Tales from the hours leading up to Operation Bluestar and the men behind it...
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00:00They told me how bad things were, and how Khalistan may be declared within the next
00:04five or six days.
00:06And if Khalistan is declared, Pakistan would cross the border and get into India.
00:30On the 1st of June, I was to go on two months annual leave.
00:56I was commanding a division in Meerut.
00:59And in the evening of the 31st of May, a phone call came from Chandigarh to say that General
01:07Brar is required in the operations room in Chandigarh tomorrow by 12 o'clock.
01:14General Sundarji was sitting there.
01:15He was the army commander.
01:17I was still in my mind wondering, what is this business, no idea.
01:24Then he said, well, Bulbul, he called me by my nickname.
01:27He said, Bulbul, we've called you here for a very special mission.
01:33The situation is very serious.
01:35And we want you to move to Amritsar the moment this briefing is over and start planning the
01:42operation.
01:43So I said, Sir, this evening I'm flying to Manila.
01:47I'm on two months annual leave.
01:49And then he said, I'm sorry, your leave is cancelled.
01:53There's a more important job waiting for you.
01:57They told me how bad things were and how Khalistan may be declared within the next
02:01five or six days.
02:03And if Khalistan is declared, Pakistan would cross the border and get into India just as
02:12we went into Bangladesh.
02:13They would recognize Khalistan.
02:15So the division in Amritsar, they were given the task to defend the borders.
02:20There's a possibility Punjab police will mutiny and join in with Khalistan.
02:27So we would have to then disarm the police.
02:30I did my recce from outside.
02:33I dare not do it inside.
02:35I dare not stay inside.
02:37Because if they get hold of me, I'm the commander of this operation, the operation won't start.
02:43They would have recognized you?
02:45Of course they would have recognized me.
02:46There was a chap there called General Shahbek Singh.
02:50What happened to him?
02:52Unfortunately, he was court-martialed.
02:58What exactly his crime was, I don't know.
03:01And he was dismissed from service.
03:03Shahbek Singh and I were good friends.
03:0671 War.
03:0871 War.
03:09Before that, when I was a cadet in the JSW, part of NDA, part of the Indian Military Academy,
03:18he was my instructor.
03:19Shahbek Singh had told Bhindranwale that it's not going to be easy.
03:24We're going to have a tough fight if the army decides to come in, because I can see General
03:30Bulbul Brar outside.
03:32And he's a tough guy.
03:33He's a Jat Sikh.
03:35Just like you.
03:36And just like me.
03:37We're all Jat Sikhs.
03:39We fight.
03:40That morning, I decided to address all the troops who were going to go in.
03:45I spoke to them and I explained to them what the situation was.
03:51If there's anyone amongst you who doesn't want to go in for religious reasons or any
03:56other reasons, I don't hold it against you.
04:00No action will be taken against you.
04:02One young Sikh boy, he got up.
04:05I said, no problem, son.
04:07You don't have to go in.
04:08He says, you've got me wrong, sir.
04:10Not only do I want to go in, I want to be the first one to go in.
04:14I want to be the first one to reach the Akal Takht and to get Bindunwari, brave fellow,
04:21Captain Raina.
04:22So now the operation started.
04:26His platoon was the first to enter the Golden Temple.
04:30And as they entered, fire came from all directions, heavy firing on them.
04:37I could hear people dying.
04:41I said, how is he?
04:43He said, he's been very badly wounded.
04:47Both his legs have been shot.
04:50Captain Raina.
04:51I said, evacuate him.
04:53Bring him out immediately.
04:54I have an ambulance waiting here.
04:56I'll send him to the hospital straight away.
04:59He said, he's refusing to come out.
05:02He's crawling.
05:03He's going on all his fours.
05:06He's carrying on.
05:07He says, I'm going to reach the Akal Takht.
05:09I'm not going back.
05:11I said, now forcibly, because he's bleeding so heavily, forcibly pick him up and bring
05:17him out.
05:18So he was forcibly brought out, sent to hospital, both legs amputated.
05:23I got him the Ashoka Chakra, the highest award that you can give to a person, not in actual
05:32war.
05:33He was in a wheelchair without his legs.
05:37And the president, instead of, you have to go up the two steps to receive your medal
05:42from the president.
05:44The president came down two steps to pin the award on him because he couldn't go up.