Congress slams P Chidambaram’s remark on Operation Bluestar

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram has described Operation Bluestar, the 1984 military assault ordered by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to flush out Khalistani extremists from the Golden Temple, as “the wrong way” to deal with the crisis, saying the Congress leader “paid with her life for that mistake”. The Congress has reacted sharply, saying he appeared to be echoing the BJP’s narrative.Speaking at the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival in Kasauli on Saturday while moderating a discussion on journalist Harinder Baweja’s book ‘They Will Shoot You, Madam’, the senior Congress leader said the operation was a collective failure of the system, not Gandhi’s alone.

“There was a way to retrieve and capture all the militants. Bluestar was the wrong way,” Chidambaram said. “I agree Gandhi paid with her life for that mistake, but it was a cumulative decision of the Army, the police, intelligence and the civil service. We cannot blame it only on her,” he added.

The former Home and Finance Minister further said that several years later, the Golden Temple was retaken “the right way” without involving the Army. “No disrespect to any service officers present here, but that was the wrong way to retrieve the Golden Temple. Three to four years later, we showed the right way by keeping the Army out,” he remarked.

Operation Bluestar was launched between June 1 and June 8, 1984, when the Indira Gandhi government ordered the Indian Army to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar to eliminate separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed supporters. Bhindranwale was killed during the operation, but the assault left the Akal Takht in ruins and triggered widespread outrage across the Sikh community.

In the months that followed, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, sparking large-scale anti-Sikh riots. Official estimates state that over 3,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and elsewhere, with several Congress leaders accused of inciting the violence.

Chidambaram’s remarks have reignited political reactions across party lines. BJP national spokesperson RP Singh strongly backed the former minister’s statement, calling Operation Bluestar a “political misadventure” rather than a national necessity.

“Indira Gandhi chose confrontation for electoral gain, portraying the patriotic Sikh community as anti-national. She got trapped in her own political web and ultimately paid for it with her life. The real tragedy, however, was borne by my community…thousands were massacred in Delhi and across Punjab," he said.

Singh said a more strategic approach like Operation Black Thunder, where power and water to the Golden Temple were cut off, compelling militants to surrender, could have achieved the goal without desecrating the shrine or causing civilian casualties.

Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa condemned Chidambaram’s remarks, saying they amounted to “an unacceptable attempt to dilute Congress’ responsibility”. “To say Indira Gandhi was not solely responsible is unacceptable. The Congress must own up to its historic mistake,” Sirsa said.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also weighed in, saying Chidambaram’s admission comes “too late”. “After revealing that India could not respond to Pakistan’s Mumbai terror attacks due to foreign pressure, now he admits Operation Bluestar was also a mistake,” Rijiju said.

Reacting to Chidambaram’s recent comments, senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi alleged that the former Union Minister appeared to be echoing the BJP’s narrative and suggested he might be acting under some form of pressure.

“Whether Operation Bluestar was justified or not can always be debated. But why, after five decades, is P Chidambaram still attacking his own party? By criticising Indira Gandhi’s decision, he is only repeating what the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been saying,” Alvi remarked.

He further said that Chidambaram’s continued criticism had created doubts about his intentions. “There are several cases still pending against him, and one wonders if that has any bearing on his recent statements,” Alvi added.

A senior Congress source also expressed disapproval of Chidambaram’s comments, saying, “A leader who has been trusted with so much by the party should speak more responsibly. Making statements that repeatedly damage the organisation is neither fair nor acceptable."