Chapter 7 - OPERATION BLUE STAR OR MILITARY ACTION

The Muslims including Mughals and the Christians like the British ruled India from the 13th century Ad to 1947 Ad. They were foreigners. Indo-Aryans, who had in­vaded Indian subcontinent in the middle of the second millennium B.C. and thereafter established their rule here. were also foreigners. The present day Hindu rulers are the remote descendants of those Indo-Aryans. They made India their homeland and so did the Muslims. The Christians (British) were the only exception.

The Sikhs fought against the Mughals and other Muslim rulers of India but the Mughals never attacked the Golden Temple or Harmandar Sahib though they com­mitted horrible atrocities on them. The British, too, did not hurt the religious feelings of the Sikhs by attacking Golden Temple though they had fought three wars with the Sikh rulers of Punjab.

Strangely it is the Hindu rulers who claim that the Sikhs are their integral part and yet they have invaded Golden Temple Complex by sending Armed Forces, equipped with the Main Battle Tanks and heavy field guns and vengefully destroyed the Akal Takht, the holy shrine of the Sikhs.

The day of attack, 3rd June 1984, which was being observed as martyrdom day of Guru Arjan, was inten­tionally chosen by Indira Gandhi and her Hindu govern­ment mainly for two reasons. Firstly, she wanted to show indignity to the religious heritage of the Sikhs and chal­lenge their faith. Secondly, she wanted to entrap and massacre as many Sikhs as possible, because they had assembled there in large numbers to have a holy dip in the Sarovar and pay obeisance on that memorable day. O.n 3rd June the Sikhs pilgrims gathered in thousands and thronged the Golden Temple Complex. They came to observe Ihe martyrdom day from every nook and corner of India and even from abroad. As such, choosing of this auspicious day by Indira Gandhi to take military action was a monstrous crime against humanity which no civi­lised nation could have thought of much less to carry it out. However, the government in the White (Lie) Paper published in July 1984 naively tried tojustify the timing of military action-under the protect that Sant Bhindran-wale had instructed his followers to massacre the Hin­dus on 5th June, To give credence to this white lie Indira Gandhi alleged to have intercepted such a message hav­ing been sent by Sant Bhindranwale to the Sikh peas­antry. On what date the alleged message was sent by Bhindranwale and when it was intercepted by the gov­ernment is liil a mystery. If for sake of arguments it is admitted that such an absurd lie was true Indira Gandhi could.have advanced the timing of the savage attack by a few days although even then such an attack could not have been considered justified b\ any reason. This dis­information and lie was spread only to camouflage the monstrous plan of Indira Gandhi and her government.

It is non-the-less crystal clear from the actual fact that Indira Gandhi and her government had intention­ally chosen the martyrdom day of Guru Arjun for launch­ing savage military altack on the Golden Temple Com­plex simply to challenge the Sikhs and their religion and force them-to surrender (hemselves before the Hindus. Whether or not she succeeded in her sinister design to subdue the Sikhs is yet to be evaluated.

1st June

The para military forces had already fortified their positions in the privalf buildings surrounding Ihp Golden Temple Complex. The Hindus voluntarily vacated and offered their residential and commercial buildings which the para military forces considered strategic for mili­tary action and the Sikhs were forcibly pushed out of their buildings which were required to facilitate the attack. These para military forces, equipped with modern and sophisticated weapons, started unprovoked and sudden firing at Guru Ram Das Langar building where Sant Bhindranwale and some of his followers were present on the terrace. Their aim was to kill Bhindranwale but he was escorted by his body guards downstairs. The CRPF started firing at twelve forty mid-noon and continued it till seven O'clock in the evening. The dauntless militant Singhs. trained and positioned by Major General Shahbeg Singh, an expert in guerrilla war fare. did not return fire for strategic reasons although a dozen of innocent pil­grims were killed and more than 30 bullets hit the Golden Temple. The main purpose of attack on the Golden Tem­ple Complex by the CRPF was to probe positions taken by the defenders of the Complex as well as to exhaust their ammunition if they retaliated. The para military forces failed in both their objectives as the defenders' guns remained silent.

When the CRPF opened fire the army officers were present beside them with a view to observing and study­ing the positions of the defenders of the Golden Temple Complex. But they could achieve little except hitting the Golden Temple and Guru Ram Das Langar building where Bhindranwale held his daily congregation.

2nd June

The Indian army had already completely sealed the international border right from Jammu and Kashmir to Ganga Nagar. At the same time at least seven divisions of army were extensively deployed in all villages of Pun­jab and the troops took up their predetermined positions. Tanks. Artillery and Armed Personnel Carriers (APC) were also pressed into service. By the nightfall media and the press were gagged: the rail. road and air services in Punjab were suspended. All channels of communications in the state were snapped. Foreigner's entry into Punjab was banned. In short Punjab was totally cut off from the rest of the country and the world. The whole state was completely besieged by the Armed Forces.

Military Rule was imposed and General Gauri Shankar was appointed as the Security Advisor to the Governor of Punjab. The civil administration and para military forces were placed under the control of the Army. It was actually an imposition of Martial Law in Punjab.

During the night the Army replaced CRPF and BSF around the Golden Temple Complex and besieged it com­pletely. Water supply and electric connections were com­pletely cut off to add to the miseries of the inhabitants of the Golden Temple Complex. It was perhaps the hot­test month of June in this century.

3rd June

The day dawned with the graveyard like silence in Punjab as no human being was visible on the streets, on the roads and in the village streets except the Army, CRPF. BSF personnel and the police who roamed about every where to ensure imposition of total Martial Law in the state.

Lt. General Krishna Swamy Sunderji, the General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Western Command, was made the overall in-charge of the Operation Blue Star. His immediate subordinate was Lt. General Ranjit Singh Dyal. They drew up the foolproof plan to carry out the military operation. They set up the Command Headquar­ters in the Kotwali opposite the main entrance of the Golden Temple Complex to execute and monitor the mili­tary attack on the magnificent Golden Temple Complex.

