Operation Blue Star

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)The attack was timed to coincide with the weekend of 2nd and 3rd, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev who built the Golden Temple and compiled the Sikh's Holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib.

It was planned in the knowledge that there would be thousands of pilgrims and visitors. No warning was given to those pilgrims of the impending attack. Despite the government 's claims that only 'extremists' were killed other reports show that many visitors were killed by the army (see e.g. 'Indian Express' 18/6/84) 'India today (30/9/84) reported the case of Zaida Khartton, a Bangladeshi women who stopped to get food for her five children at the Golden Temple and ended up in jail.Water, electricity and telephone links to the Golden Temple were cut off. Many people died through lack of water. When the army entered the Golden Temple they told the pilgrims to drink the mixture of blood and urine that covered the ground. Even the hospital staff was threatened with death by the army if they gave food or water to Sikh pilgrims wounded in the attack and lying in hospital (as reported by the Christian Science Monitor 18/6/84)

On 18/6/84 Christian Science Monitor reported: -" For five days the Punjab has been cut off from the rest of the world. All telephone and telex links are cut. No foreigners are permitted entry and on Tuesday, all Indian journalists were expelled. There are no newspapers, no trains, no buses- not even a bullock cart can move."The Sunday Times (10/6/84) said:"About 20 million people in an area more than twice the size of Wales have had no contact with the outside world for a week."

The army used excessive force. Eyewitnesses say that the army deployed tanks, armed personnel carriers, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and helicopters. Many of the buildings surrounding the Temple were reduced to rubble. It was a military operation using indiscriminate force against a non-military target and as such was in breach of Article 51 of the 1977 Protocol to the Geneva Convention. In the Punjab as a whole, about 150,000 to 200,000 soldiers were used to flush out "terrorists".

There were several reports of barbaric acts by the army. The Guardian on 13/6/84 reported the following:

"A Sikh doctor drafted from the Government hospital to Jullunder to conduct post mortem examinations said that he had seen the bodies of two Sikhs who had been shot at point blank range, their hands tied behind their backs with their turbans. His colleagues had reported others, some of whom had been
machine-gunned. This doctor headed a team that conducted 400 examinations. He said that most bodies were riddled with bullets and bore bomb wounds. He said, "It was a virtual massacre. A large number of women, children and pilgrims were gunned down."

The same doctor told journalists that bodies of victims were brought to the mortuary by police in municipal refuse lorries. (The Times of 13/6/84 and the Indian Express of18/6/84) reported that of the 400 bodies, 100 were women and between 15-20 were children under five. One was a two-month-old
baby. The doctor said that one "extremist" in the pile of bodies was found to be alive; a soldier shot and killed him.

A local journalist stated that he saw a dozen Sikh Youths, arrested inside the temple, made to pull their trousers above their knees, kneel and march on the hot road whilst the soldiers repeatedly kicked and punched them.

This press report was made by Brahma Chellaney of the Associate Press. He was then accused by the authorities of falsely reporting certain facts about the army raid on the Golden Temple and inflaming sectarian passions. Criminal charges were laid against him. Brahma Chellaney reacted by challenging the constitutional validity of the censorship and anti terrorist laws hurriedly imposed in Punjab.Dead bodies were carried away in refuse lorries. The curfew gave no opportunity for the families to come to the morgues and identify their dead. The authorities were in flagrant breech of Article 17 of the Geneva Convention of 1949, which provides that the dead shall be honourably interred.

Another police official told reporters that a lorry load of elderly Sikhs who surrendered on the first day of the military operation were brought to the main city police station and tortured there by the army. "The soldiers removed their turbans, pulled their hair over their eyes and tied the long hair around their necks. Then they threw sand into their faces .The old man shrieked, but I helplessly watched all this from my office window."(The Guardian and Times of 14/6/84).

Another eyewitness described how a group of about 50 Sikh males aged 8 years upwards were taken from a Sikh Temple near the Golden Temple and then killed with grenades.

Yet another eyewitness told of men, women and children being taken from a house used by a sniper and were shot in the street.

The following are extracts from the statements tape recorded and transcribed by Manjit Singh Khaira, advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court and also a member of national executive of People's Union for Civil Liberties. Statement of Balwant Singh Ramuwalia, an ex - Indian MP: "..It was about 4.25 or 4.35 a.m. on the morning of the 6th. Then the firing stopped and after a while we got up. Slowly, we went into the nearby room and found women sitting down there. A little distance ahead, there was another man seated, five or seven of us got into the room, and then the military went up into Guru Ram Das Sarai. In several rooms, they broke the glass panes and threw bombs inside. We heard the sound of the bursting grenades, After a little while they brought some persons downstairs. There is an underground basement in Guru Ram Das Serai and they brought 40 men out of it.They were bare and their hands were tied behind their backs. They were asked to squat on the ground in four rows and they were shot by the army. I was in the compound of Guru Ram Das Sarai, just near the waster tanks for bathing. It was there that they were asked to squat and were shot dead in cold blood. They were bare and had hands tied behind their backs and were made to sit in four rows and were shot there. They were shot before our very eyes by gunfire. They would move their heads this way and that, let out a shriek and drop dead.my clothes were drenched with blood and I had lost my shoes. I had put on bandages on an old injured man after having put him into my lap. In this condition, I went to the Commanding Officer and got another man sanctioned. After having done this, another Colonel and Brigadier called Ravi also came.

