Operation Blue Star was as much a story of incompetence as it was about incredible military courage. The Indian Army generals misread and miscalculated. As did Bhindranwale.
Covering a most brutal fratricidal war for a decade, I had never imagined returning to a serendipitous Sri Lanka as a tourist without fear, writes Shekhar Gupta, Editor in Chief, ThePrint.
The claim that VB-GRAMG provides an employment guarantee is incorrect. The only guarantee is to 'empower' the Centre to allow partial implementation in notified areas alone.
It is argued that India-Israel ties are moving from buyer–seller dynamic to one focused on joint development & manufacturing partnership, a shift 'more durable' than traditional arms sales.
Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.
The casualties were horrible no doubt, but the Indian Govt. did what had to be done, they had to take out the militant terrorists inside no matter what to prevent the immense future possibilities of terrorism. That being said those people should be commemorated and we should still honor those lost in the battle (civilians).
Obviously biased article.
1. No mention that all corruption charges on general shabdh singh were false and we’re thrown out by supreme court.
2. No mention of gen s k sinha and how he was denied the promotion because he did not support the invasion of the golden temple
3. Honourable Indian army conduct is well.documemted in North East but he ignores it but cannot believe the statements of eye witnesses.
Agreed the arya samaj movement has poisoned their mind
Sikhs are a weird people, during British rule, they licked the boots of the British and were 30 percent of the British Army, serving a foreign colonial army for a few coins, they sood out the Hindus. When the Indian revolt of 1857 happened, Sikh soldiers volunteered on the side of the Biritish tok ill Hindus nad Muslim freedom fighters. Sikh troops brutalised freedom fighters in Meerut , Agra and LUcknow , killing women, men and children. Even after Jallianwalla bagh, the sikhs continued to dominate the police and mili arty in British India. General Dyer who killed so many innocent Sikh women and children was given a Honourable retirement in England, but poor Vaidya the Banis was killed in Pune. The British rewarded the slavish sikhs by constructing the canal colonies and irrigating Punjab, making the Punjab farmer extremely wealthy, when the rest of India was poor. After independence, due to fractured land holdings and pesticide overuse, Sikh farmers lost money and farming was no longer lucrative. Hence nowadays, Sikh youth spend their time taking drugs, playing with firearms, cutting Bhangra Videos and most popular vocation, illegal immigration. At last count, a shopping 60 percent of India’s illegal immigrants come from the Punjab. Since generally Punjabis are low IQ, they have not succeeded in new age IT or Space or Atomic industries dominated by the Hindus , hence the Sikh resentment grows.
And conveniently we choose to forget that the Hindus, comprising of Bengal and Madras Regiments for over 100 years partnered with British to conquer the entire geography to make it a dominion of British India. The only country that remained independent was the Punjab, which the very same Bengal, Purbia and Madras Regiments helped British fight in the 2 Anglo Sikh War. India was never India but many states that were conquered by divide and conquer policy. Sikhs served the least number of years under the British Army and were the first to revolt in 50 years.
You can’t say Sikhs have low IQ, because religion doesn’t matter. You have to think about facts, Hindus make up 79.8% of India’s, so obviously they would be more Hindu’s succeeding in all fields (IT, farming etc.) because of the mass population. You can not say who is smart and who is dumb based on religion or where they are from. Each person is different and no matter what someone’s religion, sex, race, age is, treat everyone equally because we are all humans. Don’t judge anyone based on their culture or religion!
?read history. Around Ahmed shah abdali tenure. U will find
What about hindu traitors who licked mughals and other foreign rulers for 1500 years
Nice piece by Shekhar. I think (unlike others here) it is fair and balanced–but then, what do I know? I’m not a Sikh, so I may not have the same ‘feeling’. Only, I wish Shekhar had alongside mentioned the subsequent two Operation Black Thunders to show how things could have been better handled in Bluestar. I believe, they simply cut off all supplies into the Temple, including water and electricity and waited out the militants. I wonder why such a simple and sensible approach was not followed during Bluestar, and I’d like to know what Shekhar thinks about it.
The BIGGEST “Bloody miscalculation” of all was that by Indira Gandhi, who had used Bhindranwale when she pitched him and his entourage into the Punjab tumult to contain the unrest and take control of the government. He turned into a Frankenstein monster who Indira could not control and the situation snowballed into ‘Operation Blue Star’ ‘ and later, led to her own assassination.
