Amritsar - Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle by Mark Tully and Satish Jacob is a brilliant book on Operation Blue Star.
Mark
Tully was known to almost every news loving Indian specially in 1980s
and 1990s. Operation Blue Star left a deep scar on India's soul and
created a lot of bad blood between brothers - Sikhs and Hindus. How Mrs
Gandhi appeased Bhinderwale and how he became a threat to her in less
than a decade.
The
Golden Temple or Hari Mandir was built in the middle of Sarovar by
fifth Guru Arjun Dev in 1589. Foundation stone was laid by Mian Mir from
Lahore. His successor Guru Hargobind built the other shrine within
Temple Complex - The Akal Takht. Ahmad Shah Abdali blew up the Golden
Temple and filled the holy pool with the carcass of slaughtered cattle.
Akal Takht was also razed to ground. The Temple was rebuilt later and it
reached its zenith during Maharaja Ranjit Singh era. After Independence
the identity politics nurtured the ground for the communal politics of
Bhinderwale. The reign of terror was unleashed in Punjab and many
hundred people were killed in that madness. Finally Indian Army stormed
the Temple Complex on 5th June 1984 killing the extremists hiding in the
Temple Complex. The Akal Takht and Golden Temple suffered damage.
Indian Army suffered about 300 casualties. By 7th June the Temple
Complex was sanitized. The Sikh soldiers mutinied but they were checked.
The madness did not stop at this Operation. Madness caused the killing
of Mrs. Gandhi. Finally Rajiv Gandhi was able to reconcile the Sikhs and
the festering problem was put to an end. Its a must read book. It talks
in detail about the root cause of Punjab Problem, How Mrs Gandhi failed
to tackle it and in the end caused Operation Blue Star and lost her
life.
Highly Recommended (9/10).
