajiv Gandhi returned to India, he declared this to be true. Indira Gandhi's decision to move troops into the Punjab was based on her taking seriously the disinformation provided by the Soviets regarding secret CIA support for the Sikhs. In 2005, Christopher Andrew concluded that the KGB was ultimately responsible for Indira Gandhi and others in

847-570: A workshop for the fabrication of Sten guns inside the Temple Complex. However, the allegations of the militants being in possession of weapon workshops was never made prior to Operation Blue Star, and only after, with only the Army making these statements. The statements of multiple civilian eyewitnesses instead were consistent that the militants were a small number of men and had limited arms that were used sparingly. The Harmandir Sahib compound and some of

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924-646: Is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United Kingdom, the EU, Canada, India, and the United States. Operation Black Thunder The first Operation Black Thunder took place on 30 April 1986. About 200 radical Sikh militants had been occupying the temple premises for the last 3 months. The operation was commanded by Kanwar Pal Singh Gill , who was the DGP of Punjab. About 300 National Security Guards commandos stormed

1001-407: The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots led by Congress workers and angered mobs, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Sikh civilians. Despite accomplishing its stated objectives, the operation has been described as "disastrous" for the Indian military and state. It greatly exacerbated tensions between the Indian government and the Sikh community, many of whom had been demanding a separate state . Meanwhile,

1078-497: The 1984 Sikh massacre ), Operation Black Thunder was far more successful with the blockade tactics paying dividends, and has been credited with breaking the back of the Sikh separatist movement. Soon after this operation, the Indian Government banned the use of religious shrines for political and military purposes and increased penalties for the possession and use of illegal weapons, as part of its strategy to fight extremism in

1155-592: The Akal Takht . The support was either voluntary or forced by using violence or threat of violence. In January 1984, India's secret service Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) prepared a covert plan codenamed Operation Sundown involving special forces to abduct Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple complex. A RAW unit was formed to rehearse Operation Sundown in the Sarsawa Air Force Base in Uttar Pradesh , but

1232-581: The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee president, Niranjan Singh, the Granthi of Gurudwara Toot Sahib, Granthi Jarnail Singh of Valtoha and Granthi Surat Singh of Majauli. The militants were able to claim safe haven in the Golden Temple due to the whole or partial support received by them from key Sikh religious leaders and institutions such as the SGPC , AISSF and Jathedar (head) of

1309-505: The Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), a holy site of Sikhism , and its adjacent buildings. A long-standing movement advocating for greater political rights for the Sikh community had previously existed in the Indian state of Punjab , and in 1973, Sikh activists presented the Indian government with the Anandpur Sahib Resolution , a list of demands for greater autonomy for Punjab. The resolution

1386-547: The federal union of India, and leaving the powers of foreign relations, defence, currency, and general communications subject to the jurisdiction of the Indian central government. Harchand Singh Longwal , the leader of the Akali Dal, stated, "[let] us make it clear once and for all that the Sikhs have no designs to get away from India in any manner. What they simply want is that they should be allowed to live within India as Sikhs, free from all direct and indirect interference and tampering with their religious way of life. Undoubtedly,

1463-527: The gurdwara that served as the headquarters of the Damdami Taksal religious center. In July 1982, Harchand Singh Longowal invited Bhindranwale to take up residence in the Golden Temple complex. He called Bhindranwale "our stave to beat the government". On 19 July 1982, Bhindranwale and approximately 200 armed militants occupied the Guru Nanak Niwas, a guest house for pilgrims, within the precincts of

1540-457: The Akal Takht on the floor above Granth Sahib , but Tohra agreed to Bhindranwale's demand to prevent his arrest. On 15 December 1983, Bhindranwale was asked to move out of Guru Nanak Niwas house by members of the Babbar Khalsa , who opposed Bhindranwale, who acted with Longowal's support. Longowal by now feared for his own safety. Tohra convinced the high priest to allow Bhindranwale to reside on

1617-601: The Anandpur Sahib Resolution. Following the events of the 1978 Sikh-Nirankari clashes and the Dharam Yudh Morcha, Bhindranwale had risen to prominence in Sikh political circles with his policy of getting the Anandpur Resolution passed, failing which he wanted to declare a separate country of Khalistan as a homeland for Sikhs. The resolution declared its goals within the context of remaining within