At Delhi, too. a Control Room was set up under the over all Command of Rajiv Gandhi to keep track of the battle. He was assisted by Arun Singh, his most trusted aide, and K.P. Singh Deo, the Deputy Defence Minister.

K.S. Brar was a clean shaven Sikh and, therefore, he could not be called a devout Sikh and so was Arun Singh, a scion of the ex-royal family ofKapurthala State. R.S. Dayal was allegedly a follower of the Nirankari Man-dal. the sect which is the sworn enemy of Dama Dami Taksal and Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Rajiv Gan-dhi's views about the Sikhs are well known.-He was a megalomaniac son of a megalomaniac mother and was always a strong votary of military action against the Sikhs and wanted to teach them a lesson. This was the wicked mental frame of the Hindu leaders who ruthlessly con­ducted and monitored the brutal military operation against the people whom they claim to be an integral part of their Hindu society. By late night the Army tightly and closely sealed all routs of ingress and exit around the Golden Temple Complex so that none could sneak in or out of the Complex,

Five Corps of the Army, the 10th. the 11th the 2nd, the 1st and 15th, were actively deployed to attack the Golden Temple Complex. These troops were selected from the crack fighting formations of the Army. Besides, there were two battalions of specially trained Commandos who were dressed in jet black uniforms, even their heads were covered with black helmets so as not to be spotted by the defenders of the Complex at night. All of the C6mmandos had put on bullet proof vases under the uniforms.

The army opened heavy fire on the positions of the defenders of the Complex but the Army was given a be­fitting reply. The exchange of fire continued incessantly throughout the night intervening 3rd and 4th June and ended in the morning in a stalemate. Neither side was victor nor vanquished. But the army was beaten back. While Sant Bhindranwale and his followers were defending the Golden Temple and Akal Takht with ex­ceptional courage and valour. Harchand Singh Longowal and his courteries hid themselves in the office of the Shi-romani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. They were surrounded by some of their supporters including Balwant Singh Ramuwalia, Bhan Singh and Abinashi Singh Asstt. Secretary ofShiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Commit­tee, Gurcharan Singh Secretary of Longowal Akali Dal and Bagga Singh Secretary ofShiromani Gurdwara Pra­bandhak Committee, were also present there. Bibi Amarjit Kaur, Chief of Akhand Kirtani Jatha and patron of Babar Khalsa, who had dubbed Sant Bhindranwale as a cow­ard, had also hid herself in the same room where other paper tigers had huddled themselves together. These self styled "brave" leaders were among those who had under­taken oath (Ardas) at Manji Sahib. Golden Temple, in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib to the effect that they shall defend the sacred shrine at the cost of their lives. They vowed if the Indian Army ever entered the Golden Temple Complex it will have to pass over their dead bod­ies. And when the time came to lay down their lives indefence of the sacred shrines they hid themselves like mice and anxiously waited for the Army to be rescued. Could they be called Sikhs of Guru Gobind Singh? These shameless traitors of the Khalsa Panth deserve examplary punishment as they have not only betrayed the Panth but also broken the Ardas so sacred to the Sikh religion.

4th June

The Indian Army. as already explained, had laid complete siege of the Golden Temple Complex on 3rd June. Army's Main Battle Tanks Vijayanta (MBT) fitted with the biggest and heavies) guns of 105 mm. heavy field artillery and Armed f^ersonnel Carriers had been posi­tioned all around and inside the Complex as though the Army had to fight a war with the Army of an enemy coun- try. The Sikh defenders of the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. at best, were armed with ordinary weapons like Light Machine Guns, Rifles and Carbines. They had how­ever high morale and were motivated and committed to die for their mission.

On the morning of 4th June the Indian Army bom­barded the historic Ramgarhia Bungas, the eighteenth century brick-laid towers, located near Guru Ram Das Langar and water tank. located behind the Guru Nanak Niwas. Other adjoining houses and buildings situated around the Complex were also bombarded heavily. Heavy artillery, which is used only in the open field.battle, was arrayed against the defenders of the Golden Temple Com­plex and deadly 25 pounder shells were fired at them. As a result the buildings around the Golden Temple Com­plex were reduced to rubbles, the Bungas and the water tank were blasted along with their occupants and their bodies were flung off in pieces all around. Bombardment by the Indian Army was so severe, so cruel, and so sav­age that not a single defender and other innocent Sikh occupants of the buildings survived. The casualties of in­nocent Sikh pilgrims who had been trapped there were enormous.

I saw these buildings about two weeks after the ter­rific bombardment which were razed to the fround. I was shocked to see the extant of cruelty and brutality com­mitted by the Indian Army on their own people. Perhaps the Army had treated the innocent Sikh victims as their enemies. And for that matter it is also doubted if the In­dian government had treated those victims as their own citizens.

The Army led by Ranjit Singh Dyal positioned the Vijayant Tanks and the Armed Personal Carriers (APC) 'on the road separating the Guru Nanak Niwas, Teja Singh Samundari Hall. Akal Rest House, and other buildings adjoining them. in such a formation that the Golden Tem- pie Complex was totally separated and cut off from the former. The Tanks and APCs virtually formed an iron wall between these two Complexes so that the Army could concentrate their monstrous attack on both the Complexes with full force.

