Operation Bluestar: A story of courage, miscalculations, and sights nightmares are made of - Part 2 

I grew up reading India Today . It’s a privilege for my sons generation to be told these stories by you . They don’t make journalists like you any more . You are our Shirer

Just a suggestion to ThePrint team. I think SG should be doing a separate series called "SG Files", a recollection of his interesting experiences & stories of all his reportage, rather than making this CTC.

Honestly, this was gut wrenching. SG's narration brings out the pain of a horrendous time in Indian history, which we hope and wish never ever happens again.

I almost cried while listening to this. This has to be a master class in journalism. Mr. Gupta I just tell you how envious I am of you. Although I work as a IT professional I once dreamt of being a journalist and oh my god you are so fortunate to see so many unfortunate stories in front of you and tell us the young generation like dadu or Nanu would tell us about family legacy. Along with CTC please give us something from your stories atleast once a week.

Please more of these Mr SG, no one does it better than you, thank you for all you do to keep us better informed.

As a country with a very large population that were either too young, remote or not born it is so important (perhaps gory) to know this chapter so recent yet not in memory of many... Everytime killings of any kind from mob lynching to riots to anything it's our people dying .. there can be better ways to co-exist.. must we see such things again and have another generation of traumatized indians before we be careful in how unaccommodating we are (self check thing) Thank you Shekar and print team And sorry about your traumas ... It's easy to forget that a journalist must have such profound mental impact on them so also appreciation and gratitude for the years persistent work

The mention of 26 Madras was significant to me. My battalion took over the Kargil Defended Area from 26 Madras in 1995. I had the privilege as a 2nd Lieutenant (we had that rank back then) - "baby of the battalion" as you put it - of being part of the advance party and of taking over a company post from (then) Capt Shanmugham of 26 Madras.

Episode is epitome of honest experiences and I am grateful for you to share them. Life is short to learn from mistakes, especially when they have already been made before.

For me the best videos are those where Shekhar sir just tells us an interesting story.

This is an absolute gem. A documented history which can be preserved and can be shared with generations. Love your episodes and it’s my morning routine while I get ready for work.

Incredibly detailed story telling by SG leaving unforgettable imprints in the mind. “Moral dimension to leadership“ in intrinsic to military leadership and is so much different from what we generally see in business and political leadership . But on rare occasions when moral dimension of leadership is actually there in a business or political leader, the result is magical. Learnings of Leadership actually stems from military leadership. Thank you SG for a wonderful episode of CTC.

I was a witness to these sad and unfortunate events in 83-84. Thanks Shekhar Gupta for a very hard hitting account. It has brought tears to my eyes.

Shekar Gupta - you are a national treasure!! 👏🏿 I was only 7 yrs old back then…and living in south India. My knowledge of this history has been poor. Your recent episodes on the current situation in Punjab couching it in historical context has been a brilliant history lesson! A history that our citizens, especially younger ones should know, and wow to never let happen again. Kudos to your entire team for this brilliant piece. I’m renewing my subscription!

Mr. SG, i grew up reading India today and honestly, your columns were the most favourite. This two part episode is like a movie and nobody could have done this better than you. Thank you so much for shedding light on this very important & painful history of our country 🙏

General Shabeg Singh didn't merely believe that he was victimized, he was actually victimized and dismissed, without any court marshal, from army disrespectfully just before the day of his retirement. He was acquitted of all the charges against him by Supreme Court. This shows that the story told by you couldn't be believed wholly as you might have missed or manipulated many things deliberately.

I had streams of tears flowing through my eyes at the end of the episode. Thank you SG for such a detailed report. We can never fully understand the magnitude of the catastrophe of 1984 and the aftermath.

39 years ago when I had to walk 28 kms to my home on 31st October, I wondered if I could ever get to know the real story of what lead to the death of Mrs. Gandhi. Thanks to SG I now have a better understanding of the events regrettably with the loss of so many lives.

What a solid narration Mr Shekhar. This brings back the memory of those horrific times we all Punjabis lived through. Have always tried to encourage the younger generation to stay away from radicalism but your narration of facts is powerful and I hope and pray that all Punjabis watch this more so the young ones. Regards

Dear Mr Shekhar Gupta, Let me share a personal story. On April 13, 1919, a young Sikh boy who had gone to Jalianwala Bagh in Amritsar to listen to leaders of freedom movement. He survived that day by hiding under pile of dead bodies. Later in his life served n the Central government’s defense department as a superintendent. After his retirement he went back to Punjab. A few days before blue star, totally oblivious to political happenings and turmoil, this 75 year old and near blind man went to Amritsar to get his cataract surgery done. He stayed in Sarai as he usually did it in the past. Because of the marshal law like situation people got stuck wherever they were at the moment. Many army soldiers dragged people out of the Sarai and killed them summarily, this old Sikh included. He survived the British at Jalianwala Bagh but was killed by his own army whom he had served. He was my Grandfather’s brother. Ours was a patriotic family. My grandfather was a member of Gadar party fighting British at age 15. Other members of family served in Army as well.