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1694-415: The Golden Temple complex. Bhindranwale had effectively made the complex his headquarters. From there he met and was interviewed by international television crews. On 23 April 1983, Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General A. S. Atwal was shot dead by a gunman in the complex as he left the complex. The following day, Longowal accused Bhindranwale of involvement in the murder. The Punjab Assembly noted that

1771-525: The Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, along with 700 Border Security Force troops and captured about 200 Sikh militants. One person was killed and two were injured. All of those who were arrested were released a few months after the Operation on account of a lack of evidence. The operation, which lasted eight hours, was approved by then Chief minister of Punjab Surjit Singh Barnala of Shiromani Akali Dal . There were heavy negative reactions to

1848-495: The Gurus, depicting the centrality of Sikh sites to their struggles. A few leaders raised their voice against Bhindranwale in the Akal Takht complex and other gurdwaras across the state. Among the prominent ones was Giani Partap Singh, a spiritual leader and former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, who criticized Bhindranwale for keeping guns in the Akal Takht. Partap was later killed along with other dissenters including Harbans Singh Manchanda,

1925-757: The Harmandir Sahib were led by Bhindranwale, former Maj. Gen. Shabeg Singh , and Amrik Singh , the President of the All India Sikh Students Federation from Damdami Taksal. General Arun Shridhar Vaidya was the Chief of the Indian Army . Lt. Gen. Krishaswamy Sundarji , GOC Western Command , planned and coordinated Operation Blue Star. From the Indian Army Maj. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar had command of

2002-409: The Indian army during Operation Blue Star. This operation was described as a severe setback to the Anandpur Resolution implementation movement. In contrast to prior operations, minimum force was used under full public scrutiny. It is remembered for the free access the news media was provided unlike during Operation Blue Star . The day after the militants surrendered, nine reporters were allowed into

2079-440: The Indian forces in control of the complex. The Indian government attributed high civilian casualties to Sikh militants using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields . However, Indian forces were aware that civilians were present inside, and the operation began on a Sikh religious day, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev , when many worshippers would be present. Many civilians were subject to extrajudicial killings by

2156-588: The Indian government had "received intelligence" that Pakistan had been supporting the militants with arms and money, and if Khalistan declared its independence there was the risk of Pakistan recognizing the new country and sending the Pakistani Army into Indian Punjab to protect it. However, the Indian government had been the target of disinformation by the Russian KGB intelligence agency, which had sought to implicate Pakistans' Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in

2233-597: The Khalistan conspiracy. In November 1982, Yuri Andropov , the leader of the Soviet Union, approved a proposal to fabricate Pakistani intelligence documents detailing ISI plans to foment religious disturbances in Punjab and promote the creation of Khalistan as an independent Sikh state. The KGB became confident that it could continue to deceive Indira Gandhi indefinitely with fabricated reports of CIA and Pakistani conspiracies against her. The Soviets persuaded Rajiv Gandhi during

2310-524: The Khalistan movement by spreading forged documents and reports to the Indian government. According to the then- Vice Chief of the Army Staff , Srinivas Kumar Sinha the army had begun preparations for an attack on the Golden Temple 18 months prior. Two months prior to the Operation the Air Force had helicopters flying above the temple taking photographs. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had surrounded

2387-600: The Operation later revealed that militants only had 4 light machine gun magazines. According to him a single light machine gun carries 12 magazines. He revealed that the main gun that was kept and used by militants was AK-47s. Holes were smashed through the marble walls of Akal takht to create gun positions . Walls were broken to allow entry points to the tiled courtyards. Secure machine gun nests were created. All of these positions were protected by sandbags and newly made brick walls. The windows and arches of Akal Takht were blocked with bricks and sandbags . Sandbags were placed on

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2464-736: The Operation. Parkash Singh Badal and Amrinder Singh along with 27 Akali MLAs broke from Barnala's party and formed their own party. Soon after SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra joined them. Barnala was later ostracised by the Sikhs for his role in the operation. Years later he submitted to the Akal Takht Jathedar who made Barnala serve devotees in the Golden temple and other historic gurdwaras to atone for his mistakes. Operation Black Thunder II (sometimes referred to as Operation Black Thunder) began on 9 May 1988 in Amritsar and ended with

