The Punjab Story

Front Cover
6 June 1984: The Indian Army storms the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Called Operation Bluestar, the historic and unprecedented event ended the growing spectre of terrorism perpetrated by the extremist Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers once and for all. But it left in its wake unsolved political questions that continued to threaten Punjab's stability for years to come. How, in a brief span of three years, did India's dynamic frontier state become a national problem? Who was to blame: the central government for allowing the crisis to drift despite warnings, or the long-drawn-out Akali agitation, or the notorious gang of militants who transformed a holy shrine into a sanctuary for terrorists? First published two months after Operation Bluestar, The Punjab Story pieces together the complex Punjab jigsaw through the eyes of some of India's most eminent public figures and journalists. Writing with the passion and conviction of those who were involved with the drama, they present a wide-ranging perspective on the past, present and future of the Punjab tangle; and the truth of many of their'conclusions having been borne out by time.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Publishers Note
The Enemy Within
Terrorist in the Temple
Blood Sweat and Tears
An Eyewitness Account
Assault on the Golden Temple Complex
Myth and Reality
The Great Divide
A Summary
About the Contributors
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2012)

Amarjit Kaur was a member of parliament and was a closely associated with the Government of India's efforts in bringing about an understanding between the two communities in Punjab.

Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, PVSM, who successfully led the Bangladesh operations in 1971, was one of the most capable ex-Army officers to analyze the planning and execution of Operation Bluestar.

Khushwant Singh, veteran journalist, prolific writer and former member of parliament, is the author of a definitive two-volume history of the Sikhs, and one of the best-remembered novel on the partition of India, Train to Pakistan.

M.V. Kamath, also a veteran journalist and Khushwant Singh's successor as the editor of the erstwhile Illustrated Weekly of India, is one of the few writers who has been able to take an objective stand on the army action in Punjab during Operation Bluestar.

Shekhar Gupta, currently Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, was one of the few journalists to have witnessed Operation Bluestar in action. Here he provides a firsthand account of the army action.

Subhash Kirpekar remained in Amritsar during Operation Bluestar. He interviewed Giani Kirpal Singh and Baba Santa Singh of the Buddha Dal who performed kar seva in the Golden Temple complex.

Sunil Sethi hails from the city of Amritsar in Punjab, a state which he covered extensively in his years as a journalist. As a Punjabi himself, he has felt and described best the great divide between the communities. He is now a leading TV anchor with New Delhi Television (NDTV).

Tavleen Singh, leading columnist and political commentator, was the only journalist at the time to have interviewed each extremist leader of Punjab.

Bibliographic information