So biased as expected. Why the heck they start preparing for invasion 18 months ago in Jakarta when Sikhs in punjab were holding peaceful strikes for basic demands. Why the heck the y attacked another 38 Guru Dwara Sahibs all around punjab?? Do terrorists give call to save women of everyone no matter to which religion she belonged? Go and learn the definition of terrorist first…. Saint ji never give a call to kill any innocent but what about your gandhi??
There is literally a video of him giving a speecb where he says ” if you dont give me my bus back I will kill 5000 hindus” . There is also Baljit Kaur, the woman who killed Sodhi, she was tortured, raped and killed by “Sant Ji”s men. like every human being the writer has a bias but so do you.
Mr Shekhar Gupta mentions 9 Kumaon
as being supposedly responsible for many “unnecessary and random ” killing. Though he has left an escape route saying that this could not be confirmed, May l humbly state that you have caused grave damage to the reputation of the battalion and the army at large. Army units are not at liberty to go public with press statements and Maj Palta of 9 Kumaon is dead, leaving him no chance to defend himself and the unit from this allegation. In the fog of fighting in such absolutely difficult conditions, collateral damages are inevitable,though not desirable by any standards.
It is more than 34 yrs now after this very sad episode. Mr Shekhar Gupta”s “revelation” has only served to open fresh wounds and make many youngsters of their army.
1. Why does Shekhar Gupta distrust the dozens of survivors who tell of deliberate killing of captured pilgrims by Kumaon Regt, but willingly believes everything the Army said as gospel truth? Because, while attempting to present a fair version, his anti-Sikh bias comes to the fore. But after reading his article, what with VIJAYANTA TANKS, ARTILLERY & THREE GENERALS, I am convinced the Jallianwala massacre was kids play compared to op Blue Star.
It was not that the Army was not informed about the steadfastness of Bhindranwale. It is on record that while Brar was boasting of his men’s ferociousness in the meeting prior to the attack, Gurdev Singh, DC, Amritsar and a DIG of BSF, both Sikhs, tried to correct him and told him that Bhindranwale would not surrender. But he boasted of a short action for success. It is a pity that instead of hauling him up in a court martial for his incompetence and resultant massacre of innocents, he is being labelled a hero. But he is a dear friend of Shekhar. On the other hand, Gurdev Singh was sent on compulsory leave for not signing/authorising (the death warrant of thousands in) the attack and the DIG of BSF was harassed in departmental actions for the rest of his service. Ultimately, Ramesh Inder Singh was made DC, Amritsar by giving him lollypop of change of IAS cadre to Punjab. PS Badal later made him Chief Secretary of Punjab (for meekly being an instrument for massacre of innocent Sikh pilgrims ?).
While all mediamen were disallowed Shekhar Gupta was given the opportunity to watch the spectacle of fireworks. He is rightly lamenting the fact that the military did not finish off the militants instantly with a sledge hammer and thereby afforded him a grand view. He has got examples of cruelty of the militants to narrate as told to him by the army men but he “tried every source possible but could never confirm” “the deliberate massacre” of Sikh pilgrims though he states “Many Sikh survivors, including some priests, back the deliberate massacre story. But my sources in the Army always insist that this was just murderous confusion caused by the militants.” He does not believe the survivors even ! He is not to blame.
He is a Punjabi Hindu. Gujarat is a State of Banias in the same way as England is a “nation of shopkeepers”. We all know how much cunning the Banias develop owing to their occupational experiences. While the turban-wearing Sikhs of Punjab were deceived by a bald Gujarati named MK Gandhi who succeeded in subsuming their grand struggle against the British in his so-called freedom struggle, the naked-headed Punjabi Hindus were befooled by a turban-wearing Gujarati named Dayanand who, in order to take Punjabi Hindus away from the influence of Sikh tenets, converted them to Arya Samajis. This way, the two famous Gujaratis played havoc with the social harmony in Punjab.