2541-409: The Sikhs have the same nationality as other Indians." Nonetheless, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi , viewed the Anandpur Sahib Resolution as a secessionist document. The reluctance of the central government to deescalate the situation or offer major concessions has often been attributed to foreign influence. In the early 1980s, one of the main aims of Soviet KGB active measures with regards to India

2618-467: The Temple complex. Kirtan was resumed at the Golden Temple on 23 May 1988 after a two-week break during this operation. While Operation Blue Star was widely considered poorly executed and shambolic because of the egregious loss of civilian lives and the damage done to both the Golden Temple and Sikh relations with the government (culminating in the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards and

2695-619: The Temple despite larger amounts of militants than Operation Blue Star. In the years leading up to the operation, there was a significant build-up in agitation for greater autonomy for the Sikh community. Economic and social pressures driven by the Green Revolution led many young Sikh men to support varying degrees of self-determination for Sikhs and Punjab, with many even advocating independence from India. The introduction of mechanised agricultural techniques led to uneven distribution of wealth in Punjab. Industrial development did not occur at

2772-578: The anti-Sikh riots of 1984 turned a series of police operations into widespread sectarian violence. The brutality of the operation and high civilian casualties spawned an insurgency in Punjab, which would be waged by Sikh militants for over a decade. The operation has been used as a case study highlighting the importance of respecting religious and cultural sensitivity prior to launching military operations. The complex would later be raided twice more as part of Operation Black Thunder I and II , with both operations having little to no civilian casualties or damage to

2849-408: The army carried out Operation Woodrose, in which units were deployed to the border areas, replacing the pickets routinely held by the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF). The border pickets were held in at least company strength. On 1 June 1984 the Indian security forces fired into various buildings with the goal of assessing the training of the militants. Eyewitness testimony of pilgrims inside

2926-579: The backbone of increasing militancy. In the 1950s, the Akali Dal party launched the Punjabi Suba movement , demanding a new state within India with a majority of Punjabi speaking people, out of undivided East Punjab under the leadership of Sant Fateh Singh . This movement resulted in fraught relations with the union government, and the Golden Temple , the holiest site in Sikhism, was raided in 1955, and many of

3003-492: The central government exaggerating the threats posed by the Sikh militants, Pakistan, and the CIA. The KGB role in facilitating Operation Blue Star was acknowledged by Subramanian Swamy in 1992, who stated, [the] 1984 Operation Bluestar became necessary because of the vast disinformation against Sant Bhindranwale by the KGB, and repeated inside Parliament by the Congress Party of India. In addition to Soviet influence, India

3080-446: The city of Amritsar from the paramilitary. A young Sikh officer posing as a pilgrim was sent in to reconnoitre the temple. He spent an hour in the complex noting defensive preparations. Plans were made to clear vantage points occupied by militants outside the complex before the main assault. Patrols were also sent to study these locations. Khalistani groups The Khalistan movement is an independence movement seeking to create

3157-530: The command of Brigadier Sushil Nanda. Nanda had a hot line to New Delhi with the National Security Guard control room. On May 11 Rode was able to get a ceasefire that lasted two hours. Rode met with Gurdev Singh Kaunke , journalists, and other associates. He talked to other militants. During this time commandos took their positions replacing the CRPF which had been previously stationed. The ground level

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3234-448: The complex. The modern weapons later found inside the temple complex indicated that foreign elements were involved. The heavier weapons were found to have Pakistani or Chinese markings on them. According to Lt. General J.S. Arora only 60 self-loading riles were foreign made. The rest were Indian. He also said that there were no medium machine guns and only two RPGs. Arora says that the arsenal was not truly sophisticated. A Lt. Colonel part of

3311-496: The concept was still not directly connected with the movement he headed. In other parts of Punjab, a "state of chaos and repressive police methods" combined to create "a mood of overwhelming anger and resentment in the Sikh masses against the authorities", making Bhindranwale even more popular, and demands of independence gain currency, even amongst moderates and Sikh intellectuals. On 12 May 1984, Ramesh Chander, son of Lala Jagat Narain and editor of media house Hind Samachar group,

