In her record breaking and one of the most influential Gothic novels, “Frankenstein”, Mary Shelley narrates the story of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a young obsessive scientist who successfully creates by the means of an unorthodox scientific experiment, a hideous monster, which when abandoned kills the creator, the doctor himself.  Though this novel was a combination of fiction and horror written in the year 1818 AD, the world has witnessed a number of “Frankensteins” and their “Monsters” many a times since then.  India too had (may also continue to have, which only time can tell!) its Frankenstein and his Monster in the former Prime Minister Late Smt. Indira Gandhi and her two monsters, Khalistan and Bhindranwale.

Many Indians are aware of “Operation Blue Star” undertaken by the Indian Army to clear Sikh terrorists led by their leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Holy Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.  What led to “Operation Blue Star” was all grapevine till the publication of this reveal all book.  It is one that of Frankenstein’s obsession, to give life to a hitherto non-existent creature or an issue.  All this to ensure that “power” never ceases to be in the hands of one party, in fact, one dynasty.  To ensure this, the creation of gigantic monsters called Khalistan and Bhindranwale, no stone was left untouched and when the monster went out of control of the creator, action hitherto uninitiated and unthinkable to many, was unleashed to crush the monster.  The end result, Desecration of a Holy Place of Worship, Assassination of a serving Prime Minister of India and a retired Army General, a Genocide and the cancer called Khalistan raising its ugly head at every opportune moment even now.  This is suicidal to say the least.

Sri G B S Sidhu in his book painfully reveals a high-level conspiracy that resulted in the death of thousands of innocents and created a problem of monumental proportions out of a non-existent issue.  For most of those people who are unwilling to look beyond Bhindranwale to pin the blame on the entire happenings from 1978 to 1984 in Punjab, this book is an eye opener as it comes from no less than a former Special Secretary of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.

The author makes some startling observations when he categorically states that by imposing National Emergency at the behest of her son Sanjay Gandhi and by launching Operation Blue Star which also was a result of actions initiated by Sanjay Gandhi (before his death), it was proved that “Family before Nation” and “Party before Nation” was a policy of the Late Prime Minister!  This is a policy in perpetuity of the Congress Party which the ever-obliging mainstream media especially of the current generation never highlights.

The author unravels the truth behind Operation Blue Star and the Khalistan movement by dividing the series of events from 1978 to early January 1980 and from January 1980 to the conclusion of Operation Blue Star as Operation-1 (Op-1) and Operation-2 (Op-2) respectively.

Op-1 was Punjab centric and was designed to destabilise the ‘moderate’ Akali Dal – Janata Party coalition Government led by then Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.  The author reveals the efforts of the people behind Op-1 to plant Pro-Khalistan ideas in the minds of Sikhs in Punjab and to link that demand to Bhindranwale.  There is no hesitation by the author in naming former President of India Late Giani Zail Singh and Late Sanjay Gandhi who were the main individuals responsible for Op-1. 

The plan was to destabilise the Akali Dal – Janata party coalition Government, if the moderate policies followed by the senior Akali Dal leadership could come under constant attack by a hardline Sikh sant.  This would then force Akali Dal leaders to adopt an uncompromising stand on the issues of Sikh interest.  Any such significant policy shift would not to be to the liking of the Janata Party which represented the majority Hindu business interests.  Thus, rose a monster named Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale!

During July 1979 Sanjay Gandhi and Kamal Nath were successful in toppling the Morarji Desai Government at the Centre, which led to the formation of Central Government by Charan Singh and lasted barely twenty-three days.  Subsequently the Lok Sabha was dissolved and fresh elections were called in January 1980.  The Congress came back to power under Smt. Indira Gandhi.  Bolstered by his success at manipulating political developments and maneuvering at the national level, Sanjay Gandhi and others launched Op-2, the Khalistan conspiracy, with the sanction of the former Prime Minister Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, leading upto Operation Blue Star, with an objective to win the 1985 General Elections by:

1. Using the services of Bhindranwale to create a serious Hindu-Sikh divide and plant the fear of Khalistan in the minds of the majority community and
2. With a majority baying for strongest possible action against Bhindranwale and his men, Smt. Indira Gandhi would in the end emerge as a ‘strong decisive leader’ who would save the country from a monster (also created by her) which in turn would help the party garner votes from the majority community.

