A Naik of the Kumaon Regiment who participated in Operation Bluestar,
narrated the events of the fateful night of June 5 and 6 to ‘Probe’ of
Aug. ’84. Relieved to be returning home safely, he recounted the gory
details while sitting in the first class compartment of the Amritsar
Howrah Mail.
“As the sun set on June 5, the commandos were busy working out a plan of
action. After midnight a troop of 30 jawans went forward hoping to get
nearer the Akal Takht. But they ran into heavy firing from the
terrorists. Seventeen of our men fell to the rain of bullets while the
others lay injured on the Parikrama. The next hatch of 30 who went
forward met with the same fate. The silence of the night was broken by
the rattle of gunfire and the wailing of some of our jawans who lay
helpless on the Parikrama. We were helpless, we couldn’t go forward to
help them. At this point of time General R.S. Dayal lost his cool and
ordered that tanks be moved in. It was only after the tanks seven of
them went into action that we got some sort of a hold over the
extremists”.
“The firing from their side was intense. And we had to shoot back in the
darkness without being able to pinpoint our target. Anyone seen running
was shot. In the process a lot of men and women also died. We were
shooting at our own jawans. About 50 of them died of bullets fired by
us”.
“When the firing from most of the extremists’ fortifications had been
quelled, there was still a heavy rain of bullets. For a while none of us
were able to discern the source. Then one jawan spotted a woman who was
lying down on the roof of one of the buildings with a LMG in her hand.
He scrambled towards her and dug a bayonet into her spine. We had been
ordered to shoot not to kill but the angry jawan, on seeing his comrades
being killed, was provoked to kill the woman by repeatedly stabbing her
with the bayonet”.
“On the morning of June 6, the Golden Temple complex was like a
graveyard. Bodies lay all around in the buildings, on the Parikrama and
in the Sarovar. The sun was shining and the stench from the bodies was
becoming unbearable. Bodies of jawans were identified and handed over to
their respective regiments. I, myself carried the bodies of three
soldiers on my shoulders. Each regiment conducted the funeral rites of
their various jawans”.
“The civilians who had died, about 1500 of them, were piled in trolleys
and carried away. A lot of them were thrown into the rivers”.
“The batttle was a tragic one. I couldn’t eat anything. Food made me
sick. I used to just drink lots of rum and go to sleep. I am glad now to
be relieved of my duty in Amritsar”.
