1984
Indira Gandhi's Generals Quibble Publicly, Calling Each Other Liars & Incompetents
VIKRAM JIT SINGH
At a time when details about Britain's role in Indira Gandhi's criminal actions in 1984 are coming out, two top field commanders of the Indian Army at Amritsar during the operation have very contrasting views on the merits of the assault that led to heavy casualties.
Maj Gen Jamwal, who commanded the 15 Infantry Division headquartered at Amritsar, has held that the operation was not only "badly-planned'' but suffered from the fatal error of launching a "frontal assault that went straight into the muzzle of the Sikh resistance fighters".
Now settled in Jammu, Maj Gen Jamwal says that revelations of the British Special Air Service being involved in Bluestar was "absolute bunk". Delving on the operation, Maj Gen Jamwal said: "The wrong direction of the assault planned by Maj Gen Brar was exposed when the 10 Guards declared over the radio that they could not move forward at all. If I had my way, we should have gone in for attack from the West."
On the other hand, Brar, who was promoted to Lt Gen for his ignominy, said from Mumbai: "Maj Gen Jamwal is a bitter, jealous man. His division was in Amritsar and he should have been given the task on the Golden Temple but I was given the responsibility. His men knew the Temple whereas we had to plan everything from scratch as we were inducted from Meerut. He is upset about that.''
Asked about the specific instances of failure detailed by Maj Gen Jamwal, Brar said: "I don't want to comment beyond that. There is obviously something lacking in Maj Gen Jamwal that he did not make it beyond Maj Gen rank.''
Maj Gen Jamwal, whose division was tasked to guard the borders against a Pakistani Army incursion, states that Maj Gen Brar was going in to attack without any reserves. "I told Lt Gen Dyal this and on that, two companies from my division were ordered to be placed under Maj Gen Brar, who was commanding the 9 Infantry Division,'' states Maj Gen Jamwal, whose 15 Division was primarily tasked to guard the border against a Pakistani Army incursion.
Interestingly, both the generals were together as young officers after being commissioned into the 1 Maratha Light Infantry. It was a badly and hastily planned and executed operation on the Golden Temple.
"I told Maj Gen Brar this before the operation commenced but he told me that he had been given direct orders by Lt Gen K. Sundarji, the then Western Army Commander. I told Maj Gen Brar that when things will go wrong, it will be your neck in the noose not that of Lt Gen Sundarji's,'' Maj Gen Jamwal said.
When the operation got bogged down during the early hours of June 6, Maj Gen Jamwal reveals that Maj Gen Brar was in a panic and his voice over the radio betrayed that. Brar had forgotten there were reserves available. He was heard over the radio to the 10 Guards saying 'what should I do ... get something done'.
When reminded of the reserves available on the radio by then Deputy GOC, 15 Division, Col. Dewan, Maj Gen Brar ordered the reserves into battle, which were two companies of the 9 Garhwal Rifles. The reserves played a decisive role,'' he said.
Maj Gen Jamwal reveals that he ordered his troops to fire an anti-tank shell into a wall of the Akal Takth but the misdirected shell hit the Sikh Reference Library and it burst into flames. Delving further into Maj Gen Brar's revelation that 20 shells were fired from tanks onto the Akal Takht, Maj Gen Jamwal reveals that some of these shells overshot and landed in areas behind the Golden Temple including their own army positions.
Maj Gen Jamwal was posted out of Amritsar after the operation and went on to command the Delhi Area. He testified in 2005 before the Nanavati Commission probing the anti-Sikh pogrom that the Union Home Minister had not given him directions to move the Army into the areas hit by the pogroms of Delhi till the evening of November 1, 1984.
Maj Gen Jamwal confirmed that a section of troops of 26 Madras had indulged in looting in the Golden Temple and that the battalion's Commanding Officer had been severely admonished by him and ordered to return the goods. He also brings out that after the operation, two Indian Army officers of the rank of Maj Gen visited him and asked him to liquidate the surrendered militants in the custody of 15 Division, to which Maj Gen Jamwal offered a blunt rejection. I told them I am a general of the Indian Army, not a butcher,'' said Maj Gen Jamwal.
No post-operation assessment / discussion in the higher command, action taken report or inquiry was undertaken on Bluestar, reveals Maj Gen Jamwal.
[Courtesy: Times of India. Edited for sikhchic.com]
January 16, 2014
Conversation about this article
1: Gurinder singh (Stockton, California, U.S.A.), January 16, 2014, 8:52 AM.
