Chidambaram Terms Op Blue Star a Mistake
He said that while there was a way to capture all the militants without military intervention, the decision to storm the shrine in 1984 was a “cumulative mistake”
By : DC Web Desk
Update: 2025-10-12 07:23 GMT
Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh): Senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram described Operation Blue Star as a “wrong way” to retrieve the Golden Temple, saying former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi paid with her life for that mistake.
Speaking while moderating a discussion on the book ‘They Will Shoot You, Madam’ by journalist Harinder Baweja at the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, Chidambaram said, “No disrespect to any military officers here, but that (Operation Blue Star) was the wrong way to retrieve the Golden Temple. A few years later, we showed the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple by keeping out the Army.”
He said that while there was a way to capture all the militants without military intervention, the decision to storm the shrine in 1984 was a “cumulative mistake” involving multiple agencies.
“There was a way to retrieve and capture all the militants, but the Blue Star was the wrong way, and I agree that Mrs. Gandhi paid with her life for that mistake. That mistake was a cumulative decision of the Army, Police, intelligence and civil services. You cannot blame it only on Mrs. Gandhi,” he added.
Operation Blue Star was a military offensive carried out between June 1 and June 10, 1984. On June 6, 1984, the Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar on the orders of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, aiming to flush out Sikh militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who had taken shelter inside the shrine.