I am from Kangra district in adjoining HP, in 1984/85 I was 5-6 years and have this very hazy memory. A person had come to our house to buy our buffalo and he asked about my uncle who was in Army… my Grandfather told him that he was in posted in Punjab, and my grandmother started crying into her chador… ‘Punjab ech bare halle paye hun… jwala mata mere putt-e-yo bchaiye rakheyaan’ (Punjab has lot of noise going on, O jwala ma keep my son safe). Everyone was consoling the old lady… I did not understand any of the stuff then but the memory lingered on… now I see the undercurrents. It horrific that a section of people want to bring that horror back

The small Sikh community in the south were also affected and not to be forgotten. I was 7, but remember seeing the burnt Gurudwara at Coimbatore, and it still makes me angry.

After listening to ur experience, general brar's interview and subramanian swamy 's interview my conclusion so far is that Russia inspired Indira Gandhi to take on this Mission (high chances), bhinder wala wasn't pure separatist but govt thought him to be a threat, whole situation was created by incompetence govt in center and state, army was sent at the last moment when everything was mess, army tried their best to solve the situation with less casualties but they couldn't handle the mission properly. A mistrust appeared from both sides, sikhs now hated Hindus and Indians were fed that Sikhs were separatist.

The "quote" by Lt Col Panikkar mentioned by you is one that any Indian Army officer would give you sir. We are trained in the spirit of leading from the front. In the Indian Army, it is not considered something extraordinary if an officer leads from the front. It's just what s/he is expected to do. The Chetwode credo of Nation First, Troops second and self last is something that we common believe in.

Thank you Sir. Your well articulated stories and points of view on important events in our history are deeply enriching. I wish this flow of content from you never stops.

Sant jairnail singh bhindrawale was the bravest saint soldier of 20th century

One of the best episodes. Young even though I was, I cannot forget the horrible happenings of 1984.

Shekar Sir, once again this episode of 1984 was memorable and hope punjab does not fall into the same trap of what we have seen in 80s’ & 90s’. Looks like Amirtpal and his sympathizers has not learnt lessons from past mistakes. Very sad to see people falling into ISI hands like this.

These types of episodes are real treasure for historians and history enthusiasts, be it even nightmare we need them to be recorded to learn from past and prevent repetition

Yes, this format of story telling is way more profound then just a drab fact rattlings. I urge you to keep them coming. Very engrossing tale though quite unfortunate.

Absolutely epic two episodes. Shekharji, listening to your stories is blood-chilling. Makes me very thankful for my desk job and thankful that there are people like you who left such desk jobs to do some incredible work!!

What a brilliant narration. I wish my dad would be alive to share this video with, he would have simply loved it. Watching, sharing n discussing ur ctc n ni videos was one such passion we shared as father daughter. I missed him today while watching this

Wow! SG has seen so much in life! Captivating story telling and hope we all learn from history

Hats off to Shekar Gupta. This two part ctc has finally convinced me to take a membership. My respects to the old school journalism and the style of story telling. Riveting. The content is gut wrenching, the knowledge it shares vital. Again, thanks for bringing this gem of an episode to us.

What a vivid and detailed recollection of Shekhar sir’s memoirs. At the end, It is heart wrenching to know that fellow countrymen fought each other, there are no winners in such an equation. No one should ever have to endure such a ghastly sight 😓😓. thank you for teaching us a valuable lesson.

Hard to hold back tears listening to this! We as a nation cannot afford to slip back into this again.

A very moving, thorough and honest reporting. I wish people in Canada would hear this, like our foolish PM. You have conveyed the depth of the tragedy so well, so sympathetically and objectively at the same time. I studied in New Delhi '82-84, so have some personal memories of that time. Let it never happen again. We must work for truth, compassion and tolerance to maintain peace and dignity for all.