Shekhar calls the political blunder of the establishment of India a miscalculation and attributes miscalculation to Bhindranwale also. It means he could not understand his stand that he did not demand Khalistan but if the Indian Govt. attacked Darbar Sahib, it would amount to laying foundation stone of Khalistan. Where is Bhindranwale’s hope or wish of mass movement of ordinary Sikhs in this? It amounts to blunder of the Govt. only. I have read a centre-piece of Shekhar in Indian Express of the days of the vigorous hunting of the Sikh youth in Punjab. At that time, he was advising the countrymen to have patience in such matters! But his own patience seems to have run out. If now, after 34 years of the army attack, Shekhar, instead of rejoicing, is calling it a miscalculation, he might be seeing the writing on the wall which Bhindranwale predicted at that time.
It seems that Sikhs would come out of this morass with the guidance of their Gurus. Hindus of Punjab, who were earlier admirers of the Gurus, do not have any hope and are now looking up to the Manuvadi elite of the cow-belt (after licking the wounds given by Dayanand). What a fall !
Soldiers were ordered both political and military bosses to go barefoot during the assaults to maintain the sanctity of the shrine
And they maintain the sanctity at the cost of their life
Blue star could have been avoided. Indian govt should have booked Bhindrawale outside temple.
But no they decides to taught a lesson to sikh community. Thats is all about blue star.
1984 was a tumultuous year in modern Indian history. Just the massacre during the 1947 partition of the country cannot be forgotten, this too shall remain in memory for years to come.
While Shekhar Gupta has made an effort to describe the ‘attack’on the Golden Temple and the situation in the immediate days, the mistakes made by both sides,the story is very long to be told in 3000 words…as he himself admits.
The chapter is not closed yet, as the children of those who suffered …not just in Blue Star…..but of the October riots too….are still asking for justice..
Will we ever be able to give them justice… probably not….at least not in our lifetime.
The humane amongst us can apply the healing balm for years…..but somewhere a naughty ambition can still fan the flames of hatred.
This was a case of political ambitions pitching Indian against Indian.
How did you miss genwral R K Sinha’s book? He was given the task and he declined stating it as a grave mistake. He even mentions that the attack on golden temple was being practiced since 1982.
Lt. Gov SK Sinha on Operation Blue Star;
A fascinating perspective in the June 1984 attack on the Golden Temple, the Indian Government ordered Lieutenant General (Retd.) Srinivas Kumar Sinha, he candidly discusses the political circumstances and motivations that lead up to the attack. Interestingly, he was actually a friend with Major General Shabeg Singh who lead the fortifications of the Darbar Sahib complex.
Indira Gandhi first asked Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, then Vice-Chief of Indian Army and who was to succeed as the Army chief, to prepare a position paper for assault on the Golden Temple. Lt. Gen. Sinha advised against any such move, given its sacrilegious nature according to Sikh tradition. He suggested the government adopt an alternative solution. A controversial decision was made to replace him with General Arun Shridhar Vaidya as the Chief of the Indian army. General Vaidya, assisted by Lt. Gen. K Sundarji as Vice-Chief, planned and coordinated Operation Blue Star.
He disclosed in his book, that the preparations to attack on this holiest shrine were being made for the last 18 months. A model of this shrine was temporarily built at Chakrata, a hill station 90 kms. far from Dehra Dun where the army was rehearsing to attack and a complete information was given of the inside of this complex of Golden temple to soldiers, made them familiar with topography of the complex when it attacks. In other meanings, the strategy to attack on holiest shrine was planned much before the Sant Jarnail Bhindranwala shifted to Sri Akal Takhat and made it’s Head Quarter. The Govt itself created such circumstances through false propaganda and provocations in Punjab to justify the army attack and to teach a lesson to Sikh nation whereas the need was to learn a lesson by Indira herself and the Indian govt.
urs is a one sided story sir….. only credible point is that both side miscalcualted each other..
ur justification of the killings by army is baseless. Bhindrwale used to roam free in the country, he visited mumbaai at several
oaccsions, it was indra gandhi and hindu fanatics who were hell bent on attacking sikh plat form
Nothing like reading a coverage on Operation Bluestar by Shekhar Gupta, as much biased as he may be, he is the only one to have had experienced the happenings first hand.
Blue Star remains a trauma for so many of our countrymen. Mrs G paid for the mistakes with her life. The Sikh qoum too paid heavily. Terrorism in our country started that time and has now become a part of our daily lives.
At another level, this country has seen many blue stars. And most remain forgotten.
It is possible to make the case that this terrible tragedy in Punjab, going much beyond Operation Blue Star, was created because, at some moments in her career, Mrs Gandhi did not display a moral dimension to her leadership.