3388-417: The daily langar were smuggling in guns and ammunition. The police never attempted to check these vehicles entering the Golden Temple, on instructions from superiors. During a random check one such truck was stopped and many Sten guns and ammunition were found. The Indian government White Paper alleged that after Operation Blue Star it was found that the militants had set up a grenade manufacturing facility, and

3465-411: The days before the assault, government representatives met with Bhindranwale in a last ditch effort to negotiate a truce. The Sikhs would withdraw, believing they had seen a commando unit move into the city. Bhindranwale warned of a backlash by the Sikh community in the event of an armed assault on the Golden Temple. On 26 May, Tohra informed the government that he had failed to get Bhindranwale to agree to

3542-489: The entrance of the Temple was attacked by a group of militants. Six fully armed policemen were captured and taken inside. After twenty four hours the police responded and sent in a senior police officer for negotiation. He asked Bhindranwale to release his men, along with their weapons. Bhindranwale agreed and delivered the dead body of one of the hostages who had been killed. Later the remaining five policemen were released alive, but their weapons were kept. The fortifications of

3619-459: The first floor of Akal Takht, as he had nowhere to go to avoid arrest. He said that he had to move to Akal Takht as Morcha director Longowal was negotiating with the government for his arrest. The government said Bhindranwale and his followers had made the Golden Temple complex an armoury and headquarters, though amassing arms and usage as a base for waging war was part of the tradition of most historical gurdwaras, which display weapons caches used by

3696-476: The holy site, Indian forces unsuccessfully assaulted the temple using light weaponry and quickly resorted to using heavy weapons, including tanks , helicopters and artillery to dislodge the well-fortified Sikh militants. Combat devolved into protracted urban warfare, with the Indian forces committing significant forces to slowly gain ground. Eventually, the Sikh militants ran out of most of their ammunition on 6 June, and by 10 June fighting had largely ceased, with

3773-576: The level of anxiety in the Indian embassy in Islamabad regarding Pakistani support for Sikh separatists indicated that Operation Kontakt was successfully achieving its goals of creating an alarmist effect. The Soviets used a new recruit in the New Delhi residency named "Agent S" who was close to Indira Gandhi as a major channel for providing her misleading information. Agent S provided Indira Gandhi with false documents purporting to show Pakistani involvement in

3850-524: The lives of eight pilgrims, including a woman and a child, inside the temple complex and injured 25 others. Devinder Singh Duggal, who was in-charge of the Sikh Reference Library located inside of the Temple complex and an eye-witness to Operation Blue Star, stated that the militants were given instructions to not fire until the army or security forces entered the temple. Duggal stated, "...when I heard in

3927-484: The militants failed, Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered the army to launch Operation Blue Star in haste, attacking the Golden Temple and scores of other Sikh temples and sites across Punjab which included killing civilians and devotees too. The military underestimated the firepower possessed by the Sikh militants, whose armaments included Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers and ammunition with armour-piercing capabilities. Hoping to avoid damage to

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4004-421: The militants from the Golden Temple. Militants had already started the movement to drive Hindus out of certain areas to make way for Sikhs coming in from other states. Due to the increased incidents of religious violence, an exchange of population had already started in Punjab. New Khalistani currency was being printed and distributed. By May 1984, the establishment of an independent Khalistan seemed imminent, as

4081-512: The military during the operation. The military action in the temple complex was criticized by Sikhs worldwide, who interpreted it as an assault on the Sikh religion and the entire Sikh community. Five months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in retaliation by two Sikhs, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh . Her party, the Indian National Congress , utilized public outcry over her death, leading to

4158-434: The military leadership of Major General Singh, ex-army veterans and deserters had trained Bhindranwale's men. The militants in the complex were anticipating an attack by government troops. The defences in the complex were created with the purpose of stalling an assault, giving time to provoke Sikhs in the villages and encourage them to march en masse towards the Golden Temple in support of the militants. Sufficient food to last

4235-448: The movement's leaders were arrested. In 1966, after negotiations, the present Punjab state with a Sikh majority was formed. The Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab state in March 1967, but early governments didn't last long due to internal conflicts and power struggles within the party. Later, the party strengthened and party governments completed their full term and eventually came to play