When a word of total siege of Golden Temple reached the villages, thousands of Sikhs armed with their tradi­tional weapons like swords and spears and 12 bore guns, gathered in the nearby villages in order to march towards the Golden Temple with determination to liberate their sacred shrines from the diabolical hands of the Indian Army. Nearly fifty thousand Sikhs gathered in Golewal village about 25 kms from Amritsar and thirty thousand Sikhs converged from the side of Batala in Gurdaspur district. Besides twenty thousand Sikhs gathered near Chauk Mehta, the head quarters ofSant Bhindranwale. Other formations of twenty to thirty thousand Sikhs were marching from the side of Harike Pattan. a bridge built on the confluence of rivers Sutlej and Beas. The Army Helicopters spotted the massive movements of the Sikhs converging on Amritsar to free the Golden Temple from the siege laid by the Indian Army. The military officers on board of these helicopters sent wireless messages to the temporary headquarters of Lt. General K. Sunderji. He sent Battle Tanks, APCs and artillery to all directions where the Sikhs had gathered and wherefrom they were marching towards Amritsar with a clear order to check their advance by force. The Army killed hundreds of these Sikhs with canon fire and dispersed them and only then their advance was checked.

Interestingly, when Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindran­wale and his companions were bravely and courageously defending the Golden Temple and Akal Takht and lakhs of Sikhs from the villages were converging on Amritsar to free their sacred shrines, Gurcharn Singh Tohra emerged from his hideout and went to Sant Bhindran- wale in the Akal Takht to persuade the gallant defender of the faith of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh to surrender before the Army. It could not be supposed that Tohra went to the Sant voluntarily. Perhaps he was ne­gotiating the surrender of the Sant on behalf of the Cen­tral Government. That is why the Army, which had be­sieged the Complex, had not opened fire till he returned from the Akal Takht to his office.

When Tohra argued with Sant Bhindranwale tha< he could not match the tanks and heavy field guns he snubbed and reprimanded Tohra and dismissed his sug­gestion with contempt blaming him as an agent of the Indian government. Had Tohra wanted to fulfil his pledge to defend the Golden Temple, he would have sided with Sant Bhindranwale and remained with him in the Akal Takht to fight the Army. But he preferred to surrender.

Worse than Tohra's role was that ofHarchand Singh Longowal, the traitor, who kept himself hidden in the office of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Commit­tee till he was safely rescued by the Army on the inter­vening night of 5th & 6th June.

The savage onslaught of the Indian Army launched on 4th June was bravely and successfully repulsed by Sant Bhindranwale and his followers and the battle again ended in a stalemate. Well equipped Indian Army, the generals and the Indian government were stunned to see the extraordinary courage of a few motivated and com­mitted Sikhs defending their sacred shrine. The Army Generals had to change the strategy several times to win the battle at any cost irrespective of loss of life to be suf­fered by hundreds of innocent Sikh trapped in the Complex.

5th June

Major-General Kuldip Singh Brar, a clean-shaven .Sikh belonging to the caste of Sant Bhindranwale was chosen by the Indian government to launch a frontal at­tack on the Akal Takht, He was personally inimical to Sant Bhindranwale. for he was snubbed by him for hav­ing shaved his head and beard Thus carrying a personal malice against him. Major General Brar. Commander of the 9th Division which is considered.as a crack division of the Indian Army. launched a frontal attack on the Akal Takht. It was not the only Division that had taken part in the military operation. There were six divisions more. There were Madrasis from Tamil Nadu and Biharis from the Tribes of Central India, Dogras from Jammu & Kash­mir and Kumaonis and Garhwalis from Uttar Pradesh. Besides there were Rajputs from Rajasthan. There were Sikhs too whose presence was symbolical. The Sikhs were inducted by the Indian government for the purpose of publicity and to show the world that the Sikhs had also taken part in the attack. These few Sikhs however could not be called true Sikhs. They were mainly supporters of Narankaris and some of them were Mazhabis.

The main armaments used by the Army against Sant Bhindranwale and his supporters were :-
(i) 38 Ton Vijayanta Tank fitted with 105 mm heavy guns.
(ii) Heavy artillery including 25 pounder canons and Howitzers, mortars and 3.7 inch Howell guns.
(iii) Armoured Cars.
(iv) C)t64 Armoured Personnel Carriers-These are Polish built eight-wheeled mechanised carriers.
(v) Helicopers.

Carrying with him this heavy and sophisticated ar­maments to attack the Golden Temple Complex K Sunderji slyly said. "We went inside the premises of Golden Temple Complex with humility in our hearts and prayers on our lips?

This reminds one of a typical proverb used by (he Hindus. The proverb is '."Munh mein Ram Ram, Haghal mein Chhun"

(A man having name of God on his lips and hiding a dagger under his arm-pit).

They attacked the Golden Temple Complex never­theless with all malice in their hearts and cruelty in their minds. They continued incessant firing on the Akal Ta-kht and surrounding residential buildings throughout the day but failed to frighten the brave Lion, Sant Bhindran-wale and his fighters. They failed either to win the bat­tle. The battle of the day again ended in a stalemate. But the Indian Army was severely beaten.

When night fell the three experienced Generals, K. Sunderji, R.S. Dyal and K.S. Brar, put their heads to­gether desperately to chalk out a fresh strategy to sub­due the one brave General, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. They strained their nerves to fulfil the desire of Indira Gandhi. to capture Sant Bhindranwale dead or alive. This was the main and the only objective of Indira Gandhi which she had assigned to the Army. But this task was not easy. That is why the Generals were worried and so was Indira Gandhi.

The final strategy formulated by the three Gener­als was to launch frontal attacks on Akal Takht from all sides simultaneously. Specially trained Commandos from the 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, dressed in black denims, wearing bullet proof vases, were directed to force their entry from the main entrance of the Com­plex. But as soon as they stepped in. the Sikh defenders, positioned on either side of the entrance, gunned them down. The few who managed to flee towards Parkarma were taken care of by other defenders entrenched around the Akal Takht. Thus the Commandos, assault utterly failed. It looked impossible for the so-called brave Com­mandos to accomplish the task assigned to them. Now Brar was dismayed as he had failed to dislodge the hrave Sikh fighters from their positions. In order to accomplish his task he ordered his troops to fire stun-gas bombs at the Sikh defenders. These chemical weapons made the Sikh fighters semi-unconscious. It was only then that the Commandos could force their entry to the Clock Tower gate and shot the semi-unconscious Sikhs dead. Could it be called a fare war? Could it be called a bravery? It was all shame and nothing else.

