Operation Blue Star, The True Story.
Author: Lt. Gen. K. S. Brar
Sometimes one cannot help but wonder if this whole business of God, His Divine Grace, His Omnipresence, His Omnipotence and His Omniscience is just that. A business. His symbolic representation here on Earth may just be a figment of our imaginations and our complicated way to justify our ignorances, faux pas and errors of judgment. We use His name to hoodwink our flock to commit atrocities against our kind and to qualify for a 'get-out-of-jail' free card. We evoke the divine forces for one's solace and to pacify our ego. Is there indeed a force out there that governs the balance and metes justice to ensure equilibrium in the grander scheme of things?
This is crystal clear from the events surrounding the events that led to and occurred after the siege of the revered shrine of the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar back in June 1984. The account of circumstances of the unfortunate event was penned from the lenses of the Commanding Officer of the mission to purge militant holy men off the premises of what is considered as the most sacred shrine amongst the practitioners of the Sikh religion.
The first salvo was shot when the State turned a blind eye towards the happenings in the temple compound and its committee. Economic downturn made people more in sync with the temple. Radical political leaders with criminal records went on to hold important posts. Nothing was done as they blinded the public with their in-depth knowledge of religion. Rumours of criminal activities and storage of firearms were rife. Still, nothing was done. Religion was their shield and scriptures were ammunition. Even the Government went limp. I guess religion has that effect on people.
In the meantime, rhetorics of 'we' against 'them' (Sikhs vs no-Sikhs) went on full throttle. Bhindranwale, the mastermind behind the whole imbroglio, had achieved near demi-god status. He started hailing for a separate state of Khalistan. Even Pakistan, once their nemesis, bent over backwards to support their course, unsurprisingly, in the name of a common enemy.
Even though the militants were the first to smear the sanctity of the temple by bringing firearms into its premises and occupying the sacred areas of the premises, it was always the firing by the army personnel and their entrance in full army fatigue and boots that lingered unceremoniously in the people's minds. It was the pockmarks supposedly made by the Army is highlighted. It was as if they were the aggressors. Many half-truths about brutality started flying. Bhindrawale's purported unearthly mystical powers and mysterious escape to Pakistan surfaced too. The Army's careful planning and loss of soldiers' lives were conveniently swept under the proverbial carpet. Even the temple priests and committee members were on the side of the renegades.
Even though the Government of the day tried to blank all news coming out of Punjab during that time and foreign correspondents were banned, news, nevertheless, did leak out and on top that became easy for half-baked information to become believable.
The post hostage era did not end well evidenced by the widespread riots around the country and the subsequent assassination of Indra Gandhi four months later.
Are we just kidding ourselves into thinking that there is indeed a Higher Entity that scrutinises our every move, assesses and judges to mete out the most of compassionate and just decision for the lesser beings which were crafted in his own image and were left to wander and wonder in this vast ever expanding Universe?
Author: Lt. Gen. K. S. Brar
Sometimes one cannot help but wonder if this whole business of God, His Divine Grace, His Omnipresence, His Omnipotence and His Omniscience is just that. A business. His symbolic representation here on Earth may just be a figment of our imaginations and our complicated way to justify our ignorances, faux pas and errors of judgment. We use His name to hoodwink our flock to commit atrocities against our kind and to qualify for a 'get-out-of-jail' free card. We evoke the divine forces for one's solace and to pacify our ego. Is there indeed a force out there that governs the balance and metes justice to ensure equilibrium in the grander scheme of things?
This is crystal clear from the events surrounding the events that led to and occurred after the siege of the revered shrine of the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar back in June 1984. The account of circumstances of the unfortunate event was penned from the lenses of the Commanding Officer of the mission to purge militant holy men off the premises of what is considered as the most sacred shrine amongst the practitioners of the Sikh religion.
The first salvo was shot when the State turned a blind eye towards the happenings in the temple compound and its committee. Economic downturn made people more in sync with the temple. Radical political leaders with criminal records went on to hold important posts. Nothing was done as they blinded the public with their in-depth knowledge of religion. Rumours of criminal activities and storage of firearms were rife. Still, nothing was done. Religion was their shield and scriptures were ammunition. Even the Government went limp. I guess religion has that effect on people.
In the meantime, rhetorics of 'we' against 'them' (Sikhs vs no-Sikhs) went on full throttle. Bhindranwale, the mastermind behind the whole imbroglio, had achieved near demi-god status. He started hailing for a separate state of Khalistan. Even Pakistan, once their nemesis, bent over backwards to support their course, unsurprisingly, in the name of a common enemy.
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| Lt. Col. Kuldip Singh Brar freepressjournal.in |
Even though the Government of the day tried to blank all news coming out of Punjab during that time and foreign correspondents were banned, news, nevertheless, did leak out and on top that became easy for half-baked information to become believable.
The post hostage era did not end well evidenced by the widespread riots around the country and the subsequent assassination of Indra Gandhi four months later.
Are we just kidding ourselves into thinking that there is indeed a Higher Entity that scrutinises our every move, assesses and judges to mete out the most of compassionate and just decision for the lesser beings which were crafted in his own image and were left to wander and wonder in this vast ever expanding Universe?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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