There is still another aspect of the Operation Bluestar whether this Operation can be sustained on legal grounds, if not, whether those who were interested in their place of worship, had the right to defend it against an attack.
In early June 1984 the government forces attacked the golden temple in Amritsar on the pretext of flushing out terrorists. The attack was planned well in advance and was not in decision taken late in the day because there was no other alternative. In october 1983, the Indian Army selected 600 men from different units and sent the to rehearse the assault on a replica of the Golden temple at a secret training camp in the Chakrata Hills about 150 miles north of Delhi: 2 officers of the RAW, the Indian secret service, were sent to London to seek expertise from the SAS (see the report by Mary Anne Weaver in the Sunday Times 1984)
“I have many unpalatable truths to tell. Bear with me till I have finished; thereafter you will be more then welcome to refute them if you can. Although I a only a nominated Member of this House, I make bold to assert that I speak on behalf of 14 million of your fellow citizens known as Sikhs. I go further: what you have heard, and may hear from other Sikh members of the Ruling Congress party does not echo the sentiment of the community.
Pritam Kaur was married to Rashpal Singh who was Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's P.A. and was arrested in operation Blue Star and was tortured and sent to prison for 4 years and then released in 1988. The harrasment continued even after release. Her 3 brother were taken away by the Police and killed. Her story is tear-rendering.
Widespread Sikh demands for an independent state rather than just greater autonomy under a reformed federalist India are a relatively new phenomenon. The actions of the central state have been key to the shift from communal self-awareness and religious revival, to linguistic ethnonationalism, to secessionism.