The casualties were horrible no doubt, but the Indian Govt. did what had to be done, they had to take out the militant terrorists inside no matter what to prevent the immense future possibilities of terrorism. That being said those people should be commemorated and we should still honor those lost in the battle (civilians).
Please correct your photo caption “A 1983 photo of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (with the rifle) | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint.in”
It’s not bhindranwale with the rifle. It’s some other guy. Bhindranwale is next to him.
Please be credible. People pay for news on Print.
Obviously biased article.
1. No mention that all corruption charges on general shabdh singh were false and we’re thrown out by supreme court.
2. No mention of gen s k sinha and how he was denied the promotion because he did not support the invasion of the golden temple
3. Honourable Indian army conduct is well.documemted in North East but he ignores it but cannot believe the statements of eye witnesses.
Agreed the arya samaj movement has poisoned their mind
Sikhs are a weird people, during British rule, they licked the boots of the British and were 30 percent of the British Army, serving a foreign colonial army for a few coins, they sood out the Hindus. When the Indian revolt of 1857 happened, Sikh soldiers volunteered on the side of the Biritish tok ill Hindus nad Muslim freedom fighters. Sikh troops brutalised freedom fighters in Meerut , Agra and LUcknow , killing women, men and children. Even after Jallianwalla bagh, the sikhs continued to dominate the police and mili arty in British India. General Dyer who killed so many innocent Sikh women and children was given a Honourable retirement in England, but poor Vaidya the Banis was killed in Pune. The British rewarded the slavish sikhs by constructing the canal colonies and irrigating Punjab, making the Punjab farmer extremely wealthy, when the rest of India was poor. After independence, due to fractured land holdings and pesticide overuse, Sikh farmers lost money and farming was no longer lucrative. Hence nowadays, Sikh youth spend their time taking drugs, playing with firearms, cutting Bhangra Videos and most popular vocation, illegal immigration. At last count, a shopping 60 percent of India’s illegal immigrants come from the Punjab. Since generally Punjabis are low IQ, they have not succeeded in new age IT or Space or Atomic industries dominated by the Hindus , hence the Sikh resentment grows.
And conveniently we choose to forget that the Hindus, comprising of Bengal and Madras Regiments for over 100 years partnered with British to conquer the entire geography to make it a dominion of British India. The only country that remained independent was the Punjab, which the very same Bengal, Purbia and Madras Regiments helped British fight in the 2 Anglo Sikh War. India was never India but many states that were conquered by divide and conquer policy. Sikhs served the least number of years under the British Army and were the first to revolt in 50 years.
You can’t say Sikhs have low IQ, because religion doesn’t matter. You have to think about facts, Hindus make up 79.8% of India’s, so obviously they would be more Hindu’s succeeding in all fields (IT, farming etc.) because of the mass population. You can not say who is smart and who is dumb based on religion or where they are from. Each person is different and no matter what someone’s religion, sex, race, age is, treat everyone equally because we are all humans. Don’t judge anyone based on their culture or religion!
?read history. Around Ahmed shah abdali tenure. U will find
What about hindu traitors who licked mughals and other foreign rulers for 1500 years
Nice piece by Shekhar. I think (unlike others here) it is fair and balanced–but then, what do I know? I’m not a Sikh, so I may not have the same ‘feeling’. Only, I wish Shekhar had alongside mentioned the subsequent two Operation Black Thunders to show how things could have been better handled in Bluestar. I believe, they simply cut off all supplies into the Temple, including water and electricity and waited out the militants. I wonder why such a simple and sensible approach was not followed during Bluestar, and I’d like to know what Shekhar thinks about it.
The BIGGEST “Bloody miscalculation” of all was that by Indira Gandhi, who had used Bhindranwale when she pitched him and his entourage into the Punjab tumult to contain the unrest and take control of the government. He turned into a Frankenstein monster who Indira could not control and the situation snowballed into ‘Operation Blue Star’ ‘ and later, led to her own assassination.
So biased as expected. Why the heck they start preparing for invasion 18 months ago in Jakarta when Sikhs in punjab were holding peaceful strikes for basic demands. Why the heck the y attacked another 38 Guru Dwara Sahibs all around punjab?? Do terrorists give call to save women of everyone no matter to which religion she belonged? Go and learn the definition of terrorist first…. Saint ji never give a call to kill any innocent but what about your gandhi??