4312-523: The murder in the temple premises confirmed the charges that the extremists were being sheltered and given active support in religious buildings around the Golden Temple complex, especially the Guru Nanak Niwas. After the murder of six Hindu bus passengers in the 1983 Dhilwan Bus Massacre , President's rule was imposed in Punjab state. This led to increasing communal tension between Sikhs and Hindus as Hindu mobs in Karnal , Haryana murdered 8 Sikhs and set fire to

4389-501: The news bulletin that there was unprovoked firing from inside the Temple, but that the security forces showed extreme restrain and did not fire a single shot, I was surprised at this naked lie." The deaths of at least three of the pilgrims was confirmed by the eyewitness testimony of a female Sikh student who had dressed their wounds and who later witnessed their deaths in Guru Nanak Nivas. According to Kirpal Singh eleven were killed in

4466-462: The operation never materialized due to Indira Gandhi's rejection. The government sent a team led by Narasimha Rao to try to convince Bhindranwale to back out, but he was adamant. The negotiations failed and the law and order situation in Punjab continued to deteriorate. Indira Gandhi tried to persuade the Akalis to support her in the arrest of Bhindranwale peacefully. These talks ended up being futile. In

4543-565: The operation. By mid February the date of the Operation was set and leave of the Special Action Group commandos had been cancelled. In the lead up to the operation Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's nephew Jasbir Singh Rode was released and president rule was declared in Punjab. Punjab was further to be declared a state of emergency . State sponsored terrorists used Soviet made RPG-7's at a Vishwakarma Temple near Phagwara where there were 70 CRPF stationed. On May 8 DIG ( Deputy Inspector General of Police ) of CRPF Sarabdeep Singh Virk went to

4620-514: The operation. On 31 May he had been summoned from Meerut and asked to lead the operation to remove the militants from the temple. Brar was a Jat Sikh , the same caste as Bhindranwale, and was also acquainted with Shabeg Singh, having been his student at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun . Among the six generals leading the operation, four were Sikhs. The army operation was further subdivided along two subcategories: In addition,

4697-439: The recommendation of Army Chief Arun Shridhar Vaidya . She was apparently led to believe and had assumed that the operation would not involve any civilian casualties. The assumption was that, when confronted, Bhindranwale would surrender to the army. An arsenal had been created within the Akal Takht over a period of several months. It was reported that trucks engaged for kar seva (religious service) and bringing in supplies for

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4774-424: The same pace of agricultural development in Punjab, as the Indian government was reluctant to set up heavy industries in Punjab due to its status as a high-risk border state with Pakistan. Meanwhile, a rapid increase in higher education opportunities without adequate rise in jobs resulted in an increase in unemployment among educated youth. The resulting unemployed young Sikhs were drawn to militant groups, which formed

4851-560: The shooting. Furthermore, Duggal stated that on 2 June 1984 a BBC team, including journalist Mark Tully , were taken around the Temple and shown 34 holes, some of them as big as three inches in diameter, caused by the bullets on all sides of the temple. Tully noted, "The CRPF firing took place four days before the army actually entered the Temple." The army had already sealed the international border from Kashmir to Ganga Nagar, Rajasthan . At least seven divisions of troops were deployed in villages of Punjab. The soldiers began taking control of

4928-436: The state from the rest of the world. Complete media censorship was enforced. The army stormed Harmandir Sahib on the night of 5 June under the command of Major-General Kuldip Singh Brar . The forces had full control of Harmandir Sahib 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. The armed Sikhs within

5005-478: The state, with sometimes more than a dozen a day. On 2 June in the last 24 hours before the announcement of the operation 23 people were killed. In June 1984, the army was called out to help the civil administration in Punjab in response to a request from the Punjab Governor, B. D. Pande , "in view of the escalating violence by terrorists in Punjab. " On 2 June Operation Blue Star was initiated to flush out

5082-413: The supposedly planned massacre of Hindus that triggered Operation Blue Star, although the pace of attacks was increasing. Congress member of parliament Amarjit Kaur, who referred to the Akali Dal as "the enemy within" and who had opposed the creation of the Punjabi Suba , alleged that Bhindranwale wanted to start a civil war between Hindus and Sikhs. Meanwhile, the number of killings had been rising all over