Any way, when the Commandos, reinforced by the 10th Battalion of the Guards, known as another pride of the Indian Army, stepped in the Parkarma, they faced withering fire from all directions. It was remarkable plan­ning and strategy of General Shahbeg Singh which out manoeuvred all the three Generals of the Indian Army. The Sikh defenders trained and positioned by General Shahbeg Singh, mowed down these fresh Guards too. Thus the second assault was also repulsed by the brave Sikhs by inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers.

However the third assault carried out by about 200 Commandos and the same number of Guards succeeded to a limited extent when some of them managed to make their way in front of the Akal Takht. But no sooner did they reach the courtyard than they were gunned down by squads of defenders positioned inside the Akal Takht itself. The rest of them fled to safety. This was the battle scene on the North side or the main entrance of the Com­plex.

The Madrasis. who were ordered to enter the premises of Golden Temple Complex from the side of Sarais (Hostel Complex) failed to appear anywhere near the Parkarma. They were badly bashed by the lightly armed squads of the Sikh defenders positioned on the Southern side. Thus the strategy chalked out by the three Generals to effect the entry of the Commandos and Guards from northern side. and Madrasis and Gurhwalis, from the southern side simultaneously, and then to take up positions to attack the AkaS Takht was also foiled by the Sikh fighters.

The three Generals, Sunderji, Dyal-ji and Brar-ji, who had boasted before Indira Gandhi that they would capture Sant Bhindranwale dead or alive within two hours had to cut a sorry figure. They had taken three days i.e. 72 hours but they were nowhere near their ob­jective. They became frustrated and desperate. The same was the condition of Rajiv Gandhi, K.P. Singh Deo and Arun Singh who were anxiously waiting in the Delhi Con­trol Room to hear some "good news" Indira Gandhi was perhaps most nervously waiting for that news. She had instructed her Generals to accomplish the job assigned to them at all cost and without further loss of time. But it was easier said than done.

Sunderji and Dyal, now furious, ordered the Com­mandos to launch the fourth assault. This time the Gen­eral reinforced the beaten Madrasis with two more com­panies of the 7th Garhwal Rifles and placed'them under the command of Brar. Their objective was to push their way inside the premises of the Golden Temple Complex from the South entrance but Madrasis and Garhwalis were again badly beaten back by the Sikh fighters.

A braggart Brigadier A. K. Diwan was commanding the Madrasis and the Garhwalis. Seeing his soldiers badly beaten he requested Brar for further reinforcement of his troops who had suffered heavy casualties. Brar sent him two companies of the 15th Kumaonis. Reinforced by the fresh troops Diwan made repeated assaults in order to storm the Akal Takht but each time his troops were forced to flee. Finding that the Akal Takht was impregnable for the Indian Army and feeling that Sant Bhindranwale was invincible. Brigadier Diwan asked General Brar to allow him to use Vijayant Tanks to blast the Akal Takht. He pleaded if he was not permitted to use Battle Tanks his troops traped in the battle field would be finished in no time as they looked like sitting ducks before the Sikh fighters.

It is pertinent to note that the troops of the Indian Army were repeatedly reinforced with fresh soldiers who had been provided with all comforts of life. They were also equipped with the most sophisticated weapons avail­able in the world. On top of this, they had outnumbered the Sikh defenders thousand times. Still they were kept at bay by a handful of Sikh fighters.

On the other hand the Sikh defenders were confined inside the parched buildings and that, too. in the scorch­ing heat which was at peak in the 1st week of June. 1984. They had nothing to eat but roasted grains, nothing to drink but their sweat. They spent sleepless nights with­out rest. They had no provisions and no source of rein­forcement of troops as the Army had. They had no so­phisticated weapons to match armoury of the Indian Armed Forces. They did not sleep since 1st June. Natu­rally. in such circumstances ordinary men are bound to become weary and teary. But they were not ordinary men, they were the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh. inspired and resurrected by Sant Bhindranwale and trained by Gen­eral Shahbeg Singh. Inspite of all this atrocious life they remained dauntless and valiant warriors. They remained unfrightened and unshaken. Heavy bombardment and incessant firing,by-guns could not demoralise them. Had they been equipped with the weapons like the Vijayanta Tanks, heavy field guns and artillery as the Indian Army had been equipped with. what would have been the re­sult of the battle? Had this been the case the Sikh fight­ers must have chased the Indian Army beyond Vamuna river. Thai is why General Brar pitiably explained to Lt. General Sunderji. the hopeless condition of his fighting troops.

"That infantry was in danger of being massacred. The infantry just cannot carry on doing the impossible task. 1 should be allowed local! up tanks to bombard and blast the Akal Takht."

Sunderji contacted Delhi where a special Control Room had been set up to keep track of the battle. K.f. Singh Deo, Deputy Defence Minister, and Arun Singh were present there to assist Rajiv Gandhi, who was over­all in-charge of monitoring Operation Blue Star. Rajiv Gandhi in turn discussed with her mother Indira Gan­dhi, who called in the Army Chief A.S. Vaidya. A quick decision was taken and permission was given to Sunderji to use whatever armament was effective to subdue Sant Bhindranwale. This blanket order included use of even jet bomber to blast off the Akal Takht if the Main Battle Tanks Vijayanta failed to achieve the assigned objective.