I told the Brigadier that some people had already died and asked about the fate of those 400 people who remained alive. He indicated that they were prisoners of war. I then said that they should be taken somewhere. He answered, "MP Sahib, if you could do the job of preparing lists of men, women and children and old people separately." In 40 to 50 minutes we had prepared the lists. During this interval, the army had started taking people in batches of five each to another place, as they were doing this, doubts arose that they may be taking them away in order to kill them with impunity. I rushed to a Major named Parta and asked him why the people were being killed and took him to see Sant Longowal, who also insisted upon knowing whether they were being killed after being taken away in groups of five each. He replied that it was wrong, this could never happen. He further indicated that they regarded Sant Longowal as Mahatma Gandhi and asked us as to why we doubted him. Then I was sent along with him towards the other side and found 50 persons sitting there in one corner. I asked him the purpose of their being kept confined in that place. He told us that they were to be arrested and then taken away. Then I asked him to bring the others as well. All the rest were taken there, then transferred to camps.

People were killed like that. No medicine was provided, in fact no medical aid was administered at all. Sant Sujan Singh died because he was not given water. Many people died in the campThe statement of Bhan Singh, Secretary of Shromani Gurudawara Parbandhak Committee, corroborated the statement of Balwant Singh Ramuwalia and further stated: -
"When these Assistant Managers who had been injured came to me and requested medical aid I went to Subedar and told him about it. He asked me to talk to a Major and so I went to him and made a request for some arrangement to be made in this regard. He immediately caught hold of my turban and shouted to the soldiers who were lined up in three rows of eleven each holding their guns, "shoot him." Before catching hold of my turban he ha27terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carrhuman beings or as people belonging to a frien27terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carr=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif si27terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carro defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village27terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carrews of the attack on the Golden Temple spread 27terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carrNT color=#000099> ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carrith killed up lined being were Sikhs young whe27terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carr in the countryside and flushing out alleged 'terrorists'. The young Sin guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carried the message from army chiefs to soldiers to shoot on sight anyone on the streets.

The army continued its task of moving through the villages in the countryside and flushing out alleged 'terrorists'. The young Si, on his way to the station, he was taken past a square where young Sikhs were being lined up and killed with sten guns and grenades. ARMY ACTION IN THE PUNJAB

News of the attack on the Golden Temple spread quickly despite the curfew. Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered to march to Amritsar to defend the Golden Temple. At Golwand village in Jhubal District a crowd of several thousands gathered with makeshift weapons under the leadership of Baba Bidhi Chand and began to march the 25 km to Amritsar.Helicopter patrols spotted them and strafed them with bullets without warning. Within minutes hundreds were dead and wounded.

Crowds gathered at the villages including Ajnala, Rajash Sunsi, Dhandhesali, Fatehpur, Rajpurtan and Batala (Gurdaspur). A large crowd gathered at Chowk Mehta, HQ of the Damdami Taksal, where the army killed 76 Sikhs and arrested 285. All across the region, wireless sets carried the message from army chiefs to soldiers to shoot on sight anyone on the streets.

The army continued its task of moving through the villages in the countryside and flushing out alleged 'terrorists'. The young Sikh men in the villages were lined up in rows; some were stripped and publicly flogged and accused of being terrorists or withholding information about terrorists. Some were taken away and sent to interrogation centres, never to be seen again. In the Sunday Times of 22/7/84 Mary Anne Weaver reported:

"Thousands of people have disappeared from the Punjab since the siege of the Sikh's Golden Temple here seven weeks ago. The Indian army have been engaged in a massive flushing out operation, aimed at Sikh extremists. In some villages men between 15 and 35 have been bound, blindfolded and taken away. Their fate is unknown.

The worsening relations between Indira Gandhi's government and the Punjab's 9.4 million Sikhs could be observed recently in the tiny village of Kaimbwala. One evening during prayers 300 troops entered the small-whitewashed temple, blindfolded the 30 worshippers and pushed them into the street.

According to the priest, Sant Pritpal Singh, the villagers were given electric shocks and interrogated about the whereabouts of Sikh m>