There is literally a video of him giving a speecb where he says ” if you dont give me my bus back I will kill 5000 hindus” . There is also Baljit Kaur, the woman who killed Sodhi, she was tortured, raped and killed by “Sant Ji”s men. like every human being the writer has a bias but so do you.
Mr Shekhar Gupta mentions 9 Kumaon
as being supposedly responsible for many “unnecessary and random ” killing. Though he has left an escape route saying that this could not be confirmed, May l humbly state that you have caused grave damage to the reputation of the battalion and the army at large. Army units are not at liberty to go public with press statements and Maj Palta of 9 Kumaon is dead, leaving him no chance to defend himself and the unit from this allegation. In the fog of fighting in such absolutely difficult conditions, collateral damages are inevitable,though not desirable by any standards.
It is more than 34 yrs now after this very sad episode. Mr Shekhar Gupta”s “revelation” has only served to open fresh wounds and make many youngsters of their army.
1. Why does Shekhar Gupta distrust the dozens of survivors who tell of deliberate killing of captured pilgrims by Kumaon Regt, but willingly believes everything the Army said as gospel truth? Because, while attempting to present a fair version, his anti-Sikh bias comes to the fore. But after reading his article, what with VIJAYANTA TANKS, ARTILLERY & THREE GENERALS, I am convinced the Jallianwala massacre was kids play compared to op Blue Star.
It was not that the Army was not informed about the steadfastness of Bhindranwale. It is on record that while Brar was boasting of his men’s ferociousness in the meeting prior to the attack, Gurdev Singh, DC, Amritsar and a DIG of BSF, both Sikhs, tried to correct him and told him that Bhindranwale would not surrender. But he boasted of a short action for success. It is a pity that instead of hauling him up in a court martial for his incompetence and resultant massacre of innocents, he is being labelled a hero. But he is a dear friend of Shekhar. On the other hand, Gurdev Singh was sent on compulsory leave for not signing/authorising (the death warrant of thousands in) the attack and the DIG of BSF was harassed in departmental actions for the rest of his service. Ultimately, Ramesh Inder Singh was made DC, Amritsar by giving him lollypop of change of IAS cadre to Punjab. PS Badal later made him Chief Secretary of Punjab (for meekly being an instrument for massacre of innocent Sikh pilgrims ?).
While all mediamen were disallowed Shekhar Gupta was given the opportunity to watch the spectacle of fireworks. He is rightly lamenting the fact that the military did not finish off the militants instantly with a sledge hammer and thereby afforded him a grand view. He has got examples of cruelty of the militants to narrate as told to him by the army men but he “tried every source possible but could never confirm” “the deliberate massacre” of Sikh pilgrims though he states “Many Sikh survivors, including some priests, back the deliberate massacre story. But my sources in the Army always insist that this was just murderous confusion caused by the militants.” He does not believe the survivors even ! He is not to blame.
He is a Punjabi Hindu. Gujarat is a State of Banias in the same way as England is a “nation of shopkeepers”. We all know how much cunning the Banias develop owing to their occupational experiences. While the turban-wearing Sikhs of Punjab were deceived by a bald Gujarati named MK Gandhi who succeeded in subsuming their grand struggle against the British in his so-called freedom struggle, the naked-headed Punjabi Hindus were befooled by a turban-wearing Gujarati named Dayanand who, in order to take Punjabi Hindus away from the influence of Sikh tenets, converted them to Arya Samajis. This way, the two famous Gujaratis played havoc with the social harmony in Punjab.
Shekhar calls the political blunder of the establishment of India a miscalculation and attributes miscalculation to Bhindranwale also. It means he could not understand his stand that he did not demand Khalistan but if the Indian Govt. attacked Darbar Sahib, it would amount to laying foundation stone of Khalistan. Where is Bhindranwale’s hope or wish of mass movement of ordinary Sikhs in this? It amounts to blunder of the Govt. only. I have read a centre-piece of Shekhar in Indian Express of the days of the vigorous hunting of the Sikh youth in Punjab. At that time, he was advising the countrymen to have patience in such matters! But his own patience seems to have run out. If now, after 34 years of the army attack, Shekhar, instead of rejoicing, is calling it a miscalculation, he might be seeing the writing on the wall which Bhindranwale predicted at that time.