Even before the final orders were received from Indira Gandhi seven Vijayanta tanks were already posi­tioned inside the Golden Temple Complex. As soon as a "go ahead" signal was given to General Brar he ordered the tank operators to bombard the Akal Takht,

The Vijayyanta tanks fitted with 105 mm guns fired hundreds of high-explosive squash-head shells at the Akal Takht and blasted the sacred shrine, the highest seat of Sikh authority, during the night of 5th & 6th June 1984. The whole front of the Akal Takht was destroyed and hardly a pillar was left standing. The adjoining build­ings were also bombarded and razed to the ground. Even "Darshni Deori" and "Tosha Khana" were destroyed.

A simultaneous Operation under the command of K. Sunderji was being carried on in the Hostel Complex where the traitor, Harchand Singh Longowal and his cow­ardly stooges, had hid themselves. The main objective of this Operation was to secure the safety of Longowal and perhaps Gurcharan Singh Tohra and to escort ihem out safely. There was a discernible difference of obieclives in the two sided operation simultaneously carried on! in the Golden Temple Complex. The main objective of'thp mili­tary operation conducted in the Akal Takht was to en- sure the physical liquidation of Sant Bhindranwale whereas the objective of other operation was to ensure the safety of Longowal. This act of the Indian govern­ment proved beyond doubt that Longowal was acting as an agent of the Congress government while Sant Bhin­dranwale was gallantly defending the Golden Temple Complex and as such he was identified as the enemy of the Indian government.

As the main gate. fortified by iron gate, had blocked the way to the Hostel Complex, the Army had to bring in the battle tank to crash the gate. After smashing the iron-gate Armoured Cars were driven in and positioned on the road separating the two Complexes. Then followed the 9th Kumaonis and (he commandos wearing bullet proof vases. As soon as the troops moved in they came under heavy firing from the roof-tops on both sides of the road. The resistance was not as tough as was met by the Army inside the Golden Temple Complex. Therefore the troops managed to enter (he Hostel Complex where the traitor of the Sikh Panth. Longowal, along with his hoodlings, had huddled himself in the office room of Gurcharan Singh Tohra. When the Commandos entered the office all those who had hidden themselves there surrendered meekly by raising their arms above their heads. Among those who had surrendered by raising arms were Harch-and Singh LongowaL Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Bhan Ssngh, Balwant Singh Ramuwalia and Abinashi Singh, Assistant Secretary ofShiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee Surprisingly Harmander Singh Sandhu. Gen-oral Secretary of.MSSF, was also present in the office of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee who, too. surrendered himself along with Longowal. The fact that Longowal and Tohra had surrendered by raising their arms above iheir heads was later confirmed by Abinashi Singh and Nazar Singh. a personal bodyguard of Tohra whom 1 incidentally met in the Central jail Ludhiana in August 1984.

Nazar Singh told me the whole story about Tohra's activities beginning from 2nd June to 5th June 1984 till the latter had surrendered himself at about 2 A.M. on 6th June.

After surrendering themselves Tohra and Longowal were separated from others and were taken to a safer place. The remaining lot was left behind. They were made to sit in the compound where sudden firing was opened and a hand grenade was also thrown. There were at least seventy casualties of the Sikhs. Among the dead were some female and children. It was confirmed by Nazar Singh that the troops had opened fire killing seventy per­sons and wounding many others. He too suffered two bullet injuries, one in the leg and an other in the upper arm.

Interestingly Gurcharan Singh, Office Secretary, and Bagga Singh, a staunch critic of Sant Bhindranwale, were not killed by the troops. They were shot dead by supporters of Sant Bhindranwale. Thus both the traitors were punished.

It is disgusting to note that Longowal, had vowed repeatedly in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib at Manji Sahib. Amritsar, to defend the Golden Temple Complex if it was attacked by the army, but when the sacred shrine was actually attacked he surrendered without making a fuss and walked over the dead bodies of his own people. Thus ended the terrible night of 5(h June 1984.

6th June

At dawn pounding of the Akal Takht by Vijayanta tanks ceased and with it ceased partial firing from inside the Akal Takht because emplacement set up by the mili­tants had been shattered by heavy bombardment.

Para 28 of "While (Lie) Paper on Punjab agitation published by the Government of India mentions that the Army had taken control of the Akal Takht by 12.30 P.M. on 6th June and that only the ground floor and the base­ment were yet to be captured. Then para 30 reads. "The continued resistance from the ground floor and the base­ment of the Akal Takht was tackled during the night of June, 6-7. This statement completely stands at variance with the actual account given by the eye witnesses^ And that dead bodies ofSant Bhindranwale and Bhai Amrik Singh were found on the ground floot on 7th June.

Hari Singh, Sevadar in Golden Temple, along with 30 other persons had been hiding in the Kotha Sahib where Guru Granth Sahib is solemnly laid to rest in the Akal Takht every evening. It was a miracle that this Kotha Sahib, despite heavy bombardment, suffered com­paratively little damage although it is situated in the front of the Akal Takht. Hari Singh says that at about 7.30 A.M. on 6th June Bhai Amrik Singh entered Kotha Sahib and told them to leave the room as now they (the defenders) could not match h-pavy bombardment by the tanks brought in by the Indian Army. About a few min­utes later Sant Bhindranwale alongwith nearly forty fol­lowers entered that room. He prayed before the Akal Ta­kht and then addressed his followers, "Those who want to attain martyrdom may stay with me and others should leave the Akal Takht."

