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Tuesday, September 30, 2025
TopicOperation Blue Star

Topic: Operation Blue Star

A bloody miscalculation called Blue Star

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.

Since 1984

From Operation Blue Star to the anti-Sikh riots to India's ascent to Siachen, 1984 was a pivotal year in India's post-Independence history. And I was there to report it.

The audacity of incompetence

The greatest mystery of these 30 years, however, is how and why, with such elaborate planning, the army brass miscalculated on Blue Star so horribly.

Once upon a bloody time

Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale did not run a parliament or panchayat in the Golden Temple. His was a medieval court with sub-medieval instant justice.

The rich and the ostrich

Absolute truths do not matter. Which is why, even in landslide election verdicts in India, voter swings are rarely in double digits.

The idea of Indira

Mrs Gandhi was no doctrinaire figure, with all her wisdom or ideas inherited from her father. She changed and evolved, often for the better, sometimes not quite so

On Camera

Viksit Bharat 2047 — the state as platform, the civil servant as builder

If we get this right, the citizen of 2047 will experience government as ambient and humane. Benefits arrive when needed without forms; grievances resolve in hours.

Market regulator SEBI clears Adani Group of impropriety alleged by Hindenburg Research

SEBI probe concluded that purported loans and fund transfers were paid back in full and did not amount to deceptive market practices or unreported related party transactions.

In Nepal, young dreams of serving in Indian Army crash as Agnipath halts a centuries-old tradition

Since 1815, Nepali Gorkhas have served in Indian & British Armies, as well as in Bihar, Bengal & Assam Police. Since Agnipath scheme came in, no Nepal-domiciled Gorkha has enlisted.

Something’s hidden in the Oval Office photo of Trump, Munir, Sharif. India must look closely

What Munir has achieved with Trump is a return to normal, ironing out the post-Abbottabad crease. The White House picture gives us insight into how Pakistan survives, occasionally thrives and thinks.