Attack on the Golden Temple
Indira Gandhi sent army with the explicit instructions not to fire at the Akal Takht & the Golden Temple. That’s why we lost 83 army men in a matter of hours - more than lost in any day of war with Pakistan or China.
Their lives were lost because they were trying to run into Akal Takht without firing at it while they were being showered from bullets. If Indian army didn’t care about protecting Akal Takht it could’ve simply fired a single canon ball from a safe distance at it — Bhindranwale & his goons would’ve been quickly eliminated & not one soldier’s life would’ve been lost.
But after bands of soldiers were repeatedly lost, but they could not achieve the suicidal mission of entering Akal Takht without firing at it — then they contacted Delhi which after hesitation finally gave them the permission.
And even then - the most disciplined & moral Indian Army did not attack the Golden Temple despite incessant provocations & that’s the reason why it remained almost untouched despite the incredible bloodletting & artillery used around it.
Ofcourse with the benefit of hindsight we say operation should’ve been planned better, or better still Indira Gandhi should’ve been immediately captured Bhindranwale before he began accumulating heavy artillery & dumping chopped bodies in sewers behind his residence. But let there be no mistake that Bhindranwala was a Jahil Darinda BKL. He desecrated & besmirched Sikhi like no other. He’s primarily responsible for the death & destruction that befell Punjab.
Ujjal Dosanjh, then just a young lawyer in Canada - and now the premier of British Columbia wrote a strongly worded letter to Indira Gandhi denouncing her attack on Golden Temple. Appended below is her prompt response. Worth pondering over for every Sikh.
Dear Mr. Dosanjh, I have received your letter of 12 June. You seem to have written with inadequate knowledge and understanding of the facts and issues involved.
Few Decisions in my long political career were sadder than the one to ask our troops to clear the terrorist hideout which was misusing the refuge of the Golden Temple. But it was a duty I owed to the nation and to the Sikh community itself.
To understand this you have to answer some elementary queries. Why did these people, in the first place, accumulate arms?
They wanted to use them against some persons, surely? And why did they choose to take refuge in the most sacred Golden temple and other gurdwaras? Was it not in the belief that they could not then be got at, and if they were, then they could exploit the religious feelings of millions of pious and law-abiding Sikhs? Was it tolerable that they should be allowed to organise the murders of Sikhs and Hindus from within these sacred precincts?
What were the duly constituted management committees of the Temples doing even when Government repeatedly drew their attention to these armed activities? The rule of the Golden temple that all weapons, umbrellas and sticks be left outside was broken. If the miscreants had not gathered such a vast arsenal, which included sophisticated weapons of foreign origin, and if they had not indulged in terror and crime, there would have been no question of entering the Temple.
Crime does not become less heinous if committed from within a temple, mosque or gurdwara. In fact, it becomes more reprehensible.
Ordinary citizens in Punjab, Sikhs and Hindus, were feeling insecure and afraid. You have said the demands of the Akali Dal were not unreasonable.
We were carrying out negotiations with them-which indicates a willingness to reach an agreement. But the Akali Dal was evidently terrorised by the ultras not to come to such an agreement. That is why they spurned our equally reasonable proposals.
The terrorists certainly wanted no settlement. I can understand your grief and the hurt sentiments of many.
But this should not cloud the dangers to the unity and integrity of our country. Which would be harmful to all communities, including the Sikhs.
Yours sincerely,
(Indira Gandhi)
