984 -Disinterred Memories
Radhika Chopra'We went in with humility in our hearts and prayers on our lips'. (General K. Sunderji [ operation-bluestaran-indian-army-view-point Accessed 6 June 2015) Despite the retrospective piety expressed by General Sunderji (Commander of Western Command in 1984; and subsequently Chief of Army Staff), the orchestrated military assault on Sri Darbar Sahib, the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, by the Indian Army during 'Operation Bluestar' is most frequently spoken of as a deeply traumatic event evoking intense but uneasy remembrances. Maps of the operation circulate widely on the internet. Even many years later, these maps and battle plans arouse shock and awe. The map (figure ) shown here is preserved in the Library of the Durbar Sahib. It demonstrates how the complex was entered through different gateways. The 10th Guard entered at the north end, through the main gate or the Ghanta Ghar entrance; the 26 Madras was expected to enter eastern side, but did not manage to do so, confronted as they were with intense firing from the Langar, the Guru Ram Das Serai, and the offices of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Two companies of 9 Garhwal were brought in near the southern entrance. All accounts speak of the fierce fighting, sometimes in hand-to-hand combat in rooms surrounding the parikrama, the walkway around the Sarovar. The army entered the sacred complex on 5th June 1984, and declared it 'secure' by 7th June 1984. In his book Operation Bluestar: The True Story (1993), General K.S. Brar, who commanded the army operation, speaks of the operation beginning at 10.30 pm on the night of June 5th, and the fighting dying down by the early hours of June 7th. The routes leading to the complex were cordoned off, and the 15 Infantry Division sealed all roads leading into the city of Amritsar. Residents of Amritsar confined to their homes during the course of a 32 hour curfew imposed on the walled city from 1 June 1984, recalled hearing the staccato gunfire of battle and feeling the ground shake beneath their feet, a memory that remains fresh in their minds. Standing on the balconies of their homes, some residents watched the troops enter the narrow gullies leading to the complex. 'We sat huddled together inside our homes as a never-ending succession of explosions and continuous gunfire ripped through the night. It was dark and terribly humid. The electric supply had been shut down and all telephone lines had been cut,' recalled Kanwarpal Singh Bittoo, at the time a young student at the Khalsa College in Amritsar (BBC News Flashbacks/Golden Temple Attacks/3 June 2004). When curfew was finally lifted, many ran