When Sant Bhindranwale left the room his forty supporters followed him. Bhai Amrik Singh was one of them. They raised war slogan of the Khalsa "Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Siri Akal" and then rushed out of the Akal Takht in order to pounce upon the Army. The troops who had been keeping a strict eye on the Akal Takht fired bursts of machine guns at them. Some of them were hit and killed Among those martyrs was Bhai Amrik Singh. There was another burst of machine guns which took life of a dozen more. The rest of (he militants escaped and went lo I he residence of Bhai Ram Singh, one of the priests of the Golden Temple. His house is situated be­hind the Akal Takht. Those dozen followers ofSant Bhin­dranwale changed their traditional clothes there and dis­appeared wearing bushirts and trousers. They told Bhai Ram Singh and Pritam Singh. another priest who had hid himself there, that Bhai Amrik Singh had attained martyrdom. They however asserted that Sant Bhindran-wale was not among those who were hit by bullets. Some of the enthusiastic followers of Bhindranwale proudly said that if they had seen the Sant hit or martyred, they would have never left that place and would have preferred to die there and then. Where Sant Bhindranwale disap­peared they did not know. There was a dense smoke emit­ted by heavy bombardment and fire that broke out all around the Akal Takht. They explained that due to dense layers of smoke visibility was poor. Therefore, they could not see anything including the Sant.

The Bridge of Sighs

Any way, it is a fact that the Army was in full con­trol of both the Complexes on 6th June. Major General Brar, who was present inside the Temple Complex, or­dered the infuriated and blood thirsty soldiers to search all the rooms situated around the Parkarma and the ad­joining buildings. The soldiers went berserk and threw hand grenades inside the rooms and blasted every inmate. The rooms which were bolted from inside were broken open by machine gun fire and the Sikh pilgrims found there were shot dead. Those Sikhs who surrendered or were seized from other buildings, including the Hostel Complex, were lined up and gunned down. These inno­cent victims of army, wrath were the pilgrims who had come to observe the martyrdom day of Guru Arjun who had fondly built the holy shrine surrounded by the Saro-var. The Army mercilessly killed even children and women. Some survivors told me later that young women and girls were raped by the army and some of them were killed. Some of them, however, escaped and told their woeful stories. One young woman of about 20 years who alongwith other women was confined in the Central Jail Ludhiana narrated me a horrible tale of terror. Her hus­band had bought a new truck. A male child was born to her a couple of months before. Her husband, therefore, took, his whole family, including their grand mother, to the Golden Temple for paying obeisance. They were four­teen in number. All of them except this young woman and the grand mother of about 80 years, were shot dead by the savage soldiers. Her two months old child was hit by a bullet and killed while he was in her arms. She was raped and then taken to the army camp. Another mar­ried young girl, who was also lodged in Ludhiana jail, was gang raped by the army.

Another tale of error was narrated by a young Sikh woman teacher of the Khalsa School, Paunta Sahib. She alongwith her two colleagues, one male and another fe­male teacher, had brought in a bus 65 students, ranging between six and fourteen years, to the Golden Temple Complex on 2nd June 1984 to observe the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev. They were trapped there when the Army had imposed strict-curfew. As they had no way to escape they all huddled themselves in a hall in the Sarai Complex. The blood thirsty army mercilessly mowed down 33 children alongwith the male teacher on the night in­tervening 4th and 5th June. The rest of them miracu­lously survived the bullets. The young female teacher, who had narrated the horrible story in the Central Jail Ludhiana. was raped by the Army personnel and her other colleague was taken away to unknown place. 1 met the 32 surviving students of tender age in the jail who were terror-stricken and still looked frightened. I was stunned on listening the terrific tale of terror. 1 could never im­agine that the Indian Army could be so cruel, so brute. and so monstrous.

I reported this matter to the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana district and pleaded with him that these in­nocent children, who had experienced the horrible trauma, should be immediately released from the jail but he had expressed his inability saying that the Army was not inclined to set them free. Then I sought his permis­sion to release them myself by exercising my power in the capacity of Special Magistrate for State of Punjab, which powers the state government had vested in me during the emergency to enable me then to deal with the detainees belonging to different districts of Punjab. The D.C. was reluctant to give me a formal concurrence. Thereafter some noble lawyers filed a petition in the Su­preme Court for gross violation of human rights by the government. The Supreme Court accepted the petition and ordered the release of these innocent children with immediate effect. Only then they were released

Were these children offender age extremist or ter­rorist?

When the curfew was lifted in the evening on 6th June for two hours several hundred pilgrims who had been hiding themselves in the Sarais and other adjoining buildings came out to set out for their destinations but all of them were captured by the army. Their hands were tied with their turbans and they were .taken to the side of library building. There they were shot dead indiscrimi­nately. The killing spree by the savage army continued till 7th June.

The Indian Army threw powerful incendiary bombs in the rooms and Halls of the Hostel Complex and killed all the occupants. The intensity of the bombardment was borne out by the facts that the steel almirhas and other steel furniture were charred and twisted by the impact of the blast. Even the ceiling fans were charred and their wings were twisted by the fire caused by the bombs The bombardment directed at the multistoreyed buildings behind the Akai Takht was so sever that all the buildings were razed to the ground. The fact of heavy and fierce bombardment was borne out by the fallen heavy .steel girders which were found twisted. I saw the whole horrible scene of frightful destruction all around. two weeks after the Operation Blue Star was over.

The army Generals lied by saying that they did not fire a single short at the Golden Temple, I myself counted at least 250 holes caused by gunfire inside the Golden Temple. Virtually there was no room or building in the Golden Temple which did not have bullet holes.

Destruction of the Akai Takht was an attempt to destroy the will and spirit of Khalsa Panth. And each bullet fired at the Akai Takht and the Golden Temple wounded heart of each member of the Khalsa Panth. In short Sikh nation lay wounded, with of course the excep­tion of traitors such as Longowal. Balwant Singh and the like.

7th June

The main military operation ended in the morning of 7th June. The day followed with setting afire the li­brary building which had preserved invaluable histori­cal works, manuscripts of the Sikh Gurus and other reli­gious scriptures like Guru Granth Sahib. The army set afire the library building on 7th June deliberately. It is a white lie to say (hat it caught fire accidentally by cross firing between the Army and the militant Sikhs. And it is an absurd and a vulgar lie to add that when the Indian army tried to put down the fire the Sikh militants had fired at them and prevented them from extinguishing the fire. Who would himself destroy invaluable religious scrip­tures of their own faith written by their Gurus9 This very idea looks absurd and obnoxious.

