It is unfortunate that there were so many casualties, as well as destruction, which we tried to avoid to the maximum. I am a Sikh myself, and I can assure you that there was no indiscriminate killing during the operation, and at all times our endeavour was to save life and property.
In April 2017 Justice Gurbir Singh stated that the army’s failure to provide any announcement to pilgrims before commencing Operation Blue Star was a human rights violation.[151]
The Indian army mistreated pilgrims who were detained immediately after the fighting stopped on June 6 by failing to provide them any water. Some pilgrims were reduced to collecting drinking water from the canals that contained dead bodies and were filled with blood.[237]
Ragi Harcharan Singh stated that on June 6 the Indian army gave its first announcement for evacuation since the commencement of Operation Blue Star. Singh states that he witnessed hundreds of pilgrims, including women, being shot at by the army as they emerged from hiding.[52]
A female survivor witnessed Indian soldiers line up Sikh men in a queue, tie their arms behind their backs with their turbans, beat them with rifle butts until they bled and then executed by being shot.[238][154]
Giana Puran Singh stated he along with 3–4 others were used as human shields for the protection of an officer who wanted to inspect the inside of the Darbar Sahib for anyone using a machine gun.[239]
A member of the AISSF stated that on June 6 those who surrendered before the army were made to lie down on the hot road, interrogated, made to move on their knees, bit with rifle butts and kicked with boots on private parts and their heads. The detainees were made to have their arms tied behind their backs with their own turbans and denied water. At about 7:00 pm the detainees were made to sit on the Parikrama near the army tanks. Many were injured as there was still firing from the side of the Akal Takht.[239][154]
Post-mortem reports showed that most of the dead bodies had their hands tied behind their backs, implying they had died after the army assault and not during. These bodies were in a putrid state at the time of post-mortem as they had been exposed in the open for 72 hours before being brought in.[53]
The Red Cross was stopped from aiding the wounded civilians by the army.[240]
Punjab officials who visited after the Operation complained to the army of 6 cases of rape during the Operation by soldiers that they had heard of.[241]
I have no doubt there were professionals present who were just trying to do their job, and imagined this as a mop-up operation for separatists, and their experiences and what they saw their comrades do are not invalid. But certainly, neither are the accounts of the Indian Army veterans and civilians who saw and reported horrors performed invalid. And of the two, “I didn’t see anything happen” and “I saw some shit go down” are not inherently contradictory; not seeing something happen in your little corner of the operation is sure as shit not the same as a blanket statement of good conduct (or, even if the conduct of the Indian Army was spotless, the horrific timing and planning by Indira Gandhi’s government for the operation)
The whole situation was a clusterfuck. In the days preceding the Operation Blue Star there were multiple clashes and riots between Sikh separatists and police or hindu groups resulting in casualties. Punjab was a boiling pot in those days, with a little help from Pakistan.
Regardless, such massacres remain the responsibility of organized institutions to avoid; blaming the enemy, however culpable they may be for the circumstances, is not sufficient to absolve the institution of blame. When your civilian casualty ratio is 80%-95%, something has gone very fucking wrong that goes far beyond mere bad circumstances. Fuck, man, WW2’s civilian casualty ratio wasn’t that bad. Vietnam’s civilian casualty ratio wasn’t that bad. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the US hit 15%-20% civilian casualty ratio, and that was widely considered reckless at best.
When a purportedly professional military ends up killing 5 times the number of civilians as militants, that’s a moment to step back and fucking reflect, or else implement reform, not plead that it was really tough and that they should get a pass just this once.
I’m not going to dispute that. Just wanted to say that while Indira Gandhi tried to eradicate an insurgency, she didn’t hate Sikhs and Sikh officers and soldiers were part of government’s actions.
Unfortunately (and predictably), after her assassination there were anti-Sikh riots. A year later there was bombing of Flight 182. Only one accused was found guilty.
- Kuldip Singh Brar
I have no doubt there were professionals present who were just trying to do their job, and imagined this as a mop-up operation for separatists, and their experiences and what they saw their comrades do are not invalid. But certainly, neither are the accounts of the Indian Army veterans and civilians who saw and reported horrors performed invalid. And of the two, “I didn’t see anything happen” and “I saw some shit go down” are not inherently contradictory; not seeing something happen in your little corner of the operation is sure as shit not the same as a blanket statement of good conduct (or, even if the conduct of the Indian Army was spotless, the horrific timing and planning by Indira Gandhi’s government for the operation)
The whole situation was a clusterfuck. In the days preceding the Operation Blue Star there were multiple clashes and riots between Sikh separatists and police or hindu groups resulting in casualties. Punjab was a boiling pot in those days, with a little help from Pakistan.
Regardless, such massacres remain the responsibility of organized institutions to avoid; blaming the enemy, however culpable they may be for the circumstances, is not sufficient to absolve the institution of blame. When your civilian casualty ratio is 80%-95%, something has gone very fucking wrong that goes far beyond mere bad circumstances. Fuck, man, WW2’s civilian casualty ratio wasn’t that bad. Vietnam’s civilian casualty ratio wasn’t that bad. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the US hit 15%-20% civilian casualty ratio, and that was widely considered reckless at best.
When a purportedly professional military ends up killing 5 times the number of civilians as militants, that’s a moment to step back and fucking reflect, or else implement reform, not plead that it was really tough and that they should get a pass just this once.
I’m not going to dispute that. Just wanted to say that while Indira Gandhi tried to eradicate an insurgency, she didn’t hate Sikhs and Sikh officers and soldiers were part of government’s actions.
Unfortunately (and predictably), after her assassination there were anti-Sikh riots. A year later there was bombing of Flight 182. Only one accused was found guilty.
As I said, clusterfuck.