I was so eagerly damn waiting for this thing in office I was just thinking such an awesome story teller our shekar sir😊

Excellently narrated. People like me wore the army uniform those terrible days. We lost our Sikh comrades butchered after Blue Star. Many of them were decorated officers and men. It even divided the apolitical army. Thank you Sir. We need one on our IPKF operations🙏

One of your best videos, Sekhar Guptaji! You've packed so much of information and emotions in this video. Salute to you Sir! I'm proud and happy to be the Print subscriber!

My respect and admiration for your journalism has only gone up sir. The recollection is so raw and gory..you were right there.. Every word every sentence reflects it. Thank you again 🙏

Mr. Gupta, as a former soldier and a Sikh, I take strong exception to your characterising the conduct of OP Bluestar as incompetent. With 40 years of hindsight, you cannot call the action incompetent without proposing an alternative approach that was not adopted. If your assertion is that tanks and howitzers should have been used from the get go, can you imagine the furor it would have caused. Please don't be a Monday morning quarterback in what is otherwise stellar storytelling on your part. We had to incur the casualties we did to show that the escalation was gradual and forced not intended. Else, they could have simply used the airforce and avoided all military casualties. Please stick to your knitting when opining on such specialist matters and recognise the lack of any accompanying rationale to show what was not done that made the conduct of operation bluestar incompetent. Keep up the good work sir.

Thank you Shekhar for sharing your memories with us. I have no words to describe how I feel after hearing your narration. May peace reign long over our beloved Punjab.

Sir do continue this series till Operation black Thunder by KPS Gill. Pls cover who were the remaining militants, who was their leader etc

I was 6 years old when this happened and living in UK. I remember hearing that Indira Gandhi was as assassinated because the day was my birthday. Thank you for telling this story so that those of us who did not live through it can understand.

CTC episodes 1197 and 1198 will remain etched in my memory for a long long time to come.

I have seen every episode of CTC in the last 3 years and the ongoing 4-5 episode series on Punjab (including the Amritpal ones) is one of the best, keep it up, Shekhar ji.

these 2 parts were absolutely amazing storytelling...thanks for this, for a person born so long after these incidents, it gives such clear insight on what would have happened in those days.

I listened to you just like would listen to my history teacher in school. My mum was a history Post Grad. I love listening to history lessons as we get to learn a lot from history and to not commit same mistakes in future

30 mins felt like 10 mins or so. At the end, I was left yearning for more. Shekhar Gupta's videos are like novels or mini movies. There's a build up, twists and all that. Also minute details like 'the body had beads of perspiration' made it visual for us.

Dear Mr. Gupta, Please DO NOT STOP this channel's/medium's way of communication. News, lessons & history told in its best way. Thank You Shekhar.

I don't usually comment, but this was so interesting to listen albeit unfortunate to happen. Will definitely watch more such episodes. Repeatedly.

Very well narrated. Show's why Mr. Shekhar Gupta is one of the most respected journalists in the country.

Pls continue the stories of 1984, a tumultuous year in indian and Sikh history. Given a very balanced story telling by SG, I would like is for him to end with the “moral of the story”. I would like to hear from SG why did Bhindranwale fight ? Context is missing in his story…ao pls construct and share that viewpoint as well, so people get an start to end view b

Thank you Shekhar ji. For reliving those painful memories.. You are right when you say we all need to know our past to derive lessons and not repeat the mistakes

Thank You Shekher.. I just hope the young Sikh kids who're romanticising with the ideas of Kalistani and Amritpal will see your video series and learn the most basic lesson that violence breeds violence. They're but toys in the hands of enemy of the estate and only they can break this chain of killings.

By 2030, I predict the print would generate more money through cut the clutter than any other revenue streams they have ! This is a gold mine.

Ranveer Aalahbadia has a good video on the khalistan movement. Mr GBS Sidhu gave good information

I have perhaps not watched any other of the CTC with such unwavering attention, just trying soak in each word of your first hand experience and unbiased view of the situation. Thank you for this glimpse in history so many from my seem to have forgotten.

Thanks for such wonderful story telling!

Thank you for bringing these stories alive with anecdotes and narration. Important history lesson that we all ought to know and etch in memory. Waiting for more episodes!

Deeply saddening events. May we never ever face such an event on our soil...

Perhaps this is the most honest coverage of 1984 Punjab I ever have seen . Surely you have made your name in history because of unbiased and unopinionted journalism of the tragic incident that happened in Punjab and northeastern states.

Please do more of these. Fascinating stories of India’s history.

Sorry SG ji yesterday I said 'don't glorify' , I realised this is not glorification but a traggic truth to learn from history, lesson to learn for all, State, Separatist, those sitting outside country and promoting K... and all fellow Indians and Punjabis in particular. Thank u

Shekhar your story telling is amazing..as if I'm seeing everything in front of my eyes.

❤ it's so very lovely to Listening to the Seasoned Journalist then and now too. Listening and watching Shekarji.. it reminds me of my school childhood days..in 1980's.. "The-Pen-isMighter-Than-The SWORD " and I used to read THE-HINDU newspaper of those days. 👍excellent Sir for the extensive coverage .. 😂I love to hear Shekarji- a mix of the old Hinglish with a sure touch of pure-Hindi language tooo Just reading- 😊in between the lines 🙏thankyou SG

Brilliant n honest portrayal of the most tragic post independent era, not easy revisiting nightmares of millions and Yours too, I am still very saddened for that chapter of our forgettable history

Never had goosebumps listening to a news like narration. You are a great story teller, Shekhar Ji, and one of the best journalists our country shall ever see.

Sir you are a font of knowledge! Please keep bringing more of these story telling episodes! Hope we learn from history & don't repeat the mistakes again! As an added bonus I got several book suggestions! Thank you!

Well narrated! I hope we the people can learn from past events and history is never repeated. Long back I am sitting in bar in US, the guy next to me, (white) started chatting to me in Hindi not fluent though ( I was surprised). He started saying few bad things about India. When I countered him, he said that India is the only army which invaded their own people. May be he have little knowledge about blue star but this would have never happened. It really pained me: at the end it were Indians who lost their lives. Respect to Brave soldiers! Jai Hind!

I've been looking forward to part 2.

If there is a journalist who deserves an honour from Indian Govt. it is Shekhar Gupta ji. Brings the facts, writes the story and leaves it for the audience to make their own conclusion. One of the best story tellers, if I could take the liberty of saying so, thanks SG sir. Wish you a cool summer ⛱️. Regards!

Eagerly waiting for your video love your unbiased reporting.

A dark chapter in the history of modern, brilliantly narrated with a humane perspective. Mr. Shekhar Gupta speaks this episode like a poet singing a tragic poem. He is a living book of history. I am interested to know more. Please create more episode on this incident. Thanks.

The end made me crazy ❤

Thankyou so much @thePrint for starting this series and enlightening us with what all happened during that time frame

Massive respect to General Sundar Krishnamurty,he insured no artifacts were targeted at the golden temple even making sure soldiers took out there boots before the assault begun

Read all the books on this subject and was curious to know more being aware of horrific period,I must say your narration is beyond words of any praise Thanks

@ SHEKHAR- there is not a SHRED of evidence that Bhindrawale EVER espoused / asked for khalistan ; In all his speeches / press edicts he maintained that Sikhs wnat to live with dignity and honor as equal citizens of India. His main emphasis was ALWAYS the Anandpur Sahib resolution which RIGHTLY calls for a FEDERAL structure among other justifiable demands / issues of Punjab and Punjabis (NOT JUST SIKHS). There are scores of speeches of bhindrawale on the internet wherein he openly calls for a struggle for implementing the Anandpur sahib resolution and NEVER ever calls for Khalistan. In fact there is a video in which Sukhjinder Singh Khera ( father of Congress leader Sukhpal Khera) TRIES to raise the BOGEY of khalistan and a red faced bhindrawale has him shut up and made to sit down mid speech ! There is no doubt Bhindrawale was a radical and a right wing divisive personality and maybe he/ his followers had committed crimes. But this issue of painting him as the poster child of Khalistan is a pure media creation. In Oct 1983 there was a dastardly and evil killing of Hindu bus passengers in Dhilwan (the first of 7 or 8 such killings that happened in Punjab over 12-13 years of violence. This was used as the justification by the Central Govt and Indira Gandhi to dismiss the Darbara Singh government ( Congress) and impose Presidents rule. And who was the first person to condemn this - bhindrawale himself. for 4 decades the media has used the bogey of Khalistan and Bhindrawale to target the Sikhs and Sikh identity in general - I am no supporter of Bhindrawale nor have i ever espoused Khalistan. But there are scores of genuine State issues/ disputes which the centre has ridden roughshod over and denied the rights to Punjab. It is this simmering discontent that keeps boiling over in Punjab and unfortunately is continuously exploited by the political forces. Sikhs want to live in peace and with dignity in ALL parts of India- not just Punjab. We have made innumerable sacrifices for this country and the blind hubris of power and arrogance of a head strong PM, her coterie and self serving bureaucrats led to unimaginable loss of life inside and outside Punjab. By all accounts Bhindrawale had roughly 150 odd men with rifles and a few LMGs - did we need multiple army divisions, tanks and helicopters to flush them ? And Shekhar conveniently forgot to mention that the day chosen for the attack on June 5 was the martyrdom day of Guru Arjun- why ? when thousands of innocent pilgrims were inside ? were the army generals so incompetent and complete morons or this was designed to crush the spirit and psyche of the Sikhs and "teach them a lesson".. Unless there is honest reporting and Indians truly are informed about what happened and why the wounds just dont heal and this kind of "gloss over" reporting is meant to only present what we already have heard millions of times ad nauseam.. shekhar - willing to give u complete, inside unbiased accurate facts if u have the guts to share and report