Maj Gen Jamwal, a Hindu Dogra, was a God-fearing man. It is widely believed that he had refused to attack The Golden Temple. That is how this devil Brar came in to lead the attack. Another gentleman officer of the Indian Army, Lt Gen Sinha had taken a stand against military action in The Golden temple. I have highest regard for these two persons who obeyed their conscience and were not swayed by the hate propaganda being manufactured against the Sikhs.
2: Rajdeep Singh (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), January 16, 2014, 12:08 PM.
The truth is finally coming out!
3: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), January 16, 2014, 12:18 PM.
This whole evil fiasco was Indian politics and 'Blood for Votes'! Nothing more, nothing less. And Sikh Politicians, greedy for cushy jobs and power, are as guilty as some of the Hindus who also knew what was going to happen if the Sikhs' holiest was going to be attacked!
4: N Singh (Canada), January 16, 2014, 12:20 PM.
Again the last statement of Maj Gen Jamwal testifies that war crimes were committed by the officers (not only the rank and file soldiers) after the assault, with massive killing of people. It is against the Geneva Convention to kill surrendered prisoners. This means that the orders to kill, which included the killing of civilians, came from officer ranks. No doubt Brar was involved.
5: Manpreet Singh (Canton, Ohio, USA), January 16, 2014, 3:35 PM.
Now that we have proof that Brar killed prisoners, which is clearly against the Geneva Convention, can we reach out to the UN or some other international body and declare him a War Criminal and get the rat out of his hole? Everybody seems to be distracted by Britain's involvement, but nobody is going after the real culprits: India and these bunch of douchebags!
6: Gurinder Singh (Stockton, California, U.S.A.), January 16, 2014, 9:44 PM.
The Geneva Convention rules apply to armed conflict between two countries. Here, the case is different and should be termed as genocide. It is something what Hitler did to the Jews. Two Major-generals asking another Major-general to kill prisoners. Prisoners may not all be 'militants' as all civilians inside were also rounded up. Already a journalist, Brahma chellany, had written about the killing of people with their hands tied back. He was an eyewitness to such piles of dead bodies.
7: Manpreet Singh (Canton, Ohio, USA), January 17, 2014, 9:45 AM.
Can we as a Sikh community in North America do something about this criminal activity? Can the newly formed Sikh Congressional Caucus help us? Who would be the appropriate person to file a case against KP Brar at an international level and use the testimony of so many Sikhs and Maj General Jamwal?
8: Gurinder Singh (Stockton, California, U.S.A.), January 17, 2014, 7:29 PM.
There is an organization, "Sikhs for Justice". They are taking up such issues. Please see http://www.sikhsforjustice.org/?q=content/amitabh-bachchan In my opinion, they should see how can they bring this case on India's murders of prisoners to the International Court of Justice.
9: Bikramjit Singh (London, United Kingdom), January 18, 2014, 3:18 AM.
The mentality of the British government of the time is shown when instead of urging the Indian government to exercise restraint and look to a peaceful solution, it looks like the government jumped at the chance to do the Indians a favour in return for sales of military equipment. The British government was in a better position than other western governments in putting pressure on the Indian government to not go ahead with the operation by citing the fact that the attack would cause distress not just in India but also in the UK given the large Sikh population living here. The Sikh demand should not just be for full disclosure which is the least that can be expected from a responsible government but a real commitment from the government to make amends for the actions of the government of the time. This should take the form of assisting Sikh groups in their fight for justice for the genocide committed by the Indian government.
10: Manpreet Singh (Canton, Ohio, USA), January 19, 2014, 1:35 AM.
I think we Sikhs are somewhat on the right track. We should also be focusing on the brutalities done by Indira and KP Brar. I think we are currently focusing too much on Thatcher. We Sikhs have demanded resolution against Thatcher and all the documents pertain to communications between Thatcher and Indira. We should declare Indira and the likes of KP Brar as criminals. We can do this by using the documents released by the UK government as proof.
11: Aryeh Leib (Israel), January 21, 2014, 4:20 AM.
"Indira Gandhi's Generals Quibble Publicly, Calling Each Other Liars and Incompetents." What's to quibble about? They're ALL correct!
12: Kaala Singh (Punjab), January 21, 2014, 2:53 PM.
These great 'generals' are only good at killing unarmed minorities. However, the fact is that whenever these fellas have found themselves in real conflicts, they have run away with a bloody nose.
13: Harbhajan Singh (Rockville Center, New York, USA), January 22, 2014, 6:32 PM.
All the murder, damage and destruction was done by the Indian army. Period.
14: Kaala (Punjab), January 26, 2014, 12:10 AM.
An ethical Hindu General refuses to attack the Golden Temple and a sycophantic Sikh faithfully obeys his master and kills his own people. Now he lives in his safehouse under state protection and enjoys the luxuries of life. Wow, what a payback.