Independent Sources on 1984 Holocaust

Independent (non-Sikh) sources on the 1984 Ghallughara (holocaust) of the Sikhs:

Cynthia Keppley Mahmood (American Anthropologist): "When it [the Indian army] attacked the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar in 1984, containing the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, the ostensible aim was to rid the sacred buildings of the militants who had taken up shelter inside. But the level force used in the attack was utterly incommensurate with this limited and eminently attainable aim. Seventy thousand troops, in conjunction with the use of tanks and chemical gas, killed not only the few dozen militants who didn’t manage to escape the battleground but also hundreds (possibly thousands) of innocent pilgrims, the day of the attack being a Sikh holy day. The Akal Takht, the seat of temporal authority for the Sikhs, was reduced to rubble and the Sikh Reference Library, an irreplaceable collection of books, manuscripts, and artefacts bearing on all aspects of Sikh history, burned to ground. Thirty-seven other shrines were attacked across Punjab on the same day. The only possible reason for this appalling level of state force against its own citizens must be that the attempt was not merely to “flush out,” as they say, a handful of militants, but to destroy the fulcrum of a possible mass resistance against the state."
Mahmood, Cynthia Keppley, “Dynamics of Terror in Punjab and Kashmir,” Jeffrey A. Sluka, ed., Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000, p. 77.

CKC Reddy (Hindu writer): "The whole of Punjab and especially the Golden Temple Complex, was turned into a murderous mouse trap from where people could neither escape nor could they seek succor of any kind...The bodies of the victims of military operation in Punjab were unceremoniously destroyed without any attempt to identify them and hand them over to their relatives …The most disturbing thing about the entire operation was that a whole mass of men, women, and children were ordered to be killed merely on the suspicion that some terrorists were operating from the Golden Temple and other Gurdwaras. There had been no judicial verdict of guilt against definite individuals who had been taking shelter in the Golden Temple."

Reddy, C.K.C., et. al., Army Action in Punjab: Prelude & Aftermath, New Delhi: Samata Era Publication, 1984, p. 46-48.

Joyce Pettigrew (Irish Anthropologist): “The initial crime was celebrated and indeed had been planned a year before hand.. The army went into Darbar Sahib not to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to suppress a culture of people, to attack their heart, to strike a blow at their spirit and self confidence.... The army which had suffered a heavy toll in the 3 days of battle went berserk and killed every Sikh man, women and child who could be found inside the temple complex. They were hauled out of the rooms, brought to corridors on the circumference of the temple and with their hands tied behind their backs, were shot in cold blood."
Pettigrew, Joyce. "The Sikhs of the Panjab: Unheard Voices of the State and Guirella Violence" (1995), p. 8.

Ram Narayan Kumar (Hindu Human Rights Activist): “The Operation Bluestar was not only envisioned and rehearsed in advance, meticulously and in total secrecy, it also aimed at obtaining maximum number of Sikh victims, largely devout pilgrims unconnected with the political agitation. The facts should speak for themselves.”
Ram Narayan Kumar, The Sikh Struggle and The Sikh Unrest & The Indian State, Ajanta Books International, Delhi, 1997.

SK Sinha (Retired Indian Army General): “The Army Action was not the ‘last resort’ as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would have us to believe… It had been in her mind for more than 18 months… Shortly after the Akali agitation of 1982, the Army began rehearsals of a commando raid near Chakrata Contonment in the Doon Valley, where a complete replica of the Golden Temple complex had been built… Another training involving Aviation Research Centre Commandos was given in the Sarsawa area and Yamuna bed in helicopters converted into gunships.”
Lt. Gen. SK Sinha, Spokesman, 16th July 1984

C.K.C. Reddy (Hindu writer): “Operation Bluestar will down in history as one of the biggest massacre of unarmed civilians by the organized military force of a nation… the word unarmed is used deliberately as the disparity in arms on the two sides was so great that those resisting army invasion of the temple could hardly be termed armed.”
GKC Reddy, Army Action in Panjab, Prelude and Aftermatch 1984, p. 49

Subramaniam Swami (Hindu Indian Politician): “Government of India master-minded disinformation campaign to create legitimacy for its actions. Its goal was to ‘make out that the Golden Temple was the haven of criminals, a store of armoury and a citadel of the nation’s dismembment conspiracy.”
Imprint, July 1984, “Creating a Martyr”, by Subramaniam Swami, pp. 7-8.

Vir Sanghvi (Celebrity & BJP Advisor): "Whatever Bhindranwale's involvement, the Government had no concrete evidence and the ministry thought it inadvisable to arrest him on a flimsy case only to have him acquitted and transformed into a hero."
Vir Sanghvi: The Giani and Bhindranwale, Imprint, February 1986.




A.R. Darshi (A Hindu, Former Joint Secretary to the Punjab Government): "The Sikh fighters had no line of communication and source of supply. They were totally cut off from the state. the country and the world. They were completely besieged in the Golden Temple Complex, particularly inside the Akal Takht. Supply of electricity and water was cut off. They had no reserves to reinforce their positions. They had nothing to eat but roasted grains, nothing to drink but their own sweat oozed from their bodies due to scorch­ing heat. They had no place to answer the call of nature. They could not sleep for seven days and seven nights. They were exhausted and weared out under these horri­ble conditions. On the other hand Indian Army had all sorts of provisions, facilities, reserves and what not. Yet the Sikhs fought gallantly and demonstrated their remarkable valour, courage and fighting skill. Yet they held the well equipped Indian Army at bay for five days and gave it a bloody reply, the reply which the Army would remember for ever. Had the militant Sikhs been equally armed, had their numerical strength been even one-tenths of the In­dian Army, they would have pushed the Army up to Delhi or even beyond Jamuna.... The entire credit for this exemplary valour goes to Sant Bhindranwale who had enthused and inspired the Sikhs to fight for their rights and defend their faith." Darshi, A.R. The Gallant Defender, 1999, Ch. 8.

Dhan Hai Guru, Dhan Hai Teree Sikhee