Operation Blue Star: A Hobson's Choice

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 14 October 2025 Former Union Minister P Chidambaram Saturday said that Operation Blue Star — the June 1984 Army action at the Golden Temple in Amritsar to evict militants – was “the wrong way” and that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi “paid with her life for that mistake”. “No disrespect to any military officers here but that was a wrong way to retrieve the Golden Temple. Few years later, we showed the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple by keeping out the Army… Blue Star was the wrong way and I agree that Mrs Gandhi paid with her life for that mistake,” said Chidambaram. Agreed, it was a mistake but Mrs Gandhi had no other option. Though General Srinivas Kumar Sinha advised Mrs Gandhi against sending the Army into the Golden Temple, it'd be wrong to say that she didn't pay heed to the advice of the Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Sinha, who was all set to become the Army Chief. Mrs Gandhi understood that it was too late. Discussion and persuasion wouldn't help much though Sinha was still in favour of discussions with the Sikh ultras and Jarnail Singh Bhindaranwale. He was against using the Army for flushing out the extremists. General Arun Kumar Vaidya, who was the Eastern Army Commander at that time and was junior to Sinha became the 13th Chief of Army Staff on July 31, 1983. Lt. Gen. Sinha was super-ceded. He resigned in protest. In 1984, Vaidya designed and supervised Operation Blue Star – a military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi. Some military observers are of the view that it was General Vaidya's way to show his loyalty to Mrs Gandhi as he endorsed the latter's decision to send the Army to eliminate the terrorists hiding at the Golden Temple. The General was also killed like Mrs Gandhi. Mrs Gandhi's mistake was to allow Jarnail Singh Bhindaranwale, Chief of Damdami Taksal, to become a menace. He was actually groomed by Mrs Gandhi and the Congress but he became a Frankenstein. She could and should have nipped him in the bud but she didn't do that and let him become a headache and ultimately the reason for her brutal end. Mrs Gandhi had to send the Army because the terrorists were adamant and they were also in large numbers with all sophisticated weapons and ammunition. They already desecrated the holy place, raped and killed innocent women and scores of people. Furthermore, the militants were commanded by Shabeg Singh, a former Major General of the Indian Army. So, she and General Vaidya had no other alternative except for sending the Army. Both knew that they had signed their death warrants with that epochal and inescapable decision. In other words, they had crossed the Rubicon. P Chidambaram should have realised this before commenting rather impulsively. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/operation-blue-star-hobson-choice/d/137236 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism