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Elaborate Security Arrangement for Operation Bluestar anniversary

Operation Bluestar, which was carried out by the Indian Army in June 1984 to wash out militants hiding in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar left a significant impact on Indian politics.

Elaborate Security Arrangement for Operation Bluestar anniversary

Photo: File photo

On the 38th anniversary of operation Blue Star elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in Amritsar to ensure that the day passed off smoothly. Punjab Police also conducted a flag march in the city during the day.

 Operation Bluestar, which was carried out by the Indian Army in June 1984 to wash out militants hiding in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar left a significant impact on Indian politics.

The operation was undertaken to flush out pro Khalistan militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was the forefront of the Khalistan movement that gained traction in the 1980s and other armed militants who had been hiding inside the temple premises.

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Indira Gandhi, the then-Prime Minister of India, had ordered the military operation where several people were killed and the Golden temple was destroyed during the operation, which took place between June 1 and June 8, 1984.

The militants took control of the temple while being armed with sophisticated weapons including machine guns and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenade launchers).

The Indian Army penetrated the premises of the Golden Temple that witnessed a heavy exchange of fire between the militants and the army where around 250 militants were killed and many were left injured.

The Sikh community was outraged at what they saw as a desecration of the sacred shrine. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards later that year.

Anti-Sikh riots erupted in the aftermath of the assassination, with 3,000 people slain, many of them on the streets of New Delhi.

In 1985, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) filed a damages suit for Rs 1,000 crore in relation to Operation Bluestar. The matter has been lingering for some time, and now, on the court’s orders, the Sikh religious organization is scheduled to initiate out-of-court negotiations with the Union government.

The SGPC filed the suit in the Delhi high court under the leadership of its then-president Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

 Meanwhile, many outfits raised pro-khalistan, carrying posters of Jarnail Bhindranwale at the entrance of the Golden temple.

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