Brutalities committed by the Indian Army on the Sikhs during Operation Blue Star. were shocking and ter­rific. Innocent Sikhs old, young and children, were mer­cilessly slaughtered. Women were raped by the soldiers. Valuable articles like T.V. sets. VCR. refrigerators and other electronic gadgets, besides ornaments of gold and diamonds, were looted and usurped by the Army. Not less than 4 quintals of gold was seized and usurped by the Army from the Tosha Khana and the Complex.

This gold comprised the offerings and gifts pre­sented by the devotees. All soldiers and some officers of the Indian Army carried away everything and anything which they happened to lay hand at.

It has been mentioned earlier that the army dia­bolically massacred the Sikhs. The total number of Sikhs killed including the pilgrims could not be less than five thousand. The buildings around the Golden Temple Com­plex destroyed by bombardment were nearly seven hun­dred. This is the most conservative estimate of casual­ties.

The dead bodies were lying scattered everywhere. The soldiers did not lift the corpses. Instead the Army asked the Municipal authorities to employ their sweep­ers to remove the dead bodies but the latter refused to oblige them. Tney. however, wily nilly agreed to lift the dead bodies only after accepting bottles of rum. The sweepers were also allowed to remove wrist watches, gold rings and other ornaments from the dead bodies. They then loaded the corpses in the trolleys like gunny bags which were then taken out side the city. They piled up the corpses and burnt them together. No formal rituals were performed. This was the shabby respect shown by the Indian government to the dead bodies.

No proper postmortem of the dead bodies was con­ducted. However to give an impression that postmortem was done. about a hundred bodies were carried to the mortuaries where doctors from the neighbouring districts had already been summoned. The doctors completed the formalities on the papers. Some of the doctors whom I later contacted confirmed that some dead bodies had their hands tied behind their back. and some bore marks of ropes and turbans on their arms. Still some dead bodies had their turbans tied around their hands but knots be­hind their backs were opened. One doctor told me that he found a young Sikh still breathing and yet he was brought by the army for postmortem. The doctor explained to the officer in-charge deputed for the purpose that the youth should be taken to the operation theatre for imme­diate treatment. The army officer of course took away the breathing young man, shot him dead and brought the corpse back any told the doctor "Look here. he is dead. The doctor was shocked as he had heard the gunfire out­side the mortuary.

Could the acts of devils and monsters be more cruel and brutal than the ones committed by the Indian Army? Yes of course the soldiers and officers of the Army sur­passed the monsters. Some of the senior army officers naively tried to justify such savage and barbaric acts by arguing that the soldiers had lost their temper because of unusually heavy casualties they had suffered at the hands of the militant Sikhs during the operation Blue Star. How shameful the argument is ! Had the army not killed thousands of Sikhs including innocent pilgrims?

It is a white lie published in the White Paper by the Indian government that the army did not kill any woman, child, or innocent Sikh: and that no bullet was fired at the Golden Temple, sanctum sanctorum. To fur­ther justify monstrous acts committed by the Army the government shamelessly accused that the militant Sikhs during Operation Blue Star had also committed brutali­ties on the army personnel. How ridiculous this proposi­tion looks. The victors always write history in their own favour and depict their adversary in dark, 8th June

Giani Zai] Singh. the first sucker Sikh President of India, paid a visit to the Golden Temple Complex on 8th June 1984 under tight security arrangements made by the Army. He was dressed in a spotless white Achikin and Churidar Pyjama. The only 'blot' on his snow white, shining, dress was a red rose hung on the left side of his Achikin. He was roaming around in the Complex clasp­ing "red rose" as though he had gone to attend a mar­riage 'party. He must have witnessed the horrible scene there. The blood stained rooms, the blood stained Parkarma around the Sarovar were still visible here and there although the Army had washed away all these places before his visit. He must have seen the Akal Ta-kht reduced to rubbles by heavy and intensive bombard­ment and heavily damaged Darshni Deori as well as bul­let holes in the Golden Temple. He must have witnessed •the destruction of surrounding buildings and debris scat­tered all around in the Parkarma and outside the Com­plex. He must have smelt the stench emitted by the de­composed bodies of thousands of Sikhs. Seeing all these horrible acts of savagery he was not visibly moved. What he said to the Governor B.D. Pande was "Wherefrom such a large number of weapons happened to be smuggled in by the extremists and brought to the Golden Temple Com­plex. Did you lend your eyes and ears to some one else."

Astonishingly, he did not bother about the destruc­tion of Akal Takht and other buildings. Nor did he brother about the brutalities committed by the Army. He did not question why the army used main battles tanks Vijyanta and heavy field guns to destroy the Akal Takht and blast off hundreds of Sikhs.

The weapons Giani Singh had talked about, were not those recovered from the militants. These were brand new weapons arranged by the Army to give a false impression that the extremists were heavily armed. When those.

8th June

Giani Zai] Singh. the first sucker Sikh President of India, paid a visit to the Golden Temple Complex on 8th June 1984 under tight security arrangements made by the Army. He was dressed in a spotless white Achikin and Churidar Pyjama. The only 'blot' on his snow white, shining, dress was a red rose hung on the left side of his Achikin. He was roaming around in the Complex clasp­ing "red rose" as though he had gone to attend a mar­riage 'party. He must have witnessed the horrible scene there. The blood stained rooms, the blood stained Parkarma around the Sarovar were still visible here and there although the Army had washed away all these places before his visit. He must have seen the Akal Ta-kht reduced to rubbles by heavy and intensive bombard­ment and heavily damaged Darshni Deori as well as bul­let holes in the Golden Temple. He must have witnessed •the destruction of surrounding buildings and debris scat­tered all around in the Parkarma and outside the Com­plex. He must have smelt the stench emitted by the de­composed bodies of thousands of Sikhs. Seeing all these horrible acts of savagery he was not visibly moved. What he said to the Governor B.D. Pande was "Wherefrom such a large number of weapons happened to be smuggled in by the extremists and brought to the Golden Temple Com­plex. Did you lend your eyes and ears to some one else."

