6 June, 1984: the Indian army storms the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Called Operation Bluestar, the historic and unprecedented event ended the growing specter of terrorism perpetrated by the extremist Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers once and for all. But it left in its wake unsolved political questions that continued to threaten Punjab’s stability for year to come. How, in a brief span of three years, did India’s dynamic frontier state become a national problem? Who was to blame: the Central Government for allowing the crisis to drift despite warnings, or the long-drawn-out Akali agitation, or the notorious gang of militants who transformed a holy shrine into a sanctuary for terrorists? First published two months after Operation Bluestar, The Punjab Story pieces together the complex Punjab Jigsaw through the eyes of some of India’s most eminent public figures and journalists. Writing with the passion and conviction of those who were involved with the drama, they present a wide-ranging perspective on the past, present and future of the Punjab tangle, the truth of many of their conclusions having been borne out by time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Amarjit Kaur
Amarjit Kaur was a Member of Parliament and was closely associated with the Government of India's efforts in bringing abuot an understanding between the two communities in Punjab.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR J.S. Aurora
Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora, PVSM, who successfully led the Bangladesh operations in 1971, was one of the most capable ex-Army officers to analyze the planning and execution of Operation Bluestar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh was born in 1915 in Hadali, Punjab. After university education in Lahore and London, he practiced at the Lahore High court before joining the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He began a distinguished career as a journalist with all India Radio in 1951. Since then he has been founder-editor of Yojana, editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India and the Hindustan Times and chief editor of New Delhi. Today he is India’s best known columnist. Khushwant Singh has also had an extremely successful career as a writer. His published works include the classic two-volume A History of the Sikhs, the novels Train to Pakistan, Delhi and The Company of Women, his autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little Malice, and a number of translated works and non-fiction books on Delhi, nature, Sikh history and religion, and current affairs. Khushwant Singh was Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986. Among other honours he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 by the President of India (he returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union Government’s siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR M V Kamath
M.V. Kamath has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004, he is presently director of the Manipal Institute of Communication and has served as chairman of Vigyan Prasar and Prasar Bharathi.
There are no reviews yet.