The main characters of Op-2 as named by the author apart from Sanjay Gandhi are Makhanlal Fotedar, Kamal Nath, Arun Nehru, Arun Singh and Rajiv Gandhi (post Sanjay Gandhi’s demise in 1980).  The author dubs this coterie as “1, Akbar Road Group” since all their decisions were taken at “1, Akbar Road”. 

The “1, Akbar Road Group” successfully kept the pot boiling, which the author terms as ‘controlled chaos’ till such time that their ‘final solution’ in the form of the military operation in June 1984 would go on to realise their dream of grabbing power at the Centre, for which elections were due barely 6 months away in Jan 1985.  How peace was not given a chance by sabotaging negotiations after negotiations mysteriously makes for a painful read and the reader can sense how desperate one political party and its leaders were for the sake of power through a fake narrative. 

Entire book is a gripping and spine-chilling account of how the above mentioned two operations gave fruit to utter disregard that had great impact on the Nation.  The ripples of the entire sequence of events leading upto Operation Blue Star which led to the assassination of the Prime Minister and the subsequent Sikh genocide in Delhi are still felt across this Nation.  As the author says this would not be the last such act where political parties try to pitch one community against the other.

India and Punjab had to pay a very significant price for all the misdeeds of the “1, Akbar Road Group”.  The desecration of the Holy Golden Temple first by the Sikh terrorists and then by the army action, butchering of innocent civilians by Sikh terrorists in Punjab owing to the communal discord fanned by Op-1 and Op-2, the assassination of a Prime Minister and a retired General and the genocide of Sikhs subsequent to the assassination of then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi are one of the darkest chapters of independent India apart from the declaration of emergency.

The revelations are damning and puts into perspective the rot in the political system.  It forces the reader to wonder whether nationalism, patriotism, desh-bhakti, etc., are reserved only for the common man, while the representatives they elect does not in any way give heed to such things. Some of the revelations are regarding:

1. Close associates of Rajiv Gandhi attending classified meetings even though they had not got security clearances
2. Blatant use of intelligence agencies, army, police, bureaucracy and other state machineries for political and personal gains
3. How a combination of religion and politics damaged the Nation
4. How a few ‘yes men’ influenced the Late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi
5. How peace was deliberately avoided just to turn one individual to a savior
6. How enemies of the state – external and internal - can take advantage of the fault lines within the Nation

If the entire conspiracy starting from Op-1 and ending with the Sikh genocide could be termed as a wheel, there are many wheels within a wheel which the author tries to unravel in a very simpler manner.  The author offers some pragmatic solutions to the issue at the end of the book.

The book is a must read, especially for the current generation who are oblivious to the history of India as it happened, since they are caught in the web of distorted leftist/Marxist history.  Books like these are most welcome since it goes on to develop informed citizens.

Credible sources are relied upon and mentioned by the author along with the author’s first-hand experience.  The fact that Khalistan was a non-issue for an average Sikh is proved beyond doubt by the author through his extensive research and interaction especially in Canada where a substantial Sikh population resides. While the book is based on the author’s hands-on experience and information from his incredible network, the author also derives a lot from notable books on the issue. 

However, when it comes to “Operation Blue Star”, on which is devoted an entire chapter in the book, one of the glaring absences (this in no way diminishes the author’s excellent work) is any sort of reference to the book titled “Operation Blue Star: The True Story” authored by Lt. Gen. K S Brar and published by the UBS Publishers’ Distributors Limited which has answers to many of the questions posed by the author.  Afterall Lt. Gen. K S Brar was the one who commanded the entire operation at the Golden Temple and for whom, along with General K Sunderji, the author has not got any kind words to offer.  It would have been an even more balanced coverage of the conduct of the operation, the challenges faced by the Indian Army and its Generals, had the book by Lt. Gen. K S Brar been referred to since it would have presented to the reader both sides of the coin.

As Lt. Gen. K S Brar in his book echoes:

“The people of India need to pledge that never again will a place of worship be permitted to become an arsenal, nor a sanctuary from whose womb violence and crime is delivered.  Temples must always remain bastions of faith and brotherhood, not of communal hatred or fratricidal class war”.

Adding to the above, “We the people of India should never be a mute witness to the creation of Frankenstein’s monsters”.

Image Source: Bombay Reads