It seems that Sikhs would come out of this morass with the guidance of their Gurus. Hindus of Punjab, who were earlier admirers of the Gurus, do not have any hope and are now looking up to the Manuvadi elite of the cow-belt (after licking the wounds given by Dayanand). What a fall !
You are crazy.!
Soldiers were ordered both political and military bosses to go barefoot during the assaults to maintain the sanctity of the shrine
And they maintain the sanctity at the cost of their life
Blue star could have been avoided. Indian govt should have booked Bhindrawale outside temple.
But no they decides to taught a lesson to sikh community. Thats is all about blue star.
I saw the doordarshan feed in those days.
The details of the battle is known today, of course, it seems still incomplete part.
1984 was a tumultuous year in modern Indian history. Just the massacre during the 1947 partition of the country cannot be forgotten, this too shall remain in memory for years to come.
While Shekhar Gupta has made an effort to describe the ‘attack’on the Golden Temple and the situation in the immediate days, the mistakes made by both sides,the story is very long to be told in 3000 words…as he himself admits.
The chapter is not closed yet, as the children of those who suffered …not just in Blue Star…..but of the October riots too….are still asking for justice..
Will we ever be able to give them justice… probably not….at least not in our lifetime.
The humane amongst us can apply the healing balm for years…..but somewhere a naughty ambition can still fan the flames of hatred.
This was a case of political ambitions pitching Indian against Indian.
How did you miss genwral R K Sinha’s book? He was given the task and he declined stating it as a grave mistake. He even mentions that the attack on golden temple was being practiced since 1982.
Lt. Gov SK Sinha on Operation Blue Star;
A fascinating perspective in the June 1984 attack on the Golden Temple, the Indian Government ordered Lieutenant General (Retd.) Srinivas Kumar Sinha, he candidly discusses the political circumstances and motivations that lead up to the attack. Interestingly, he was actually a friend with Major General Shabeg Singh who lead the fortifications of the Darbar Sahib complex.
Indira Gandhi first asked Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, then Vice-Chief of Indian Army and who was to succeed as the Army chief, to prepare a position paper for assault on the Golden Temple. Lt. Gen. Sinha advised against any such move, given its sacrilegious nature according to Sikh tradition. He suggested the government adopt an alternative solution. A controversial decision was made to replace him with General Arun Shridhar Vaidya as the Chief of the Indian army. General Vaidya, assisted by Lt. Gen. K Sundarji as Vice-Chief, planned and coordinated Operation Blue Star.
He disclosed in his book, that the preparations to attack on this holiest shrine were being made for the last 18 months. A model of this shrine was temporarily built at Chakrata, a hill station 90 kms. far from Dehra Dun where the army was rehearsing to attack and a complete information was given of the inside of this complex of Golden temple to soldiers, made them familiar with topography of the complex when it attacks. In other meanings, the strategy to attack on holiest shrine was planned much before the Sant Jarnail Bhindranwala shifted to Sri Akal Takhat and made it’s Head Quarter. The Govt itself created such circumstances through false propaganda and provocations in Punjab to justify the army attack and to teach a lesson to Sikh nation whereas the need was to learn a lesson by Indira herself and the Indian govt.
https://asrandhawa.wordpress.com/operation-bluestar-conspiracy-with-sikh-nation/
urs is a one sided story sir….. only credible point is that both side miscalcualted each other..
ur justification of the killings by army is baseless. Bhindrwale used to roam free in the country, he visited mumbaai at several
oaccsions, it was indra gandhi and hindu fanatics who were hell bent on attacking sikh plat form
Non sense article , by the Congress puppet.
Nothing like reading a coverage on Operation Bluestar by Shekhar Gupta, as much biased as he may be, he is the only one to have had experienced the happenings first hand.
Blue Star remains a trauma for so many of our countrymen. Mrs G paid for the mistakes with her life. The Sikh qoum too paid heavily. Terrorism in our country started that time and has now become a part of our daily lives.
At another level, this country has seen many blue stars. And most remain forgotten.
It is possible to make the case that this terrible tragedy in Punjab, going much beyond Operation Blue Star, was created because, at some moments in her career, Mrs Gandhi did not display a moral dimension to her leadership.