Punjab II: Operation Blue Star, 1984 and the road to peace

Detail

1. From demands to armed insurgency

• Khalistan movement: a demand for an independent Sikh state called "Khalistan", separate from India.
• It got some support from Sikhs living abroad (the diaspora).
• In the 1980s it turned into an armed insurgency (a violent revolt against the state).

• It was largely crushed by the early 1990s.

• The Golden Temple as a fortress: militants turned the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), Amritsar, Sikhism's holiest shrine, into an armed fortress.

• Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale led the militants inside the complex.
• Talks with the Akali Dal had failed, and Bhindranwale refused to negotiate.
• The government was worried about rising communal tension and more and more political killings [2].

2. Operation Blue Star (June 1984)

• Operation Blue Star: an Indian Army operation that cleared militants out of the Golden Temple. PM Indira Gandhi ordered it.
• How it unfolded [2]:
• 1 June 1984: the military operation began.
• 2 June: the Army surrounded the Golden Temple and more than 40 other gurdwaras in Punjab.

• After midnight on 6 June: the full assault began, with heavy gunfire and tanks. The Akal Takht (the seat of Sikh religious authority, inside the complex) was destroyed.

• Toll: Bhindranwale and many of his followers were killed. Official reports gave more than 80 soldiers and hundreds of pilgrims dead. Sikh sources claim much higher numbers [2].

• Why it backfired:
• Damaged shrine → Sikhs in India and abroad were deeply hurt, and many saw it as an attack on their faith.
• Hurt feelings → militancy got fresh energy instead of ending.

• Overall, Blue Star helped the Khalistan cause for many Sikhs rather than crushing it [2].

• Assassination of Indira Gandhi: on 31 October 1984, two of her Sikh bodyguards killed her to avenge Blue Star.

3. Anti-Sikh riots of 1984

• Scale: the violence against Sikhs lasted almost a week after the assassination.
• Delhi: more than 2,000 Sikhs were killed (NCERT: official figure above 2,700).
• Nanavati Commission figures: 2,146 killed in Delhi and 586 killed elsewhere in India [3].
• Hundreds more died in places such as Kanpur, Bokaro and Chas.

• Many families lost their male earning members.

• The deeper wound: normal life came back slowly, and the killers were not effectively punished.

Inquiries and justice

Body	Set up	Key point
Ranganath Misra Commission	1985, under Section 3, Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 [4]	It called the first violence a "spontaneous reaction" of grief and anger. This turned into rioting because of the "passivity of the Delhi police". It said Congress leaders such as Sajjan Kumar, H.K.L. Bhagat and Jagdish Tytler were not responsible [4].
Nanavati Commission	Notified 8 May 2000 under Section 3 of the same Act. Headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, a retired Supreme Court judge. Report in 2005 [3]	It found evidence of meetings and instructions, and said the attacks were made "in a systematic manner". An affidavit said Sajjan Kumar, then the Congress (I) MP for the area, was seen directing a mob [3].
Special Investigation Team (SIT)	2015, by the MHA	Reopened closed riot cases (verify current).

• Commission of Inquiry: a fact-finding body the government sets up under the 1952 Act. It can call witnesses, but its findings do not bind the government or courts.
• Apology: on 11 August 2005, PM Manmohan Singh said in the Rajya Sabha: "I bow my head in shame".
• Convictions: the Delhi High Court convicted Sajjan Kumar in December 2018 and gave him life imprisonment (verify current).

4. Rajiv Gandhi–Longowal Accord (Punjab Accord), July 1985

• Background: PM Rajiv Gandhi opened talks with moderate Akalis. He signed the accord with Akali Dal president Harchand Singh Longowal on 24 July 1985.
• Longowal: a Sikh religious and political leader who chose a negotiated settlement. He was assassinated on 20 August 1985, within weeks of signing.
• Terms of the accord:

Term	What happened later
Chandigarh to be transferred to Punjab	Not done. Chandigarh is still a Union Territory (an area run directly by the Centre) and the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana.
A commission on the Punjab–Haryana border dispute	Not resolved.
A tribunal on sharing Ravi–Beas waters among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan	The Eradi Tribunal was set up in 1986 under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (made under Article 262).
Compensation and better treatment for victims of militancy	Partly done.
Withdrawal of AFSPA from Punjab	AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) gives the armed forces special powers to search, arrest and fire in "disturbed areas". The Punjab version is the Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act, 1983.