I have read your write- up in the Punjab Story book. Brilliant writing. And you are on the dot when you say Punjab is probably the most important national issue at the moment. Thank you!

How did issue come up after AAP came into power..... I will challenge your moral and unbiased news ..... you won't do it .....SG is a Leftist reporter

Thank you Shekhar Ji , CTC is becoming a national treasure for future generations! This is history that all Indians need to learn-it's imperative to understand the horrors and to prevent this from ever occurring again. As in 1984, the root cause is support from across the border feeding on discontent within and funding it. Hope and pray that the Gov is able to find a lasting and amicable solution to problems as we root this out once and forever. This is the time for India's greatness to shine and we cannot afford internal strife and conflict!

More I hear this the more I believe in REAL education (NOT IELTS) is so important for both sides of the Punjab. No disrespect-but it looks special idiots in the Punjab region, both India & Pakistan. Why would you have fertile land but still hell bent on fighting in the name of religion or dominance?? In my state we dont have water even for rice or sugarcane but no one talks about fighting instead on the importance of education as a escape. But in Punjab too much idiocy due to too much wealth & brawn but absolutely no brain.

This is a great account of a chilling chapter from India's history. Journalism can't get better than this.

Moral of the story...if you choose to fight India, you are destined to lose. Sedition and waging a war against the state warrants Capitol punishment. Sorry and Jai Hind !

Shekhar Sir, you are one of the best story tellers. The first hand account you have provided is so good. Hatsoff to you.

The demand of hindu rashtra is also wrong and all those who support it do so to harass minorities also Sikh community will never forget that operation!! What things the minorities of this country face is disturbing

Slowly and surely becoming a fan of Sekhar Gupta. Respect.

_My hero was KPS GILL. He was instrumental in bringing down the khalistani movement_

Thank you, Shekhar Gupta Sir This doesn't make for a lovely lesson in history. It's too tragic and involving my own countrymen, and from a land where I spent a part of my childhood as well. But you are unraveling history for us in an engaging manner and for that, I am grateful

These are all started part of dynasty and one party rule (all controlled from Delhi from MLA, MP and CMs selection) politics initiated by Nehru in post independence. If you see the chronology in movements post independence, 1st Telugu movement for state in 50s(states divided on languages), Dravidian, marathi and Punjab movements 1960s, sikh movement in 70s, Kashmir movement in 80s, mandal(BCs) and finally religious movements 1990s. All these because of some sections don’t have presence in political process. Mahatma Gandhi should have taken initiative post independence to divide congress party and started two party system. With this Indian politics never went to dynasty and accommodated all sections of society in political system. With political adjustment came finally now with too late and with too chaos. India lost almost 30-40 years of development and with this development population would have at 70 crore.

Superb narration. Very objective and impartial. I was a college student final engg in IIT. I read in the morning news paper TOI about the operation. Lot has been said for and againts the way it was conducted. However I hv yet to see alternative plan of the operation which could minimise civilian and military casualties. Great Job Shekhar Guptaji.

Bhindi Fry and Mritpal. Match made in Pakistan.

Your story telling style of accounts is simply amazing. You are a jewel in today’s age of hollow journalism!

Pappu fail hogya. 😮😮

🙏Every citizen in India & abroad should listen 🙏 to yours these two episodes.

I like to read history but the events that you shared from your first hand experiences were mind numbing, Shekar, you’ve shone the floodlight on a dark event of our recent past. Appreciate the references of books written by respected soldiers and reporters like you. You quoted George Santayana “Those who don’t learn (from) history are doomed to repeat it” needs to be taken seriously. Your presentation was superb and attention grabbing. 🙏🏾

Thank you, Shekhar Gupta ji. May my country never see those ghastly days again.

You are doing a great service to our generation by giving a holistic view of that dark period

I have become addicted to these show. Just amazing