India has seen a large number of man made tragedies since her Independence, starting from bloody partition to the bloody UP riots of 2013 but no tragedy had been bigger than the Operation Blue Star. Operation Black Thunder (1988) is a telling reminder that Operation Blue Star was indeed a blunder and an unforgettable tragedy that could have been avoided.
I can't imagine even in wildest of dreams that the leaders of my country would use Tanks to liquidate self created monster from one of the holiest shrines of our civilization. '1984' remains one of the darkest years of our history; in this year we betrayed the faith of the most patriotic, courageous and proudest of Indians by first bombarding 'Golden Temple' and then massacring them on the streets of north Indian cities following the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi.
These days great Indian intellectuals use the 'causality' doctrine to justify terrorism as a kind of revenge against manufactured or genuine injustices as they had done in recent hanging of Yakub Memon, in those days only politicians used to follow this shameful justification without giving even scant respect to the innocent lives. I don't know whether our intellectuals have degenerated or our politicians have evolved.
These days great Indian intellectuals use the 'causality' doctrine to justify terrorism as a kind of revenge against manufactured or genuine injustices as they had done in recent hanging of Yakub Memon, in those days only politicians used to follow this shameful justification without giving even scant respect to the innocent lives. I don't know whether our intellectuals have degenerated or our politicians have evolved.
'Operation Black Thunder' is an account of Punjab insurgency from the closest eyes possible. Sarab Jit Singh (former IAS) was the deputy Commissioner of Amritsar for full 5 tumultuous years (1987-1992), this is an account of his experience. He faced enormous challenges from the day he landed in Amritsar. Sarab Jit, super cop KPS Gill and millions of peace loving Punjabis can be considered true liberators of Punjab from the bloody insurgency that consumed more than 21,000 Indians (including about 2000 police ranks, 7500 insurgents and 11,500 civilians). He indicts central government and the oldest political party of India for the Punjab troubles. The reluctance of central government to solve three umbilical issues (River water sharing, Chandigarh question and Anandpur Sahib resolution) was used as fodder in this bloody insurgency. Rajiv-Longowal accord of 1985 did raise few hopes but even that was not implemented. Though assembly election was conducted in early but the popularly elected government of S. S. Barnala was dismissed after 18 months on law and order issue. Next assembly election was convened after 6 bloody years though it could have been convened earlier.
Operation Black Thunder (1988) was a 'peaceful' operation to flush out militants from the precincts of the Golden Temple. Had this kind of solution been used in 1984, the scars on mother India would not have been so deep. The proud Punjabis deserve our eternal respect for the sacrifices they had given, for the brutalities that had faced and for the patriotism that they had shown.
Though this book is full of information and unknown incidents but i still feel that writing style could have been better.
Operation Black Thunder (1988) was a 'peaceful' operation to flush out militants from the precincts of the Golden Temple. Had this kind of solution been used in 1984, the scars on mother India would not have been so deep. The proud Punjabis deserve our eternal respect for the sacrifices they had given, for the brutalities that had faced and for the patriotism that they had shown.
Though this book is full of information and unknown incidents but i still feel that writing style could have been better.
Recommended (7/10)
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