5159-653: The surrender of the militants on 18 May. The operation was under control of the Union Home Ministry and had been planned since early 1988. In early 1988 the government created a model of the Golden Temple in the Aravalli Hills where National Security Guards practiced the operation. They later practiced the Operation in a high school and college in Harayana . The Special Action Group commandos had already started to grow their hair so they could blend in as Sikhs during

5236-446: The surrounding houses were fortified under the guidance of Major General Shabeg Singh , who had joined Bhindranwale's group after dismissal from the army. During their occupation of Akal Takht, Bhindranwale's group had begun fortifying the building. The Statesman reported that light machine guns and semi-automatic rifles were known to have been brought into the compound, and strategically placed to defend against an armed assault on

5313-414: The temple complex state that the Harmandir Sahib was fired on initially by security forces on 1 June and not 5 June as reported by the army. The firing began at about 12:40 pm and went until about 8:40 pm It was by the CRPF and they used medium machine guns , light machine guns and rifles. It resulted in the main shrine of the Golden Temple sustaining 34 bullet holes. The action claimed

5390-488: The temple denied the army the possibility of commando operations. The buildings were close together and had labyrinthine passages all under the control of the militants. Militants in the temple premises had access to langars, food supplies, and water from the Sarovar (temple pond). Militants were well stocked with weapons and ammunition. Any siege under these circumstances would have been long and difficult. The option of laying down

5467-489: The temple two months prior to the Operation. Operation Blue Star was launched to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers who had sought cover in the Amritsar Harmandir Sahib Complex. On 3 June, a 36-hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab with all methods of communication and public travel suspended. The electricity supply was also interrupted, creating a total blackout and cutting off

5544-468: The turrets. Every strategically significant building of the temple complex, apart from the Harmandir Sahib in the center, had been fortified in a similar manner and allegedly defaced. The fortifications also included seventeen private houses in the residential area near the Temple. All the high rise buildings and towers near the temple complex were occupied. The militants manning these vantage points were in wireless contact with Shabeg Singh in Akal Takht. Under

5621-492: Was also aware of actual Pakistani influence and armament operations among the Sikh militants. According to anthropologist Cynthia Keppley Mahmood, Kashmiri fighters were present in the Golden Temple complex in 1984; both the Punjab and Kashmir insurgencies shared links with the Pakistan secret service whose aegis provided arms and training. Following the 1978 clashes , Bhindranwale's followers had begun keeping firearms and fortified

5698-455: Was commanded by Kanwar Pal Singh Gill who was the DGP of Punjab Police . Snipers were used in this operation. Soon civilians and militants surrendered. Compared to Operation Blue Star , little damage was inflicted on the Golden Temple. In what was reported as a successful operation, around 200 militants surrendered, 41 were killed. Gill stated that he did not want to repeat the mistakes made by

5775-513: Was murdered by pro-Bhindranwale militants. In addition, seven editors and seven news hawkers and newsagents were killed in a planned attack on the freedom of media house, to cripple it financially. Punjab Police had to provide protection for the entire distribution staff. Violent incidents including arson, bombings, and shootings increased over the following months. The total number of deaths was 410 in violent incidents and riots, and 1,180 people were injured. The government never provided evidence of

5852-572: Was rejected by the Indian government. In July 1982, Harchand Singh Longowal , the president of the Sikh political party Shiromani Akali Dal , invited Bhindranwale, who was wanted by authorities, to take up residence in the Golden Temple to evade arrest. Bhindranwale had organized killer squads to eliminate supposed enemies of Sikhism. From the Harmandir Sahib complex, Bhindranwale orchestrated militants to kill hundreds of Hindus, and used terrorism to evoke fear among Hindus, hoping to incite their mass flight from Punjab. On 1 June 1984, after negotiations with

5929-501: Was to manufacture evidence that the CIA and Pakistani intelligence were behind the growth of Sikh separatism in Punjab. In 1981, the Soviets launched Operation Kontakt, which was centered around a forged document purporting to contain details of the weapons and money provided by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to Sikh militants who wanted to create an independent country. According to agent reports,

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