Why was Operation Blue Star launched?

Operation Blue Star was the Indian military operation which occurred in early June 1984, ordered by Indira Gandhi in order to establish control over the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, and remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the complex buildings.

Why was it so important to the Indian government to establish control over this complex that they went to such a drastic step as to storm the temple? What would have been the consequences if they had not acted?
 

Cook

Banned
Why was it so important to the Indian government to establish control over this complex that they went to such a drastic step as to storm the temple?

Dick measuring - think Waco Texas.

What would have been the consequences if they had not acted?

In both circumstances authorities could have effectively besieged the complex and forced those inside to surrender, it just would have taken longer, requiring the govt. to handle losing face in the meantime.
 
In fact the extremist called Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala was a creature of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her Congress Party. The main opposition to the Congress in Punjab was Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Prakash Singh Badal, which championed the Sikh cause and was supported by the Sikh priesthood. The SGPC(Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee) which controlled the gurudwaras or Sikh shrines was dominated by the Akali Dal leaders. The Congress in Punjab was mainly supported by the Hindus and had only limited support among the Sikhs. The BJP which had support among Hindus was an ally of the Akali Dal. In order to beat the Akali Dal at its own game, the Congress started to sponsor certain Sikh extremists and Bhindranwala was one among them.
But he soon developed into a Frankenstein monster and went out of their control. With his extremist rhetoric he succeeded in sidelining not only the Akali leaders but also the Congress Party. He made the Golden Temple, the most important Sikh shrine, his headquarters with hundreds of well armed followers and challenged both the State Government and the Government of India. The Government was forced to surround the Golden Temple and ask them to surrender, which they refused. The followers of Bhindranwala had held many innocent Sikh devotees as hostages inside.
As the siege drew on, the troops were ordered to storm the Temple complex causing heavy casualities. The army were given strict orders not to cause damages to the holy buildings as far as possible, and they had to fight with one hand tied behind! The followers of Bhindranwala had a large stockpile of most sophisticated arms and they were trained by a retired Army General who had led the Indian Army in the 1971 Indo-Pak War! Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala and his followers were wiped off but with a heavy price. The Army too lost many of their troops, but more than that it created a large wound in the minds of the Sikh community. Indira Gandhi had to pay with her life for this folly.
The Government could have taken many measures beforehand to avoid this confrontation. They had known that Bhindranwala had camped inside the Temple and were stockpiling arms. The Police did not act to prevent these developments. Even after laying the siege, they could have forced them to surrender by cutting off electricity and water supply to the Complex and blocking food supply and waiting patiently for a few days. But no such measures were taken before storming the Golden Temple.
 
Operation Blue Star was the Indian military operation which occurred in early June 1984, ordered by Indira Gandhi in order to establish control over the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, and remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the complex buildings.

Why was it so important to the Indian government to establish control over this complex that they went to such a drastic step as to storm the temple? What would have been the consequences if they had not acted?

Indira Gandhi generally liked expressions of the power of the Indian state, which she had a nasty tendency to equate with her own power, to be big, showy, and overwhelming. Also, there was a certain tendency of Sikhs to be viewed as the natural warriors who could not be fucked with, and going in heavy is a conclusive way to disprove that.

Combine that with a lot of unemployed Sikh soldiers after the Indian military moved towards a more proportional system of recruiting and retaining people, several radical groups who could appeal to them, and you have a nasty powder keg.
 
Top