• The SYL canal dispute:
• 31 December 1981: Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan signed an agreement on sharing the water and building the Satluj–Yamuna Link (SYL) canal [5].
• 2004: Punjab passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004. It tried to cancel the water-sharing agreements and get around court-ordered sharing [5].
• Presidential reference: the President asked the Supreme Court whether this Act was valid [5]. A presidential reference is the President's power under Article 143 to ask the Supreme Court for its advice.
• 2016: the Supreme Court said the Act was unconstitutional (verify current).
• Also in 2016: Punjab passed the Punjab SYL Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Act, 2016 to hand the canal land back to its owners. Haryana asked the Court to suspend it [5].

• The SYL canal is still unfinished.

• NCERT Exercise Q3: how could the accord cause new tensions with neighbouring states?

• Moving Chandigarh to Punjab, redrawing the border and sharing water are all zero-sum issues: whatever Punjab gains, Haryana and Rajasthan lose.
• So settling one region's grievance can create new ones next door.

5. The long road to peace

• The accord did not bring peace at once. Violence went on for nearly a decade:
• militant killings, and police excesses and human-rights violations;
• the Akali Dal split into factions;

• President's rule (Article 356) was imposed. Under it, the Centre takes over a state's government when the Governor reports that it cannot run according to the Constitution. Elections were put off.

• Operation Black Thunder:

• Black Thunder I (1986) and Black Thunder II (May 1988) cleared militants from the Golden Temple again.

• The 1988 operation was led by the NSG (National Security Guard), a central counter-terror force. It used a siege and cut off supplies, without an army assault, which avoided another Blue Star.

• 1992 elections: only 24% of voters turned out, which shows how alienated people were.

• End of militancy:
• Security forces wiped out militancy, and peace returned by the mid-1990s.

• Chief Minister Beant Singh was assassinated in 1995.

• Return to normal politics:

• The Akali Dal (Badal)–BJP alliance won the 1997 election, the first normal election after militancy.

• Politics moved back to secular issues and questions of development.

• Current echoes:

• Khalistan-linked activity abroad and diplomatic rows with some countries.
• Detentions in Punjab under the National Security Act, 1980 (NSA), a preventive-detention law (verify current).

Prelims Hooks

• Operation Blue Star: June 1984, by the Indian Army. The full assault came on 6 June. The Akal Takht was destroyed [2].
• Operation Black Thunder II: May 1988, by the NSG, not the Army.
• Nanavati Commission: notified 8 May 2000 under Section 3, Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952. It recorded 2,146 deaths in Delhi and 586 elsewhere [3].
• Ranganath Misra Commission: blamed the "passivity of the Delhi police" and cleared the named Congress leaders [4].
• Rajiv–Longowal Accord: 24 July 1985. Longowal was killed on 20 August 1985.
• Eradi Tribunal (1986): shares the Ravi–Beas waters, set up under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (Article 262).
• SYL agreement: signed 31 December 1981 by Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan [5].
• Trap: the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 reached the Supreme Court through a presidential reference (Article 143), not through a petition from Haryana [5].
• 1992 Punjab election: only 24% turnout.
• "I bow my head in shame": said by Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha, 11 August 2005, not in the Lok Sabha.

Mains Points

• Force alone cannot solve an identity conflict (GS-I).
• Blue Star cleared the shrine but hurt Sikh feelings, and militancy grew.

• Black Thunder (1988) used siege and restraint and got the same result at a far lower political cost.

• Justice delayed is justice denied (GS-II).

• The 1984 riots led to many inquiries: Misra (1985), Nanavati (2000–05) and the SIT (2015).
• Convictions came only after 34 years.

• This shows weak police accountability and why India needs police reform and a law against communal violence.

• Accords need follow-through.

• The Punjab Accord's terms on Chandigarh, the border and water are still not carried out.
• Punjab's 2004 Act shows how state laws can try to undo agreements between states.

• Reform idea: stronger use of the Inter-State Council (Article 263) and time-bound tribunal awards.

• Democracy absorbed the conflict.

• Peace came through elections: the 1997 Akali–BJP win.
• Shows the accommodation model: insurgency is defeated, but regional parties are brought back into constitutional politics.