CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh, who was Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar during Operation Blue Star, has come out with a book Turmoil in Punjab, Before and After Bluestar: An Insider’s Story, shedding light on some unknown aspects of turbulent times after 38 years of the Operation Blue Star.
His book will be formally launched in mid-June. Interestingly, the 38the anniversary of Operation Blue Star falls on June 6 and this time also, the atmosphere in the state is charged up after the broad daylight killing of singer-politician Sidhu Moosewala.
Talking with this correspondent about his book and the times it covers, Singh says that from 1978 to 1996, Punjab reeled under a continuous tragedy that resulted in the death of about 21,660 people.
Singh joined as the District Commissioner of Amritsar on June 4, 1984 and Operation Blue Star took place on the intervening nights of June 5 and 6. “It was a brutal time.
The nation lost a Prime Minister, a former Chief of Army Staff, a Chief Minister, many ministers, leaders, and thousands of innocent citizens and of course ‘some not so innocent. Those were defining years that impacted the course of our history as probably no other domestic problem had done since Independence. However, nearly four decades later, we still hear different and, at times, conflicting accounts of what happened, why and how it happened.
Having been an eye-witness of the militancy, from its beginning till the end, I have tried to write every significant detail that deserves attention. The book covers all the dimensions of the ethnonational movement, how and why it originated, how it was dealt with, and how it finally ended. You will find discussion on everything — the violence generated by terrorists, the law and order issues, the socio-religious tensions, the politics behind this, the role of foreign powers, and the operation of state agencies,’’ says Singh.