Astonishingly, he did not bother about the destruc­tion of Akal Takht and other buildings. Nor did he brother about the brutalities committed by the Army. He did not question why the army used main battles tanks Vijyanta and heavy field guns to destroy the Akal Takht and blast off hundreds of Sikhs.

The weapons Giani Singh had talked about, were not those recovered from the militants. These were brand new weapons arranged by the Army to give a false impression that the extremists were heavily armed. When those weapons were telecasted they looked brand new and were shining. The weapons possessed by the militants were either damaged by heavy bombardment or some of them were carried by those who had escaped. The weapons re­covered from them ought to be old and damaged.

Anyway Giani Zail Singh's remark was not strange. He was expected to use any language against the mili­tants. He is the same Giani Zail Singh who, before elec­tion to the institution of President of India, had declared publicly, "I am prepared to sweep the room of Indira Gandhi with a broomstick if she orders me to do so." If this man could stoop so low, what else could be expected of him. Sant Bhindranwale rightly said about him that he was a Sikh of Indira Gandhi and not of Guru Gobind Singh. The Giani by his selfishness proved that he was really the Sikh of Indira Gandhi who is a slur on Sikhism. He gave explanation to Jathedar Kripal Singh and oth­ers that he being a constitutional head of the state could not do anything. In order words he meant to say that he could not prevent attack by the Indian Army on the Akal Takht. If he was so helpless, he could have resigned in protest against the military operation. His resignation might have forced Indira Gandhi to reconsider her deci­sion to send Armed Forces to invade the Golden Temple Complex. Did he resign? Well, he did not. But when he had seen horrible destruction of the Akal Takht and other buildings, and learnt about merciless massacre of Sikh pilgrims, he should have resigned there and then and atoned his sins.

The last moments of Sant Bhindranwale

As Hari Singh, a sewadar, said that Sant Bhindran­wale had appeared in the Kotha Sahib of the Akal Takht between 7,30 A.M. to 8 A.M. on 7th June and.prayered before Guru Granth Sahib, it seems that by that moment the Sant was alive. He left Kotha Sahib after 8 A.M. along with some of his followers and proceeded to the ground floor or the basement of the Akal Takht to carry on fight against the Army. However this version given by Hari Singh is contradicted by the government controlled T.V. and Radio network. The news bulletin broadcast by the T.V. at 8 A.M. on 7th June had announced that the dead bodies of Sant Bhindranwale and Bhai Amrik Singh were found in the basement of the Akal Takht. It is clear that one of these versions lacks credibility. It however appears from all accounts that statement, in this regard given by Hari Singh carries weight. Para 30 of the White Paper published by the Indian government throws some light on this issue. Para 30 reads as follows :

"The continued resistance from the ground floor and the basement of the Akal Takht was tackled during the night of June 6-7. When this resistance was "finally" over­come the troops commenced a thorough search of the ground floor and the basement. The bodies of Shri Bhin­dranwale and Amrik Singh were found among 34 other bodies on the ground floor of the Akal Takht."

The word "finally" used in the second sentence is very important as it clearly indicates that the fight in the ground floor and the basement of the Akal Takht was continuing in the morning of 7th June or continued even later. Here, testimony of captain Harcharan Singh, brother of Sant Bhindranwale, is very significant. He said that body of his brother, which was lying on the ice slab insi'de the main entrance, of Golden Temple Complex was shown to him by the military authorities at about 3.30 P.M. on 7th June and that it was beyond recognition. The statement of the doctor who had prepared the postmor­tem report of Sant Bhindranwale corroborated the testi­mony of Harcharan Singh by saying that the deceased's right face was so badly iniured and disfigured by bomb-blast that it was tveyond identification or recognition.

Time of postmortem mentioned in the postmortem report is 8 P.M. whereas the body was taken to the mor­tuary at 7,30 P.M. It means that the alleged postmortem was conducted after 8 P.M. But this fact, too, stands to­tally falsified by the statements of the Deputy Commis­sioner, Superintendent of Police ofAmritsar district, and Director of Health Services Punjab government who were present at the time of cremation of Sant Bhindranwale. They categorically stated that the cremation had taken place much before the sunset on 7th June. Hence it can be concluded that actually no postmortem of Sant Bhin­dranwale was conducted and only formal report was pre­pared by the doctors. The doctors had later confirmed this fact. The Sant had sustained more than a dozen bullet injuries all over his body besides having his right face blasted off. It is, therefore, amply proved that he had at­tained martyrdom while fighting the Army in the Akal Takht some times after 8 A.M. on 7th June 1984. There­fore. the rumours spread or assertions made by some cynic Hindu Press reporters or writers that the Sant had sur­rendered himself before the army on the 6th or 7th June and then he was shot dead are all rubbish and absurd. Such mischievous elements have maliciously tried to de­molish and belittle the heroic sacrifice of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Inspite of the proven fact that Sant Bhindranwale had attained martyrdom I thought it advisable before writing this book to seek advice from Baba eloginder Singh. father of the Sant. He emphatically said that the Sant was in "Charhdi Kala". that is "he was alive and in high spirits." Similar was the assertion made by Baba Thakar Singh. Acting Jathedar of Dam Dmi Taksal. Their mystic expression perhaps reflect their firm belief in immortality of the soul and also that a martyr never dies. he lives for ever and ever. Therefore im­mortal soul of Sant Bhindranwale will dwell in the hearts of the Khalsa and will inspire them to live with dignity and die with honour.